Boys Fun...

After our little getaway, Zoe came home with me so we could unpack and she could have a sleepover with Lacey. Cooper decided to stay with Jax at Grandma and Grandpa's house for a few extra days of fun.
Unfortunately, the first day they had to take my Grandpa, Poppe, to the hospital for a blood transfusion. They were good boys sitting in the waiting room playing their DS's....

They begged Grandma for some boxing gloves, and since they had been so good and understanding, that's what they got...
They also got to spend some time at the pool...

I'm so glad they got to have a few more days of fun!

O.C. Fair 2010

Although we were exhausted from our whirlwind mini-vacation, we decided to hit the Orange County Fair today. It was on our list of summer to-do's, so we thought it was a perfect day since we were already in Orange County and the weather wasn't too hot!
The kids got their unlimited ride bracelets and off we went! Luckily we got there right when it opened so there were no crowds. The kids jumped on and off all rides they wanted to.

They loved the jumbo super slide and went on it about a dozen times...

One of my favorite things about the fair is all the different foods. I think Grandma and I were burnt out on taking pictures from the last few days so we didn't get any of the fair food. Grandma had a yummy Philly cheese steak sandwich, I had a BBQ turkey sandwich, the kids had corn dogs and pizza.
The crazy new fair foods this year were chocolate covered bacon and deep fried butter! I couldn't get up the nerve to try them, so we stuck with the basics of funnel cake and cotton candy!
It was a fun afternoon for the kids and they were really happy to enjoy another fun fair day!

3 Day Coastal Vacation!

Grandma wanted to take the grandkids on a mini-vacation this summer like we did to the Grand Canyon last year. We decided it would be fun to do the California Coast!
We loaded up in the rental car (a nice, brand new Chevy Traverse) and headed up to Monterey. We decided to take the inland route on the way up since it was a little quicker.
This is how Cole spent most of the drive...

After a quick stop to fill up the gas tank and some McDonald's to fill up our bellies, we made it to beautiful Monterey Bay. The weather was perfect!
We found some great rocks to climb and some fun tide pools. The kids found lots of sea anemones and crabs...

After the tide pools, we walked down to Fisherman's Wharf. It was a beautiful walk and we saw TONS of sea lions!

All of the different restaurants were offering samples of clam chowder along the wharf, so we took advantage and had lots of tastes before deciding on a great seafood and Italian place...
It cooled off a bit while walking back to the hotel, but it was a nice walk and great for the kids to get some more energy out since we had been in the car so much, and of course take a few more pictures!

I took the kids to the hot tub before hitting the sack for a good night's sleep!

Day 2:
We got up, enjoyed our free continental breakfast, and walked down Cannery Row to the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

This aquarium is amazing. We saw so many sea animals, including octopus, sharks, sting rays, many varieties of fish, penguins, jelly fish, flamingos, seahorses, sea otters, and many more!
My favorite part was all of the incredible jelly fish! They were beautiful!
The kids loved the touch stations, where they could pick up sea stars, hermit crabs, feel the sea cucumbers, and touch the sting rays as they swam around...

After the aquarium we stopped for lunch at Bubba Gump's before hitting the road again.

We took the Pacific Coast Highway down from Monterey to Cambria. This is an awesome drive! It was a bit long and curvy, but the views are stunning, especially in Big Sur and all along the coast...


We made it to Cambria, checked into the Sea Otter Inn on Moonstone Beach and walked over to the tide pools. The kids had a GREAT time climbing all the rocks, picking up more sea stars, lots of crabs, putting their fingers in sea anemones, and getting REALLY close to the seals!


We were getting pretty hungry, so we headed into Cambria for a delicious pizza dinner. We planned on walking through the little downtown, but everything closes by 6pm! We couldn't believe it. So we stopped at a mini mart to pick up some ice cream, brought it back to the room and then the kids jumped into the pool before hitting the sack.

Day 3:
Another free continental breakfast at the hotel, then off to tour Hearst Castle. The kids had never been there before and they were very impressed! The views were awesome and the castle is incredible.


I LOVE this pool!
Entrance to the main house...
One of the bedrooms in one of the 3 guest "cottages" (each of them are bigger than my house!)...
The indoor pool is pretty amazing too...

We left Hearst Castle for our drive home. We made a stop in one of my favorite little towns, Solvang. It is an old Dutch town and is so quaint, filled with lots of little shops and cafes and windmills.

We had a late lunch at a little cafe, and I of course had to have a Belgian waffle...
I had to get a picture of the kids with the Dutch wooden shoes that are all over the town...
Of course we couldn't leave without getting some delicious chocolate and ice cream from one of the local shops...

It was a VERY long drive back to Newport. We hit lots of traffic, but thankfully the kids were very well behaved. It was a lot of time in the car during the 3 days, but we sure had a TON of fun. Thank you Grandma for taking us on such a fun adventure!!