summer vacation!

Consider yourself warned... there are lots of pictures

On a whim, we took a last minute trip to California! It was just supposed to be a 3 week trip and it turned into a summer vacation! And as I am looking back at all the pictures I noticed that I am in the same red shirt in almost every picture! Yikes! I swear I washed it and like I said I brought very little with me since it was just supposed to be 3 weeks here!

We still have 3 weeks left to spend here in California before we go back to Buffalo. I have loved being here of course, but can't wait to get back to my little life out there! So for all you Buffalonians... just a few more weeks and we will be back! I am ready for play group, Buffalo wings and Crystal beach! I am gonna need some friends to join me of course!

We have had so much fun since we came. We came at a great time, 2 of my 3 sisters live far away and they both have been in town. My other 2 siblings live here in Redlands near my family and Garrett's so it was nice to all be together. We started the trip with a fun family reunion, put together by my sister Lizzy. She planned a lot for us to do. We had a great Mexican dinner, beat a pinata, played Pictonary, and learned a little about my Grandmother that died a few years ago. The kids did a craft and the boys ended the day with a squirt gun fight that turned into a hose fight! We all had so much fun. Thanks Lizzy! We can't wait till next year!

Here's my whole family! Our family is in the bottom right corner!

We did so many fun things with all the kids in town. In all my parents have 15 grand kids... so there was always something going on! Here are some of the 15 with Grandpa after they had themselves sun hats.

We hit up the beach several times! Beach trip # 1 at Corona Del Mar
It ended being overcast for most of the day, but still really warm. By the end of the day the sun was out and it was a beautiful day in sunny southern California!
Cadence was CRAZY! She has no fear and ran straight into the water within our first 2 minutes there. I couldn't take my eyes off of her. Even after a wave knocked her down into the water, she got right back up and ran back to the water!

Here's my Dad trying to keep her from drowning!

She also has a love for sand, especially when its in her mouth!


She was such a good girl when it was time to take a nap. We put up a port-a-crib and she played in it for like 20 minutes before putting her head down and falling asleep for 3 hours! How did I get so lucky?

Here she is right after waking up, she has huge hippo teeth! :)

Ciella loved to run in the water and chase the waves.

She couldn't wait to build a sand castle. Although I think this picture is from beach trip #2

The older kids (Logan, Connor, Chandler, and Gavin) had fun collecting sand crabs!

Ciella had so much fun playing with the cousins her age. Although often refused to take pictures with them! Here are the cousins closest to her age!

Luke-2 yrs, Brynn-3yrs, Brooke-2yrs

By the end of the first day at the beach Ciella had worn her self out and was asleep in my arms about 2 minutes after we got in the motor home to go home!


We also went bowling! Ciella slept through the first half but when she woke up was ready to bowl. Here we are at the bowling alley, My Dad holding baby Jordyn, Me holding Cadence and My oldest sister Becca holding her baby Burke.

On a random side note.. did you notice how tan we all look! We are spending every spare second at the pool!

Here's us girls. Ciella had just woken up!

Beach trip # 2 at Huntington Beach
As kids my family went to Huntington beach every summer and stayed there for a week or two each time. So its a family favorite beach for us now when we take our own kids. So we headed there the second time we went to the beach. It was a beautiful sunny day.

The kids had a blast running in and out of the water! And playing in the sand!

Cadence was much more mellow that trip and played right near me in the sand. And again eat more sand!

She took another great nap in the port-a-crib. When she woke up she had a blast playing with baby Burke who was taking his turn in the port-a-crib! They were so cute playing with each other. Cadence loved making him laugh by putting her face up against the mesh!

I love the tippy toes!

How cute is this picture!!!

The older kids were having fun pulling the large pieces of sea weed up onto the sand. One extra large piece came with lots of sea life. We found a baby octopus and about 20 little star fish! The kids had so much fun taking turns holding and playing with the star fish and octopus!

Here's Chandler, Chloe and Connor holding star fish!
And Carter showing off his star fish too!

Here's the baby octopus in my Dads hands. It was so little! THE KIDS LOVED IT!

We also have been swimming everyday! Ciella looks like a little Indian girl. She tans so well and just soaks up the sun! Cadence takes a nap most days at the same time we swim. So while she sleeps we play in the pool. But just like at the beach she has no fear and will just walk right into the water if you don't hold her back!
Ciella is swimming at the bottom of the picture near the right side!

Ciella has turned into such a good swimmer. She swims all over the pool with only arm flooties! It turns into a fight to get her out of the pool! We have had lots of friends over to swim with us too!

We even ice-blocked down the hill in our back yard! The girls both loved it!

Cadence has had so much fun having so many other kids to play with! Here she is with Brynn and Carter playing under the pool table!

Garrett's summer on the other hand has been spent working like a mad man in the hot sun! The poor guy didn't even complain when we went to relax at the beach. He was so willing to work hard and take care of us! But he did take lots of breaks and come swim with us when it got too hot to work!

His parents had him do some hillside landscaping for them while they toured the Mediteranian! He dug 2 hundred- 5 gallon hole's and then planted 2 hundred- 5 gallon plants to their 1/2 an acre hillside! Yikes!

He also did all the sprinkler system for the plants and then covered the rest of the hillside up with the most terrible smelling mulch! Imagine the city dump... that's about how good this stuff smells!

He also designed and is currently building a super fancy wooden patio cover for his parents back yard! He has done such a good job designing it and is really excited to do his first real project from the design to the actual building. Here is some of the lumber that Garrett and His Dad stained, its just about dry and then the building will begin!

It is so nice to have Garrett's family and my family all in the same town, their homes are maybe 2 miles from each other actually! Its so nice to be able to see both of our families any time while we are here!

We also celebrated his Mom's birthday! We had cake and ice cream then headed over to watch Garrett's brother Gavins' band
"The Shape of the Earth" perform! (theshapeoftheearth.com) The girls loved the music and danced to the beat!

Garrett's brother has 2 boys around Ciella's age and she loves to play with them. I took these pictures today of Ciella playing with Carson!


He has worked so hard for our family so we can live and pay our bills for the next few months in buffalo! Thanks to Garrett!

Here is my handsom man! Working so hard!

Here's Cadence looking so cute today!
The end!