Santa Cruz Part One

Two weekends ago, we packed up the kids and went to Santa Cruz for the weekend. We've decided that we need to start really enjoying all of these amazing locations around us. (Still on the bucket list - Yosemite and the Red Woods, not to mention Tahoe in the summer [which I've never seen] and more Napa, Amador county vineyards and San Francisco). 

I have to say, the drive to and from Santa Cruz was surprisingly uneventful. I was worried about how the kids would do but they were perfectly fine. Some normal kid bickering and constant snacking, but truly I feel very lucky about how good they were.

We got to our little, cheap motel by the boardwalk and wasted no time in walking down to the ocean. We walked the wharf, ate seafood at the end of it, and listened to the sea lions barking all the while. 

I tried asking June to take a picture of me and Michael, and she loved it and it turned out great! Now that I know I have this option, I might actually get semi-regular photos of us together!

Then it was time for ice cream!

The next morning we walked to the little down town area to have breakfast.

Then we headed to the beach! We drove just down the street (to avoid the busy boardwalk beach) and went to a really great spot. It was perfect out, cool when it was breezy, warm in the sun.

Bennett wanted to make about a billion sand castles, just so he could tear them down and hear me say, "OH NOOOOO!" I just love the guttural laugh that he has - "Huhuhuhuh!"

Then it was showers, tacos from the little hut down the street and naps in the hotel room.

That night we walked down to the boardwalk for some rides.

This was the first time June was willing to go on the Ferris Wheel, and she loved it.

The State Fair

We loved going to the State Fair again this year! So much fun with our friends!

Watching a high diver performance:

A Late Fourth of July Post

It's never too late to post a blog about the 4th of July, right?  Even a month later?

We had a busy 4th of July weekend - we had just gotten back in town from our quick trip to Vegas. We were lucky enough to have Michael's parents in town - for the second year in a row!

On that Saturday, we headed across the street to a neighbor's front yard party. It was great to see everyone, watch the kids have fun and enjoy some good old-fashioned neighborly fun.

Action shot close ups, please:

Two parents very optimistically tried to set up a water balloon toss. I think that maybe...one?... water balloon was successfully tossed?

It was then time for harmless front yard fireworks, or as June saw it, Pure and Utter Terror Time.

Turns out 5 was also not her year for fireworks.

On the fourth, we went to a little community parade that ended with a small neighborhood fair. The kids played some games, sat in a fire truck and bounced in a bounce house.

After naps, we went to a friend's house for their party. Both kids got some good pool time in - and Grammy and Papaw Fred did too!

I ended up painting the kids' faces (it was a negotiation point for NOT having the kids wait in the crazy line for face painting at the fair earlier that day), so we ended up with a pack of 5-or-so tigers running around the house. 

We lasted for maybe two driveway fireworks before June's terror took over again and we had to depart. We figured that we were on borrowed time anyway (it gets dark so late that we were up past both kids' bed times) so it wasn't a huge deal.

We put Bennett to bed, let June watch some of New York's fireworks on the television ("I'm not scared if they're far away, Mommy,") and even walked to the corner to see the ones in the distance.

Fireworks fears notwithstanding, it was a pretty good weekend!

Drawings from June

There's been a bit of a pattern in the drawings that June brings home from school.

Me and June walking a dog:

On the back:

Me and June (naked?) with a turtle between us:

Me and June again:

Me and June with some flowers: 

Kids sometimes have funny ways that their love pours out, you know? Sometimes I don't feel worthy of the love she shows me, but I feel so humbled by it when I see each of her drawings come home.

Love that little girl.