Beachy Birthdays

So, it's only been a month since my last post. Hailey says I need to post more. She says I should post about all the things I'm always telling them, things I read, learn, and think. It just takes time to formulate all that into an intelligible post. And the time that I would be able to do that is at night. Which is when the baby is usually screaming. Or I am about to drop from exhaustion. Or both. So....it's been a month since my last post.


So, what's been going on? Well, Ethan had a birthday. So did Hailey. Heck, so did I :-) We went to Point Mugu for a few days in honor of Ethans and my birthdays. (Wow, that was an awkward sentence!) But we did, and we had a lovely time. Even if it was kind of cold and windy. I guess that's the price for a beautiful beach all to yourselves. If so, I'll gladly pay it. We intended to camp in the rv, but the day before we left we discovered that the fuel pump had quit pumpin. Bummer. We were able to salvage the trip with a couple of motel rooms on base, and we still had a grand time. I'd really like to go back in the rv though.



We got to see a whale right off shore, and a lot of seals. Which solidified Hailey's determination to never swim in the ocean, but was really cool to see.


We ate a lot, built sand castles, drew in our nature journals, climbed rocks, had races, and just generally enjoyed each other. On the last day we went in to Ventura and had an amaaazing lunch in a micro brewery. Really yummy!

June lake

We all had a lot of fun boating out in June lake. By Sierra

Summer Vacation

We finally dusted off the motor home and took a trip to June Lake to spend a week camping with friends. Sort of a private family camp since we are churchless :)



The trip started with a few bad omens. Hailey had been having pain in her side for a few days before we left, but I sort of ignored it... Within a few days she couldn't sleep and woke writhing in pain and crying. Sooo, a trip to the ER for a pleursy diagnosis. Basically, a virus had settled in the outer lining of her lung and it was inflamed, causing pain. Here are some pain killers, it will run its course and get better in a few more days. And it did. $300 peace of mind.

Isn't it beautiful?!?


It was probably the same virus that settled in the digestive tracks of the two bigger boys, causing...distress. And Pain. But no ER visit :)



We still managed to have a really nice time though. Mostly sitting by the water watching the kids play and getting sunburned. Plus, without that trip we wouldn't know all the things we need to fix on the motorhome :) That's a plus, right??
On the way home we stopped at a cool little park in some small town. It might have been
Lone Pine. Or Big Pine. Or Independence...

But it was a nice park, with a stream running through it. It was a refreshing break, but the two littles had just fallen asleep when we stopped and when we got back in the RV they screamed most of the way home :-(

Lovely Vacation, Pt 6

After learning how Jelly Belly's were made we headed over to Six Flags Marine World. It is billed as sort of a combo Sea World/Magic Mountain. Big roller coasters and animal shows.

It wasn't too crowded. It wasn't too hot. It was a good day.

The grass was Titus' favorite thing

And it wasn't long before Kirstyn was sporting sausages for feet. Having had a child or two myself, I did mention that perhaps flip-flops wouldn't give quite enough support...But we rented a wheelchair and her smile was restored. Zac looks a little tired though.

Ty isn't entirely sure how he feels about the flying balloons.There were donkeys for petting


Elephants getting pedicures

And whales doing tricks

Eli and Ezra were too short to ride most of the roller coasters, which really broke Eli's heart. Getting to go on the "pay cars" when no one else did cheered them up a bit though.

All in all, a pretty great cap to the trip. We only lost one child, and not for too long :) Everyone had a great time, although I have to admit I prefer our time spent hanging out at the beach.

Lovely Vacation, Pt 5 - Jelly Belly's!

After leaving the beach and heading back down south we spent a couple of nights in Vallejo. First stop was the Jelly Belly Factory. Very cool guided tour. We were there on a weekday so we actually got to watch the jelly's being made.

George is made entirely of Jelly Belly's

They make other candy here too, but the Jelly's are the star. I thought I had met the guy that invented Jelly Belly's when I lived in Glendora. Everyone in town said he invented them, and there was even an article in People magazine talking about how he came to invent them, and featuring a picture of him laying in a tub full of beans. But if he really invented them, no one in Vallejo seems to have gotten the memo.

Lovely Vacation Pt 4: BIRTHDAYS!

August is a big birthday month for us and we decided that since we would all be together at the beach, we would celebrate the remaining August birthdays. Chance was turning 22, Ezra was turning 5 and Titus was finishing up his first revolution around the sun.

But...we forgot all the presents at home. Except for the bible we got for Chance. It's a bible for studying, the cover is like a 3 ring binder and every other page is lined paper for notes so that all of your notes can stay right there in the bible and you can add pages as you need them. I thought it would be good for Chance because his notes are typically...everywhere. I hope he likes it.

My mom brought some presents and we picked up a cake, so we actually had a pretty nice little celebration. It was a great place for a party :)

Lovely Vacation, Pt 3

Mike and I snuck out one morning for breakfast, and while we were out we noticed that the boat docks were full of seals. We went back to get the kids and headed down for a closer look.

It seemed like we could have just walked up and pet them. I just didn't want someone rewarded with a dunk in the water for their efforts so we stayed back. A little. They were clearly used to people and really gave the kids a thrill to be so close. Beats the zoo any day.






One of the great things about this area is that you have ocean, redwoods and river all within a couple miles of each other. We love the Smith River and headed up for a day of fun.

6 little ducklings, all in a row!

The kids had a great day splashing and swimming, while Ty entertained himself eating rocks and digging in the sand.

Another great day :)

Lovely Vacation, Pt 2

The Beach...

We rented a vacation house for the first time ever and it really made all the difference. We could all hang out together, not in some cramped hotel room. We could cook, relax, and the view! The view was amazing. We were just a staircase away from the ocean. Just relaxing and beautiful.

It's a rocky beach and the weather was pretty cool, so it was more of a digging in the sand, tide-pooling sort of beach vacation.

Here is the lighthouse just to the left of us. This was taken from the deck.


And this is right out the back door









Good Times!