8 days in california

Although we were sad to leave Daddy for 8 days, we were SO excited about our trip to see Nay Nay and Papa. I was a little worried about the flight since I would be on my own, but the kids each had their backpack and I prayed for the best! (They were both really great.)

Can you tell that Colby was a little excited about his backpack?

Precious first moments together...

I'm gonna keep this as brief as possible or else I will never make it through this post, but a definite highlight for Brooke was playing with all my old Barbies and accessories/gear.  I LOVED Barbies, and played with them until I was probably 11, haha.

We spent an afternoon at Happy Hollow Park and Zoo, which was a really fun adventure.  I actually don't remember going there as a kid, but I'm pretty sure we went on Elementary School field trips there.

There was LOTS of walking, so we rented a wheelchair for Dad.  His legs are really weak these days, so walking for long distances is out of the question, even with his walking sticks. It's a good thing Mom is tough and can push him around :)  We did have one hill that was a bit of a problem, which is when I lovingly told Dad he needed to lose 100 pounds so that we could assist him more easily :/

Had the chance to meet up with my beautiful friend Brie and her adorable twin girls.  Brooke was a total sweetheart to them and kept trying to play, but she didn't really understand why they couldn't play her games with her, haha.  Next time, Brookie!  They were just too little to understand. We enjoyed catching up, though!

Every morning (except maybe the first morning when I was dead tired), I woke up at 6:30 with my Mom to go walk Thomas Grade, which is also called referred to as Hell Hill by my High School Track Team.  The hill is SO steep, and my Mom rocks that thing every morning. It takes about an hour to get from their house to the top of Thomas Grade and back.  The tops of my feet and calfs were a wreck every day because apparently I never use those muscles here in flat Texas!  It was such a nice way to start my day and have some one-in-one time with my Mom.  We talked about whatever the heck we wanted to without a single interruption, and it was fabulous.  As was the crisp, cool Morgan Hill air.  I just loved being home. I was grateful to my Dad who listened for the kids, and played with Brooke the few morning she woke up before we made it back from our walk.  Side note: I picked flowers for Brooke on one of the walks and she was amazed that I had 7 or 8 different flowers from just one walk :)

Next on the list was the Monterey Bay Aquarium.  This was one of my favorite adventures of the whole trip.  The aquarium is amazing, but it's even cooler that you can step outside and see seals perching on the rocks, sea otters floating around, and birds everywhere.

This one cracked me up, but Brooke had seen another guy doing this pose, so she gave it a shot.

Colby just wanted to give the fishies a kiss...

We walked down the street to eat at a local restaurant, but quickly realized that the menu was limited for kids, and since I'm not a huge seafood lover myself, we opted for Johnny Rockets.

Brooke made sure that Billy Beez was on the agenda because that was a favorite from our last California trip.  Colby was a maniac on those slides, and was way braver than Brooke at that age.  He really had to fear, which was awesome and also a bit alarming.

Nay Nay and Papa took Brooke on a special date to see the movie Leap.  I need to do better at one-on-one dates like this because I could see how special she felt.  She wanted to wear her new dress-up, and carry this purse that my Mom let her have. (Filled with treats, of course!)

I took Colby on a special adventure quest through the neighborhood because he didn't understand why he was left at home with boring ol' Mom. We had our own fun picking up sticks, leaves, and splashing in the gutters.  This random "mound" as we called it, was at the end of our street and we spent countless hours playing on said mound.  My best friend also lived right across from that mound, which meant that it was a great meeting spot.  Although I want my parents to move to Texas, I also love that I can go home and stand in the places that meant so much to me growing up.  I really had a beautiful childhood, and I'm grateful for what my parents provided for our family.

Spent one evening at Nordstrom park, right next to Nordstrom Elementary where I attended from Kindergarten through 6th Grade.

We went through some of Mom's boxes from her 19 years of teaching, and boy was it amazing!!  She just retired this year, and has spent TONS of money on supplies and books over the years.  Let's just say that I came home with 4 suitcases and went to California with 2, haha!  One of my bags alone had 50 pounds of books!

Swam at the neighborhood pool a few times, but the water was insanely cold. We all preferred the hot tub, but then the kids would want to splash in the cold pool again, which is like a cardinal sin after you've been in the jacuzzi!

I cannot go to California without a stop at Thrifty's for my favorite ice cream, Chocolate Malted Crunch. Brooke opted to stay home with Papa and have a Haagen Daaz bar, which she was obsessed with.

Sunday was another great day, and I really enjoyed being in my home ward again.  A lot of our family friends have moved away, but there are still so many familiar faces of people I love and admire.  I was able to spend time after Sacrament meeting just chatting with people, and Mom took Brooke to Primary.  I wasn't about to leave Colby in nursery with a bunch of strangers, so once I was done chatting, we headed home.  The best part was that my parents live 2 minutes from the church, which we definitely took for granted growing up.  We have lived 20-30 minutes from church for almost the entire time we have been married, and it's a pain.

Monday was our long-awaited beach day, and it was amazing!  I know I'm majorly biased, but he is the cutest.  That hat kills me.

Brooke is made for the beach, which we knew from our trip to the Outer Banks.  She was just as enthralled in California, and we spent hours there.

The fog doesn't roll off until around noon, which kind of has a mystical effect, in my opinion.

The sand was perfect for castle building...

Look at that face, he was so happy...

Had to make a mermaid tail for this girl...

