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I've been California Dreamin' all summer and finally the day came when we packed up the ol' Red Velvet and drove off into the sunset. Tanner started school in January and literally has been going non stop ever since. BYU doesn't have Spring Break. Apparently, Spring Break is for pansies. So, I waited patiently (Kind of) until the day when his 2 week break began and we could spend some quality family time on the beach!

My good friend Emily was up at BYU for the summer so we brought her back home with us. I started babysitting her when she was 5. I kinda felt old picking her up from BYU. But our car was PACKED to the brim!

We left right after I got off work on Friday and it was a nice, easy drive. Parker is the best little traveler and we had a great time chatting and watching movies in the back seat. I even sneaked in some math flashcard time.

First thing we did the next day was to go the OC Fair! It was a ton of fun and perfect weather.

My Mom was enthusiastic about seeing the Pig Races and they sure didn't disappoint!

"Do the chicken's have large talons?"

Tanner tried teaching Parker some of his roping skills...

We were all super excited about the fair food- don't even get me started on the variety of splendid goodness. Parker, my picky eater, was not down with it but I got some good old fashioned fair food.

Look at the size of that turkey leg! We were seriously wondering if it was in fact a leg from a turkey and not some other animal....

Tanner hooked us up with some funnel cake for dessert. YUM!

The highlight of the fair for me was riding the elephant. I vividly remember riding an elephant at the San Diego Zoo with my grandparents when I was about Parker's age. Since then I've had a fascination and reverence for the grand creatures. It was the best 2 minutes of the day!!!

The ice exhibit was cool, too. (No pun intended) The ice sculptures were AMAZING and it felt good to get out of the heat. But, it also reminded me of how badly I hate the cold.

We stopped by the petting zoo on the way out and those animals were sure cute. They loved Parker!

That night we had a fantastic time with our old friends. We had pizza and swam in the backyard. Tanner worked for Mont when we lived in California and I used to babysit Robyn's 4 kids. She was shocked to find out that 9 years after she was DONE having kids she got pregnant again- against ALL odds. ;-) She's due in October and I wish I could be there to babysit sweet baby #5.

Sunday my brother blessed his new daughter, Mikeala. It was a very special day and he gave the most exquisite blessing.

My Dad and Mom

My Sisters

Monday was a day I've been looking forward to for about 6 months. My sister Josi discovered they she could land us camping spots right on the beach at Camp Pendelton! You have to be married to an active miltary member to receive the benefits so we were lucky and grateful to Matt for his service. We're looking forward to him coming home SOON!

Here's our spot! 50 feet from the water!

We set up a little shady tent where the kids could play

Parker had a BLAST playing with all his cousins non stop the entire time! He ASKED to go to bed every night- he was exhausted!

Parker and Kimmie

The Sunset from the first night camping on the beach.

Parker and Kimmie enjoying the fire while we roasted smores

Parker's been really into Frisbee lately, too, so Tanner picked up a glow in the dark one and once the sun was down we played that for a while. We only wished we had the Peterson's there with us to play some ultimate!!!! :-)

Literally, the BEST thing in the entire world is falling asleep to the sound of the ocean. The waves crashing on the beach is so soothing and peaceful. We all slept so good and woke up to Tanner making us a big old pancake breakfast!

Jojo and Tanner helped Parker dig "a big hole" to play in. They made Jojo's famous drip castles while waiting for more cousins to arrive.

We sure had quite the set up! 9 kids and 7 adults made for a pretty good time on the beach! My mom brought sandwiches and we all got ice cream cones. There's no worries when you're in your swim suit, sandy belly sticking out, licking a dripping ice cream cone. (For kids anyways)

My seester

The kids played until the sun went down- I'm sure they all slept good that night.

