The Pacific Ocean

My kids had never been to the ocean.  They had seen it from the window of an airplane and been to many beaches at lakes, but never to the ocean. This was one of the things I was really excited to introduce them to when we came to California. We decided to head down to Santa Monica Pier so we could spend some time at the water and go to the pier.  I thought we'd touch the water and that would be it.  Surprisingly, it was really warm out and the water wasn't cold. We played forever.  They loved it so much, we went back the next day.

Riding the "dragon" at the pier.  Colin loved the ride. Audrey and I, not so much. Our stomachs didn't like it much.  

Being silly

Tahoe 2012: Part 1

We have been talking about going to Tahoe with Paul's family for a couple years now but have had a hard time making it fit into everyone's schedule.  This year we finally made it work.  Everyone had SO much fun, we hope to do it many more years.  

Packing! The kids wanted to ride in the roof rack

The car ride.  We put together a bunch of fun things to do, movies, games and planned the trip so the kids would sleep a good part of it.  It went really well.

When we got to Tahoe we met up with Jim and Sheri for some pool time and lunch before we could get into our house.  

Fun after dinner the first night 

 

We had a lot of fun at the beach. The development we stayed at had a private beach.  The water was freezing, of course, but the kids still loved playing on the shore and some in the water

 Audrey loved playing in the sand

Playing in the waves

See Audrey out there? 

And a random picture

A bunch of shoes lined up at the door

Promise Rehab Camping and Boating Trip

Last weekend we had our annual rehab boating trip. This year Barb and Kevin offered their cabin as a place to stay on Friday night. We were excited to get the kids out camping for the first time while still having a toilet and refrigerator available. It was a lot of fun. Their cabin is out near Oakley but way out in the woods. They have a 2 bedroom cabin with a fire pit, frisbee golf course and a tent area in the woods. We decided that we would tent so we didn't have to worry about the kids waking anyone else up during the night.

In the tent at 6am

Our tent site

Campfire

Overall camping went pretty well. It was a lot of work though. It was a lot of work getting packed and putting up the tent for just one night. And it was a lot of work because anything that we do with Audrey is.

On Saturday we got up and went boating at Rockport Reservoir. It was COLD water. It took a lot of preparation to get in the water.

Paul wakeboarding

Watching Preston....the kids really enjoyed watching him because he did a lot of tricks

Colin waving the flag

Colin and Paul went out on the tube first, but then Audrey and I joined them

All of us on the tube

I was able to make it up on the wakeboard but then was a little lost at what to do once I was there. Apparently everyone was really surprised I made it up and I was pretty funny to watch trying to figure out what I was doing.



Colin had so much fun telling us we had to go pick someone up from the water after they fell.



Colin really liked the boat and kept asking to go on the boat again. The kids were exhausted after the trip. They slept the hour ride home and stayed asleep while we carried them to their beds. They then slept another 1 1/2 hrs and we had to wake Colin up for dinner.

We all had a lot of fun and I know the kids loved it all. However, I'm not sure how soon I'll be ready to take Audrey camping again. She is just not very good with changes to her routine right now and she is definitely awful with strangers(pretty much anyone other than Paul and I).

Promise Rehab Boating Trip

On Saturday we went up to Pineview Reservoir for what has become the "Promise Rehab Annual Boating Trip". What this entails is Breck and Preston bringing their family boat and taking all of us out for rides. I don't know how much fun they have but we all definitely have a ton of fun.

We got up early and were able to get out of the house at 9am, which means we got to the lake at 10:20. The car said it was 70 degrees out and it was perfectly sunny. It was going to be great weather for the day. We unloaded the car and took everything down to the beach. Paul had bought a sun tent online that he found for a great deal at $40. We set that up with our beach chairs, a blanket, sand toys, towels, and a cooler of food and we were ready for a day at the beach.



We had a great time. Barb and her family came, Lydia and her family, Bob and his family, and Brad and his family. Most everyone was there for most of the day. We brought charcoal to cook burgers and hot dogs on the grill for lunch.

Colin was a bit nervous at first. I think he remembered not liking sand from our trip to Moab where he had a hard time walking in the deep sand on the trails. At first he wouldn't go in the sand. After awhile he had fun in it though. He played with his bucket and shovel, and his dump trucks. He was also pretty nervous about the water. He didn't seem to like the waves that would come up on shore when boats went by. He didn't really get comfortable with the water until after he went boating.

Playing in the sand



Colin got his turn to go out on the boat at about 2pm. He hadn't had his nap yet so he fell asleep as soon as the boat took off. After he woke up he went tubing with Paul, Brad, and Brad's 3 year old son Spencer. Colin was scared at first but then had fun on the tube. Paul ended up giving him his sunglasses so that the water wasn't splashing in his face and that helped a lot. He liked it a little bit more than last year. When the boat stopped the front end of the tube sunk and they all fell in the water. Colin didn't really seem to mind and had fun swimming to shore with Daddy.

Colin with Papa when they first got on the boat


Colin about 2 minutes later


Tubing






Falling off the tube


Swimming with Daddy


A lot had changed since last year's trip. Last year Breck was pregnant. This year Breck has a 7 month old, I have a 3 month old and Lydia has a 2 month old. The babies had so much fun "playing together"!

Audrey in her bathing suit and sunglasses


Skye, Audrey, and Anthony



Spencer and Isaac had brought some beach balls and Colin could not get enough of this red ball.