I have so much love and gratitude for my parents.  They have always sacrificed so much for us kids, and they continue to show love and support in every way imaginable.

Can I just say that California is beautiful?  Well, it is, and I felt sad to say goodbye to the beach.

But we were all excited to be home with Daddy, and he surprised us with cute welcome-home decorations (after Brooke's gentle reminder about making us a sign, haha.)  Hopefully next time we head to California, we can all go!

hawaiian falls

 We have loved our Hawaiian Falls passes the last few years, and Mom and Dad gifted us passes again this year as our Christmas gift.  We went at least once a week, and made a lot of great memories.  Before it opened, I would talk to Brooke about what slides she wanted to try this year.  She really was too short for all of the big slides last year, but she was also scared to even think about them! As we discussed it, she commented that she was going to ride the one where you lay on a mat.  I was pretty confident that she would change her mind, but on our first outing of the season, she said she wanted to do it.  We went straight over before she had a chance to change her mind, but I explained that I wouldn't be able to ride with her since I had Colby.  She seemed so confident, which was totally shocking me.  I helped her carry her mat up the stairs, and thankfully they were really slow that day and the lifeguard assured me that she would help Brooke.

I then hustled down to the bottom to be there when she came down.  She seemed to be taking a long time at the top, so I was pretty sure that she was backing out...but then she climbed on and rode it down.  I was beaming when I saw her face, and I think she was really proud of herself.  She said that the second bump was pretty scary, but that she had fun.

She rode it once or twice more the entire season, but only because I bribed her with a dollar, haha.  I just really wanted her to ride it with Kevin and to prove to herself that she could do it again.

We met up with the Hawkins quite a bit again this summer, which is always so fun.  

 We also went almost every Friday night in July for "Friday Night Slides."  The park is open later than normal, and they have fun events planned, like fireworks and poolside movies. It's been such a fun place for our family to make memories, and I'm already looking forward to next season.

ranger's game

When baseball season started, Kevin bought some sort of "package deal" that came with different coupons to be used on different dates and for different seats.  He intended to go with a group of people from work, but that never panned out.  We also wanted to go as a family, but conflicts kept popping up and when it was down to the last day, we knew we needed to make it happen! And then the rains came, haha!  Like, it rained for the entire day!  I really thought we would have to skip it, but Kevin was crazy and thought we should go anyway despite the drizzle.  I loaded up the kids, headed to pick Kevin up from work, and it ended up being the perfect night!  The rain had cooled everything down a bit, and it wasn't our normal unbearable August weather.  

Favorite moments to remember:  their awe over these glowing baseballs, Brooke's epic shoulder-dancing while the music blared, Colby getting upset when the music stopped, and Kevin trying to explain the game to his little people.

Oh, and we can't forget about the dessert.  Concession food is such a total rip-off, but since this was a once in a summer activity, we splurged for the ice cream served in a Ranger's hat. With sprinkles and a cherry on top, of course :)

Out last stop was the gift shop, which is also a money pit.  Kevin really wanted to get something for the kids, but I didn't want to blow money on something we could get at Wal-Mart for a lot cheaper.  We ended up getting Colby a small soft Ranger's ball that he really loved, and I promised Brooke that we would find her pink Ranger's bat that Daddy bought for her at her first Ranger's game 3 years ago.  (Which he bought when I was in the restroom, haha.  He's more of a sucker for those kinds of things than I am.)

Until next year, Rangers...

kneeboarding

Kevin has been looking forward to this day for quite some time now!  The kneeboard pictured is the one he used as a kid, and he's been telling Brooke ALL about it.  She expressed a desire to try, but then would make comments like, "Well, I guess I'm a little nervous about it."  I totally understood her nerves because I was really nervous about stuff like this, and I was 12 (I think) when I first tried it!  My childhood best friend had a boat, and I went on several trips with their family.  We went to beautiful lakes in California, but part of the fun was taken out for me because I was always so nervous!  I wasn't as good as her and her siblings, and her brothers were pretty critical and cynical.  I guess that sort of left a bad taste in my mouth about boating in general, but then I met Kevin.  The first time we went boating together was when he taught me to wakeboard.  He was SUPER patient and encouraging, and really made it seem like no big deal at all.  I started to really enjoy the learning curve, which I was skeptical about.

But, back to Brooke.  I didn't want to pressure her in any way because she is only FOUR, but I understand that it takes baby steps to introduce something new.  So, we played with the board on the ground, practiced the general concept at home on her big boogie board, then floated on the board in the water.  Kevin never pressured her to do it, but tried to encourage with little baby steps.  She also tried to get fancy and do surface spins and behind-the-back handle grabs...

The week before this outing, Brooke told me that she was "going to surprise Daddy and do kneeboarding."  She knows how excited Kevin is about it :)  Once she was on the board, Kevin asked me to get in the driver's seat and get ready, which I did.  I was giving Colby a snack to entertain him, and was waiting for Kevin to give me the signal.  He never did, and then all of a sudden he said she was done and they were coming in.  Kevin was a little frustrated (with me I think) because he felt like we missed the window, but I think it would have been too soon to idle out.  I really don't want to freak her out and scare her from trying at all.  I'm thinking that next Summer will be her first run!

Kevin will probably hate these pictures because of his hairline, but I wanted to document the little lessons he was giving her.  He really is the most patient teacher you could ask for.  He even gets in with the youth from church that can't get up after multiple attempts.  He just likes to see people succeed at something he truly loves!