Newport Beach

 I'm so happy that we got to go on our annual trip to California. With everything going on and then fires all over Cali, we were trying not to get too excited for this trip in case it got cancelled. But, we so need a break. I needed a break, and I know David did too. It's been a year of working with just a day off here or there for a camping trip. So, 7 days away was lovely! 

The best part...since Covid, everything is closed. That's not necessarily good, but we had zero plans. Just hang out at the beach. Well, we did go to Catalina island, but that was just more lazy time. It was so nice to not have anything scheduled.

We got there and headed straight to the water. The sea air and sunshine is just what we all needed.

Noah couldn't wait to get his feet wet.

Ben pondered life or the fact that life really does need vacation time.

Emily drove with Alanah and her family. They both can't keep their eyes open.

Then, we watched the sun set.

And got burritos and brought them back to the beach. No dine-in means getting creative.

The kids went in for an after dinner dip.

And there goes the sun....

Everyone is happy to be away from life.

We went back to the hotel for a little swim. We always get a beach house, and this was no exception. This trip had been planned for over 6 months, before Covid even hit. So, when we found out the girls didn't have a football game and I could get off work early, two out of the three families decided to go two nights early. We found a hotel about a mile from our beach house and only a minute walk to the beach. 

So, the kids got to take a dip in the pool after the ocean.

The next day was my birthday and we headed to Catalina Island. This was the only thing on the agenda for the whole trip. We had never been. Well, my Mom says I went as a kid, but I don't remember. So, it was like new. It was nice though because we got a beautiful boat ride for 90 minutes. Of course, masks were required. They also cut the capacity of the passengers on the boat in half.

It was so beautiful over there. We rented golf carts. That's the thing to do and you drive around and see the lookout spots. We had a girl golf cart and a boy golf cart. Ryan went scuba diving.

This home on the bottom right with the flag was like 8.7 million dollars.

I love this picture of all the boats perfectly spaced out and the blue water.

We got ice cream and went shopping and just relaxed. We laid right here in the sand for almost 30  minutes and it was the perfect.

The next day we went to the beach and this is what we did for four days. Nothing!

We moved into our beach house that afternoon and grilled steaks and every night was watching the sunset and having fun with our friends. We get a beach house right on the water because it's the best and we can, so why not?

The boardwalk is right in front of the house and we would spend evening watching people. It's so fun. I could watch the people there all day.

We spent all day at the beach. We lucked out and got a super warm week for October. Sometimes, it's a little cold. Not this time, we were all in the water so much because it was so hot out.

 

Here is Ryan standing on the neighbors porch to get a good pic. We love being right there on the sand.

We bought these slingshot light up things from a guy at the pier. The kids had fun shooting them over and over again. It looked like fireworks.

Our last night, the sunset was gorgeous and we wanted to walk down to the pier for pictures.

This picture is blurry, but I love it anyway.

Oh California, you show off!

I want to go spend a month there one time. Just get a rental and relax!  But, we will take our week long trips when we can and pack up our memories and suitcases and head home. The last morning, Noah and the girls went out to feed the birds our leftover bread. Usually, it's always overcast and foggy until about noon. We didn't have that one day, except the last day. It was so nice.

And that wraps up our one big trip of 2020. It was glorious. We will see you next year Cali.

First Day of School (Again)

Oh vay, this school year has been nothing but weird. The kids finally got to go back to in-person school a few weeks ago, but only for a few days a week. Well, Noah gets all 5 days in school, like normal. Emily and Ben only go 2 days. Since their high school has 1500 kids, they are splitting up the days A-L and M-Z, so only half the kids are there at any time.

So, here are pics from their second first day of school. Of course masks are required. This world is so weird.

I actually wasn't there for this day. I had to work. David took the pics. It was Emily's second first day of school that I ever missed. The first was in Kindergarten when I was having Noah and we were dying. But, she doesn't need her mommy to fix her hair anymore. Well actually, she asks me to do it for her all the time. But, you know what I mean. She drove Ben to school for the first time! So, that was fun. She's a really good driver. We've seen her driving a few times when she didn't know we were a few cars behind her or whatever and she does great. We're very proud of her.

But, I feel like their education is tanking this year. So, the go to school Monday and Thursday. Tuesday and Friday, they have to check in online to all their classes for attendance. Then, they do work the teacher assigns them. On Wednesday, everyone does online school with the teachers teaching. It's all very confusing and Emily and google are getting awesome grades this year. 

It is what it is though. No point in complaining, but, I can't wait for this stuff to all be over.

Camping in Show Low

Our annual camping trip in Show Low almost didn't happen due to Covid. This trip was back in June. Luckily, they opened up a few weeks before we went. It was pretty much the highlight of the summer since we did almost nothing else. We look forward to this trip every year, and I'm so thankful that we at least got to do this.

Ava got to come too, so it was the fantastic 4 for the weekend.

I would've been fine doing just this for 2 days.

There were some fires off in the distance, so the first night was a little smokey, but it cleared up. These fires were over 100 miles away and with the wind, this drifted in. It makes for pretty pictures though. The first night we went to our favorite Mexican food restaurant, Licano's. They make delicious margaritas and chimichangas.

Here's some nice pics down by the lake the first night.

Emily's face is funny. It's the only pic I took of the girls, so it's what I'm putting up. Sorry Em's.

I love waking up to this view in the mornings and hearing the birds.

TWe got up and headed to the lake for a day of water fun. There was some kayaking.

And Dakri rowing while Ryan rested.

The girls got to try paddleboarding.

Noah gave it a shot.

Then, Noah with his girlfriends.

This takes some skill to get all 3 of them standing up.

 

 

We did Gina's frog school, which is where we swim across the lake. No pictures of that. The kids are so much faster at it now. It used to take forever. Now, they are all older and bigger and we are there in no time.

 

At night, we always like to go back down for an evening swim. Well, the kids like to. Us adults like to stay dry and warm.

The next day we did more of that same stuff and then headed home.

Oh, but the channel 3 news was there filming a story on renting paddle boards. So, we were hoping we would get in some of their footage. It aired the week later and this was it. That's us in the background. A drone got this footage. We're famous!

We already made reservations for next year and are looking forward to it.

That's it!  I think I'm all caught up. Enjoy!