10.17.2011

Down South

At the end of September we went down to San Juan Capistrano to visit Lisa and Angie and meet tiny Sophia. She's beautiful, and I took one picture on my phone. Yes, I am ashamed. I hoped to take a few before we left, but we left pretty early and her momma wasn't into it. She had just hit 5 pounds.

Just as we pulled off the freeway in San Juan I got a text saying Tehachapi was on fire. Our town was threatened by several fires that were begun by lightening strikes. So, the whole first night was a game of "should I stay or should I go." There was a lot of conflicting information, and we just weren't sure what to do. But we stayed, and all was well. No homes were lost :-)

We did get to go to the beach in San Clemente while we were there. It was a lovely day, and we ladies sat with the baby under the boardwalk while the kids played in the water under daddy's supervision.




Except Hailey. She didn't even bring a suit because she's not going in the ocean. Ever. There's fish in there. And sharks. Lots and lots of sharks.

So, she did this.
Listened to music while walking in circles under the boardwalk. Sometimes with Audreyanna, sometimes without.

Annaleise could not believe the bounty, rocks EVERYWHERE!! Pockets full of them!


But eventually she suited up and headed to the water with everyone else. It didn't last long though. Ty headed out a little too deep and a wave crashed over him and swept him out. Daddy had Annaleise in his arms and plopped her down to chase after Ty. Where another wave came and swept her out too. After getting the both safely on shore daddy decided two littles was a bit too much for him, and Annaleise was over it anyway. So, she came back to the boardwalk and played with rocks.
Everyone else had a grand time playing in the water though. Worked up quite and appetite for the great cheeseburgers we had later. And the ice cream...



The next day we headed out and stopped at the L.A. Zoo. But it was really hot and we didn't stay too long. Season tickets make that alright :-)

Don't they look hot? We left and went to Ruby's, where we had REALLY amazing cheeseburgers, lol.



Visiting

We all enjoyed having Chance here for his entirely too short visit. We miss him so, and little snatches of time are all we get, but we sure love it when he comes! The kids all counted down the time until he arrived and we all headed to the airport to get him. Hailey thought she would miss it because she has a regular baby-sitting job that night, but that family had strep so she got to come along.

We had an amazing Italian dinner in Bakersfield before we headed home. He was pretty busy the first day and we all waited impatiently for him to be free. But it was nice just to see him sitting at the table. I so wish we were all still together.

On Saturday we went to Victorville to see Kirstyn and Cadence and get a tour of their new house. It's so nice to have all the kids together.

Chance got to meet the neighbors because they kept kicking Cadence's ball over the fence. Which he broke. The fence that is. On one of his trips over he took the top cap with him, and left a generous portion of flesh behind in return.


Cadence thinks I'm the crazy lady with a camera who's always chasing her around. She keeps her distance until the camera goes away :-) She is loving preschool and was happy to show us all the things she has made. She's almost 3, can you believe it?!

Audreyanna enjoyed rolling around on the floor, and the littles did their best to keep her entertained. Don't you just want to scoop her up and kiss her?!


And finally, we needed a group shot. We tried to build a poor mans tripod out of drinking glasses and boxes, but decided their wasn't enough room for my lens to get everyone in, so we headed outside and propped the camera on a ladder. We're all in though!

And in the morning, he was gone! Can't wait to see you again, Chance :-)