Our last leg of our summer vacation was a month in California. The first weekend we stayed at The Westin in Orange County. We were so excited because on that Saturday Aaron flew in from Malaysia. We also met up with the Hobson family that Saturday because Lily was going to be staying with us. It was a busy time because we had to do some last minute shopping for the upcoming week. Sunday we attended church at the Rancho Ward and I got to catch up on laundry at the Minors house. We had lunch/dinner at Rosas of course! Starting Monday we were all in different directions. The girls (including Lily) had EFY in Santa Barbara, Jaxon had scout camp on Fiesta Island in San Diego, and Aaron and I stayed in Orange County because he had to go into the office everyday.
This is the only picture of EFY I got and my girls are not really even in it except for a
shot of the back of Melynn's head. They were boarding the Amtrak train to head up to EFY
and it was full of other kids doing the same thing.
Jaxon hung out with his buddy Carson most of the time at Scout Camp. They had a blast!
Jaxon earned 5 merit badges- Environmental Science, Kayaking, Small Boat Sailing, Life Saving and Wilderness Survival. He also earned a patch for swimming an entire mile!
Of course we found out after the fact that Jaxon did not brush his teeth all week. Oh well!
What happens at camp, stays at camp :)
While the kids were all away, Aaron and I celebrated our anniversary by getting Life Scans! Yeah- I know, so exciting :) Aaron was worried about his health and was really curious about these scans. We actually learned later on from Aaron's regular doctor that it was probably a waste of time and money. Live and learn! This week I also got to have lunch dates with Keri and Cathy (on two different days) and it was great to have some one on one time. I sure have great friends :)
The following weekend we checked into the condo we rented in Oceanside. We also got to meet up with some of the cousins and Greg and Carmen too. The kids were enjoying our fabulous location. It was so nice to be right on the beach.
Taryn, Gaby, Lily, Melynn and Darby hanging out in the living room.
We really enjoyed Lily's visit and were so sad to see her go.
Melynn was a busy host this summer because after Lily left then the following day Hallie arrived. She stayed with us for about 5 days. Hallie was a friend of Melynn's at Stockholm International School and is currently in the middle of her "home leave visit" in Texas.
Taryn, Melynn and Hallie in Old Town San Diego
Kissing my hubby while waiting for Mexican Food in Old Town!
We took Hallie and Taryn with us to Catalina Island along with Greg and Christian.
We took the boat ride out early from Newport Beach and stayed until the afternoon.
Aaron, Darby, Jaxon and Greg went on a short one tank dive.
My kids were excited to do this with their Uncle Greg.
Christian and Taryn did some snorkeling. I sat and watched all the gear :(
Someone has to be in charge darn it!
Aaron, Darby, Melynn and Hallie kayaking
Christian really wanted to watch the waves at "The Wedge" in Newport. So after our day trip to Catalina we drove over to see the action. We tried to get a nice group photo but Christian kept telling us to hurry up because he wanted to see the waves!
By the following Monday, Hallie was back in Texas and Melynn and Jaxon started
Junior Guards. I was actually looking forward to some regular routine at this point.
Junior Guards. I was actually looking forward to some regular routine at this point.
Having these two kids in a schedule was kind of nice.
Top to bottom, L to R- Nathan, Gaby, Taryn, Jaxon, Parker, Melynn, Carter and Eddy.
Taryn was the only one in the photo that didn't participate in Jr. Guards.
Gaby, Jaxon and Carter are all together in this photo.
The entire Junior Guard class for session 3. Melynn is in the top row, center.
It is hard to miss her long blonde hair :)
On July 16, 2015...
I was able to witness the sealing of Heather and Spencer. A perfect day!
It was great to see some friends at the wedding. Photo above is me with Ann Armstrong.
She has been a great influence in Ashtyn's life and I really appreciate how wonderful she is.
That evening my family met at Ruby's on the pier for dinner.
The kids love to order the ice cream shakes.
Kristi was in town for two weeks and it was so nice to spend time with her.
After dinner I had to rush back to the condo and get ready for
Heather and Spencer's wedding reception. No photos to show but it was lovely!
One night we celebrated Carter's 13th B'day at Greg and Carmen's.
Carter, along with his summer buddies, opening gifts.
Dad and Laurie were able to visit for awhile since they were in town.
This was just one of the several family gatherings over the summer.
Every summer, when we come to Southern California,
there are always two boys that Jaxon makes a point to visit...Ryan and Carson.
Photo above is Jaxon with Ryan at his house.
I took the boys to see "Ant Man". Good movie!
One day I took Jaxon, Carter and Nathan to Sea World.
We were planning on meeting up with Tina and her sister in-law along with their crew.
While we were waiting for the rest of our party, the boys and I went up the sky tower.
After we got off the ride we started walking towards our meeting point
but then a wonderful thing happened!...
2 ladies approached us and gave us a surprise gift in honor of their 50 year celebration.
I opened the envelope and we were given free front of the line passes on all the rides and premier seating at all the shows!!! They asked me if this was our entire group and
I explained that we were actually meeting some other people
(I was a little worried about how this was going to work out).
The ladies told us that they could only give us up to 8 passes. I thanked them and we met up with our friends. We realized then at that point that we had exactly 8 kids with us!!! Perfect!
It was such a great day!
The last set of photos I have are of the many many times we spent on the beach.
This was my favorite part of the summer.
Spending time with the Minor family.
One of the many times Aunt Carmen took the cousins surfing.
Hanging out on the Pier
Kaylee and Harley visited with Darby.
Greg, Carmen, Jenn, Tina, Kristi, Dave and me
Jaxon grew a lot this summer.
Nathan and I after a boogie boarding session together :)
Darby, Gaby and Melynn
Tina, Alisha and I
Jaxon got up on a few waves.
Had to take a photo of all the boards in Greg's garage.
And there are more hanging above the ceiling.
Watching the Supergirl Surfing Competition
with Dad and Laurie
Melynn loved surfing!
Every summer, when we come to Southern California,
there are always two boys that Jaxon makes a point to visit...Ryan and Carson.
Photo above is Jaxon with Ryan at his house.
Photos below are Jaxon with Carson
We were planning on meeting up with Tina and her sister in-law along with their crew.
While we were waiting for the rest of our party, the boys and I went up the sky tower.
After we got off the ride we started walking towards our meeting point
but then a wonderful thing happened!...
2 ladies approached us and gave us a surprise gift in honor of their 50 year celebration.
I opened the envelope and we were given free front of the line passes on all the rides and premier seating at all the shows!!! They asked me if this was our entire group and
I explained that we were actually meeting some other people
(I was a little worried about how this was going to work out).
The ladies told us that they could only give us up to 8 passes. I thanked them and we met up with our friends. We realized then at that point that we had exactly 8 kids with us!!! Perfect!
It was such a great day!
This was my favorite part of the summer.
And there are more hanging above the ceiling.
Watching the Supergirl Surfing Competition
There were other events that happened over this summer that I did not get pictures of like Darby passing her driving permit, Darby and Taryn going to the 1D concert with Kathryn,
Taking Jaxon to walk around outside at Comic Con, Darby going to Disneyland
with friends, plus all the doctor visits but you don't want to see photos of that!
It was a full and busy summer.
No comments:
Post a Comment