Newport Beach, Day 2

I woke up and my boys were all on sitting together on the sofa. I love these boys.

 

David and Ben went for a run.  Ben's still learning to pace himself. He takes off with a bang.

 

Then, we headed for the beach.  

We went for a walk. Emily sometimes acts like a teenager at home, so it's nice to see her connect with her Dad.

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Noah loves finding seashells. We have a bucket of his treasures. 

 

Emily found this heart rock and thought of Aunt Paula. She collects heart rocks. 

 

Then, the boys walked out on the rock wall. 

 

They got all the way to the end and it was making me a little nervous.

 

Then, a wave splashed up and I about had a heart attack. David was almost running through the water baywatch style. But, they were fine, and they just walked back.

Emily buried Noah in the sand.

 

Then, they took a nap.  They were sleeping exactly the same, 

 

Even their arms are the same. 

 

Noah enjoying a Coke. 

 

And this helicopter flew in so close to the beach. 

 

We were all out in the water playing. It was such a great day. 

 

We went up, showered and had dinner. The Suttons showed up and we went for a walk on the beach at sunset. 

 

We went to the pier again, but it was too late, so we could barely see the sea lions stealing fish. Maybe tomorrow night. 

Newport, Day 1

The internet here is a bit sketchy, so I'm just going to do phone pics daily and I'll add good camera pics when we get home.

We planned to leave this morning by 8, but were about an hour behind schedule, which was fine. When we were camping one of the girls was sick in another family. Then her sister and Mom got sick. So, Dakri tells me this and I decide to pack the puke bucket just in case. Noah was hanging out with these girls the entire time.  So, we start heading down the windy parts of the trip and I forgot our Sea Bands. They help with motion sickness.  Noah says his tummy is queasy. Ugh, is he getting sick or is it the turns. Then, Ben says his is not feeling great. Oh Lord. Then with about 1/2 mile of winding road left, Ben threw up all of his Cap'n Crunch. Thank God we had the puke bucket. So, we stopped at a gas station a few miles down the road and disposed of the bag that was in the puke bucket. Ben went to the bathroom and he was all better.

It was so crazy, but I'm so glad it was just the road and not any illness.

We stop right on the state line before crossing over to fill up with gas since Arizona is way cheaper than California. The kids get an Icee or soda drink which to them is a treat as we don't do convenience stores at home. They all chose blue Icees. Then, Ben had a salami sandwich. See, definitely not sick. That is not a normal after puke meal.

 

Yea the windmills!  That means about 2 hours left. 

 

We finally got here a little after 3.  I just wanted to get a little situated before we headed to the beach. The boys just wanted to go to the beach. I wish we were right on the beach, but this is a pretty nice spot too.  The on the beach house are easily $600 a night. That's just too much. Plus, we are only here for 4 nights, so we plan to spend all our time at the beach.

 

Noah got to the sand and collapsed in happiness. 

 

And Ben took off running.  

 

 

 

Noah got the boogie board and headed right to the water. 

 

I have a few pics of Emily, but they were on my camera and taking forever to load, so I'll post those when we get home. But we went for a walk to look at seashells and she got something stuck in between her toes. She pulled off a little shell but said something else was in there.  So, she went to rinse it but by the time she got back to the blanket, her toes were sandy. So, her Dad had to carry her back.

 

We went super easy with meals and brought our pasta sauce, so I whipped up dinner, salad and bread. It's nice to have quick easy meals that we all like. 

 

Then, we went to get ice cream (again pic is on other camera) and walked down the pier. These guys were catching 4 to 6 fish at one time. It was so impressive. This guy had just hauled in 6!

 

And the seals were super impressed with the fishermen too. 

 

The seals would wait for them reel in their catch and they'd go after them and always snag a few fish off the line. The guys next to us said they must have gotten 50 or 60 fish and they just keep coming back for more. 

 

Then, it was tag on the beach.  

 

And they climbed up on the lifeguard tower. They'll have to do it again tomorrow when it's light out. Yes, it says Keep Off, but whatever. 

 

 So, that was day one. More fun tomorrow!

Camping

We headed on the first day of summer break for our annual camping trip with friends. We got lucky as they are closing the forest left and right due to our severe drought and the fire danger. They said this campground was going to probably close Wednesday, so I'm glad we got a fun weekend in.

We were the first ones there.

 

And funny story....  So, we knew everyone was taking bikes. We get a group site, so we have a nice paved path for the kids to ride on. But, Noah didn't know how to ride a bike. I knew he'd be embarrassed with his girl friends there and he didn't know how to ride a bike. We worked on it a few times, but he just kept saying he couldn't do it. Then, the morning we were leaving for camping, David was working half day and I was packing up and in and out of the front yard. He got on his bike and within an hour was riding it. He taught himself to ride his bike. We were so impressed. So, he rode and rode all weekend long and he was so proud of himself. That's the third kid for you. They just teach themselves to ride. 

  

Here's Dakri and me.

 

Noah tree climbing. 

 

The kids all played volleyball and badminton.  

David rode Emily's bike, which is my bike.

 Here's Noah playing with his girlfriends, Clara and Savannah. They are sisters and I heard they have little arguments about who gets to play with Noah. He's going to marry one of them, I hope. I'm just not sure which.

 

Here's Emily and her friends. They all had in dutch braids.  Emily just had me cut about 6 inches off her hair. So, her's are short, but the look so cute.

 

And a camping favorite...Jiffy Pop popcorn. 

 

And another camping favorite...napping with Lucy. 

 

This is Noah and Savannah or Novannah as I like to call them.   

 

Seriously, I'm starting their wedding video montage now. 

 

We also couldn't have a campfire, so we had to roast marshmallows over the stove for smores. 

 

And always my favorite photo of Emily and Ben sleeping. 

 

I'm so thankful for this fun group of friends that we get to go through life with. And hopefully the couple in the middle will be our inlaws one day.  :)