Trip to California- Beach, Pool and Park Days

It was pretty funny because Stephs house was far enough away that we could not keep driving back and forth, so we chose a few days to hang out with the cousins...go and see their apartment, go to the beach, go to their awesome neighborhood pools, and go to a few fun local parks. The funny part is that my kids wanted to hang out with Stephs kids everyday....they didn't care about spending money and going fun places..they just kept saying they wanted to play with the cousins. And a few of the days...Corey said to me..."mom this has been the best day ever...we had a good morning, we got to color with the cousins, swim with the cousins, and just play at grandmas." I was laughing because she considered that her best day ever. I guess my best day ever would be on a beach in Hawaii, laying out, with no interruptions, maybe reading a book or something. I just thought it was hilarious. They wanted to be with them every second of the day.

So we did get to go to the beach, and swimming at a few pools, and out to frozen yogurt, and also to a few parks. So we did have some fun days. And the kids also did a sleepover at Stephs one night and a sleepover at Grandmas one night also. In fact that night at grandmas house, we had Brett and Janice and Kyle (my relatives) over and Matt's cousin Marnie for dinner. We made those awesome PF Changs Lettuce Wraps. So freakin good. It was so fun to catch up and laugh. We always laugh when the Allans are around. I also had my high school friends and their kids over one night for dinner too. It was fun to see their kids and to catch up. But can you believe I forgot to take pics again. (I even went to the beach campsite in Carlsbad to see them on Sunday and forgot to take pics there also. )

My kids love the beach..Corey is really into the water and Cade loves the sand. Casen was not so sure about either, but he finally warmed up to the sand. He hated getting his feet dirty, but by the end, he was dipping his granola bars and crackers in the sand and eating them. So like I said he got use to it. Cade also became a better swimmer this trip. We went to a few pools with Steph and if I just let him get in the deep end and swim, he could do it. He looks like he is struggling to swim, but he floats on his back when he gets tired and he makes it all the way across the pool. I still have to watch him though because he makes me nervous and is not that strong of a swimmer yet. But I could tell my kids were really going to miss their cousins when we return home. I really did miss Utah summers though because California is nice weather, but not hot like Utah. The beach and pool were both a little cold with that ocean breeze. And wearing sweatshirts at night, in the summer, does not feel like summer to me.