Cute lil Kim

Parker has told me over and over that his favorite thing about our trip to California was playing with his cousins. (And doing puzzles with Nanny in the morning)

My sweet brother and his beautiful girls

Mr. Sandman

So, that night at sunset I was sitting with Parker overlooking the ocean telling him about Pirates and how some pirates were not very good sharers. In fact, they used to steal gold and silver and all kinds of treasures from other people! And because they were so selfish they would hide the treasure- bury it in the sand when they came to a beautiful beach. And they made maps so that they could find their treasure again but sometimes they lost the maps and the treasure would stay under the sand until someone found the X that marks the spot. I told him that when I was a little girl sometimes I'd look for X's in the sand and we decided we'd go on a little treasure hunt! And low and behold we found an X and after we dug up some sand we found some gold coins!

The sunset on the second night

They day we left our camping spot we spent the morning packing up and then sat for about an hour and just enjoyed the sunshine. It was very relaxing.

Later that day we dropped Parker off at London's house and went with my parents to the Newport Beach Temple. That was definitely a highlight of our trip.

After the temple my Dad took us to the Newport Beach Marriott for a little Jazz concert and dinner at sunset. The musicians were phenomenal. My Dad loves Jazz. I grew up listening to it daily. But, I was taught how to play classical piano. To this day I've tried to play Duke Ellington or other jazz artists and I just can't. Jazz is a brilliant form of music. I really enjoyed my time with my parents outside listening to all that jazz. :-)

One day we took Parker to downtown Disney to checkout Ridemakerz. It's like build-a-bear but for cars. It's pretty pricey but if you have a 4 year old who's as into cars (and Lightening McQueen) as mine, you HAVE to check this place out!

You get to chose all the parts and pieces for your custom ride and then put it all together all by yourself!

Very intent on getting his car built like a pro

After he completed his car and took it for a test drive we went out to lunch at Rainforest Cafe.

Parker was melting down a little bit by this point. He'd had a big morning and no nap. The thunder storms and roaring animals kinda put him on edge a little bit.

But after he ate his lunch he was feeling much better. We told the server that it was Nanny's birthday (it is this Saturday) and they brought her the famous Volcano cake with ice cream! It was delicious!

We spent the afternoon swimming at Jon's pool. It's so beautiful over there- he's so lucky to live in paradise!

Tanner was helping Parker do some flips and he was LOVING every minute of it!

That night we had dinner at the Spectrum and took Parker for a ride on the Merry Go Round. I LOVE that place and I may or may not have bought 2 candles at Anthro...

Friday was my favorite day. It was just the 3 of us all day. On our way to the beach we realized that we forgot all of our towels and chairs for the beach so Tanner dropped me off at the Sawdust Festival and ran home to get them. It was exceptionally nice getting to chance to walk around looking, listening, and smelling all by myself. I bought a few earrings and sat at listened to the live band. I loved exploring all the little booths and looking at all the art. It was heavenly.

Before we hit the beach we ate lunch on the roof at Ruby's. So fun and even more yummy!

We went to our "go to" beach- the Montage. The water was perfect! We swam and saw little fishies, a seal, and even dolphins!

I HAD to go out in the water and take some pictures because the water was so very clear and gorgeous. As I was snapping some shots a wave crashed on me and instead of me flashing the camera I flashed something else. Can you say horrifying? Oh well, hopefully none of the 200 people on the beach saw. It was worth it. Look at that water!

Sand Angel

We stopped at Thrifty's for a double scoop on our way home but before we even got there this kid was out like a light. :-)

Our last day home we threw a baby-shower for my beautiful sister. She's not finding out what she's having until her husband comes home from Afghanistan- well, probably not until the little cherub is born! And believe me, I scanned her and sure did try and peak but the little cutie was being modest! ;-) I wanted to make her something but I'm neither artsy nor crafty so I attempted a soft blanket (even though I don't know how to sew) Hopefully the baby will know how much I love him even if the blanket falls apart in the wash. :-)

Glowing

Ta da! I sewed the sides with yarn. I'm cool. Don't judge me. ;-)

The men of the family.

All my sisters, my mom, and some babies.

My mom with all 5 kids and sweet Laura, too!

We left shortly after the shower and stayed the night with our BBF's in Vegas. Jeff and Ange have the BEST most comfy house and guest room. I wish we could have stayed there longer but it was about time we got home and back into the groove of real life. I miss it all so much already. I LOVE MY FAMILY!!! XOXOXOX