Maiden Voyage: Ocean Beach

We packed up the family truckster with the littlest kids and the dog and headed for the beach.  San Diego or bust.

All unpacked and off to explore Ocean Beach...

This next one was right before the wave knocked her over.  Boy did she squeal and giggle.

Eloise was pretty impressed.  So impressed that her hair curled up on top of her head.  And then within five minutes, she fell fast asleep.

Dinner and a much deserved pitcher of beer at Pizza Port right down the street.

An after-hours stroll along the beach for Gus.  He was super excited to walk in the sand but very confused and scared of the waves.

Turns out there are advantages and disadvantages of being a block from the beach.  Convenience is traded for P&Q.  Gus was up all night listening to every single noise.  So finally, bright and early the next morning, mommy got up at 5:15 and took Gus for a walk to dog beach. He LOVED it.

The Cat in the Hat museum exhibit in Balboa Park.

 Another walk to the beach to build sand castles before dinner.

Dinner at Hodad's (she killed a whole cheeseburger and fries) and then a stroll along the Pier to watch the surfers and the sunset.

The next day gave us perfect weather for checking out the San Diego Zoo.  Who knew they had THREE separate flamingo exhibits?

Vacation is hard.

After a nice long nap, we took the kids and Gus to dog beach so they could watch him play.

The next morning was our beach day.  We got up early and went to check out the tidepools and boy were we in for a surprise!  The beach was covered in tiny little red tuna crabs.

http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2015/jun/12/tuna-crabs-oceanbeach/

 Finally, she earned an ice cream cone for good behavior.  Flavor?  Birthday Cake.

After enjoying a giant ice cream cone she worked so hard to earn, we were running around on the beach (not prepared to swim or play) when suddenly the sun came out and within a few minutes, Natalie had made a friend.  They played and played and played and played.  Natalie never seemed to mind not having a swimsuit on.

Spaced out and watching Little Rascals after a long sun-filled day at the beach.

On our way out of town, we took a detour through downtown (in the rain) to see what we could see.  Next time we'll make more time to take the tour.

The kids (Gus included) were so zonked that we made it home with only one stop.  Amazing.

Katie's Hair Salon

Katie has been learning some pretty clever new tricks with hair and nails over the past year or so. And luckily, she almost always has a very eager hair and nail guinea pig.

This time, Katie was all set and ready to attempt to braid Natalie's hair into the letter N...

It turned it wonderfully and Natalie was so proud.  Pretty cool to have such a clever big sister!!

Summer Meet #1

After a day of on and off thunderstorms and downpours, Katie's Summer Swim League held their first meet of the season.  No need to worry about the lightning you may see in the distance...

The meet was progressing at a snail's pace and so mommy and the little sisters didn't get to stick around to see Katie swim.  Maybe one of these days we'll get a good action photo of her swimming.

Camping with Daddy

Daddy took the big girls and Gus camping to escape the first hot weekend in Phoenix.

Furball Friday at the Public Pool

Mommy decided that it would be a good idea to take all three girls to the public pool on Furball Friday.  The first Friday that school was out.  The first Friday that it was over 100 degrees.  It was not mommy's best decision.  It started off with one kid who didn't want to be there, one kid who did, and one kid who didn't know where she was waiting in line for the pool to open at 11am.

But after we got in, found a few chairs in the shade and applied a few gallons of sunscreen, things slowly started to get a little better...

Eloise and mommy had fun sitting in the beach-entry area so Eloise could splash and mommy could stay cool and keep eyes on the big girls.

The two big kids went off looking for fun.  They found it underneath the giant water bucket play area... initially Natalie was skeptical and Katie wasn't willing to get wet.  But after a little while that changed and the squeals were worth the wait.

Then Natalie wanted to do it over and over and over.

8th Grade Graduation

Congratulations Katie!  The 2014-2015 school year ended and that means that we now have a high-schooler among us.  On the last day of school, Grandpa Larry and Gramma Judy joined us for Katie's 8th grade graduation ceremony at Santan Junior High.

We are all super excited to see what high school has in store for this beautiful and smart young lady!

Sunday Morning Peach Picking

The weather was far too nice not to do something outdoors, but no one (other than daddy) was in the mood to hike.  So we decided to check out Schnepf Farms and ended up doing some peach picking!

We had a great time and would love to get our hands on some more delicious local produce!  But I think we'll wait until the weather cools off to come back.