My parents recently purchased a vacation home within walking distance to the beach, so of course we had to go stay for a few days while we were in California. My mom and the girls and I drove over one night just in time to eat dinner and catch the sunset.
{the best we could get of the four of us trying to take a picture ourselves}
{and then we asked another beach-goer to take a photo for us}
The next morning my sister and her son arrived, so we went for a little walk along the beach before lunch.
Ava fell asleep in the baby carrier.
My mom, sister, and nephew.
Sara enjoying the waves...and doing some bucket-filling yoga.
{plank}
{downward dog}
The next day my older brother and his two oldest kids joined us at the beach, and the "big kids" enjoyed playing in the sand.
It was a beautiful, warm day!
Ava hung out with me on the beach chair...
...and took a little nap.
And here's a not-so-great "selfie" shot of me too. {I suppose I'll stop hiding behind the camera for a bit.}
Maybe next time we will actually get in the water, as in maybe next time the water won't be so freezing that it requires a wet suit to get in! Here's hoping.
The girls and I went to California for about a week and a half during the last half of March.
We braved the drive by ourselves (Rob didn't come) and ended up splitting it up over two days instead of trying to squeeze it into one. Rob usually does most of the driving when we travel as a family, so I was pretty brave to attempt this drive by myself (with the girls). I haven't driven the whole thing by myself since I was in college 10 years ago!
Here is a recap of our trip as told by the text messages I sent to Rob while we were gone.
Sara loved staying in a hotel. She thought it was fun to have a "little house" all to ourselves! But the funniest part was, she could have had a big queen-size bed all to herself, but she wanted to sleep on the floor! I guess that's what you do at sleepovers (according to her), so she wanted me to make a little bed on the floor for her. She loved it!
Here are a few photos of the girls from the next morning:
Good morning Sunshine!
Even though Sara wanted to sleep on the floor, she ended up climbing in bed in the morning to watch cartoons on her "little thing" (iPod).
Here is a lovely photo of me. I put my hair up weird while doing my makeup in the morning.
Sara thought it was a wig. :)
Sara wanted to take a picture of the desert while driving through Nevada, so I handed her my phone. This is the best shot she got. I think it is actually pretty good!
Here are some of the other photos she took.
1 of 5 pictures of the back of the passenger seat,
A few snapshots of me driving,
5 photos of her little travel buddy,
and two pictures of her legs. :)
A budding photographer, eh?
The next round of photos comes from a pit-stop we made in Jean, NV (just outside Vegas).
The girls were itching to get out of the car, so we found a gas station with a nice little grassy area and a few trees. Sara enjoyed running around picking dandelions while I fed Ava in the shade.
Pretty sure she had some candy in her mouth which is causing the funny closed-lip smile.
As you can see from the following photos, it was windy.
The wind was making her hair stick up like that!
Also, Sara was putting dandelions on everyone's ears.
Side shot of Ava's windy hairdo.
Our next stop was at Peggy Sue's 50's Diner, just outside Barstow, CA. They have a little garden behind the diner with several metal dinosaur sculptures.
And a gorilla too.
Rob's response to this photo, "Sara holding Ava is destined to be a family photo classic. :) "
We didn't eat at Peggy Sue's 50's Diner, but we did get ice cream!
We finally made it to our California destination just before dark. We stopped at my brother's house and visited (while Sara played with her cousins) before making the final leg of the drive--just another 30 minutes--to my parent's house.
It was a long drive! But it all worked out. We all made it there and back and lived to tell the tale. :)
We went to California twice in the last two months!
On our first trip, all three of us drove down at the beginning of May to see my Dad perform in a local production of The Music Man. For those of you familiar with the musical, my dad played Charlie Cowell, an anvil salesman who tries to expose Harold Hill (the main character) as a con man. My dad did an excellent job and it was fun to watch him perform!
While in CA, we also got to meet this little guy:
Jude Sterling Bryan. My oldest brother's newest little one. We actually drove to California the day he was born, coincidentally since Holly was a week or so overdue, and drove straight to the hospital to meet our newest nephew.
If he looks big in this photo, that's because he is! He was 9 lbs 9 oz when he was born.
Sara had her first dental visit to Grandpa Sterling. She did pretty well, letting Grandpa floss and clean her teeth etc, until he got to second half of her bottom teeth. Then she froze up and wouldn't let him clean anymore. So her mouth was 3/4 clean when we left. Oh well! Better than nothing. :)
Sara had her first slumber party with her cousins. She had been wanting a slumber party with for weeks, and she finally got one! They were so cute telling stories to each other before they fell asleep. I had to keep checking on them because there was so much giggling!
Here they are before they woke up in the morning...
hiding under the sheets when they woke up...
and playing in bed with their sleepy morning faces.
We attempted to get a cousin photo with the new baby while we were all in California. This is the best we could get. Sara had candy in her mouth, hence the weird smirk on her face.
And a photo of me with my sibs.
Paul, Laura, Anna, Derek, Nathaniel
We also took a quick trip to the beach on our visit in May. I gave that its own post. (see below or click here.)
On our second trip the first week of June, just Sara and I flew down to see my youngest brother, Nathaniel, graduate from High School. He finished second in his class, which earned him the title of "Salutatorian", and also meant he got to speak at graduation!
If anyone is interested, here is his graduation speech. :)
Waiting for the graduates to enter with Grandpa and Grandma
There were these two big screens on the field displaying all the senior portraits. This is the one Nathaniel chose to use. Goofy smile!
Top 3 in the class. Nathaniel is in the middle.
My family (minus spouses and Paul's kids)
Nathaniel and Sara
Sara also spent a few days playing with her cousins, but I only took photos on the day we went to their local bouncy house place.
And here's a fun video of Sara and her cousin Zeke being little monkeys jumping on Sara's bed (aka a couch cushion.)
On this visit, Sara and I also went to a fun children's museum near where my sister lives called Pretend City, and we also spent a day at Disneyland which I gave its own post below (or click here).
