A little California....

We managed a last minute few days away to California....."Oh we do love to be beside the seaside"and it's been a while (and there was the added incentive of escaping our house filled with ripped up flooring and noisy fans....)!!

We stayed at Newport Beach and although it was kinda cloudy while we were there, we didn't really mind as it makes a nice change from all the AZ heat and sun. The kids enjoyed a little long boarding...(ok one penny board in the mix too)

The waves were pretty big and the kids tried out some surfing and body boarding...they loved the wetsuits we rented (and it was chilly enough to need them...hey we live in Arizona our blood is thin!!).

We discovered a Duke's up in Huntingdon Beach and were excited to introduce the kids to the delight that is Hula Pie:) after the delights that were everything else....(but really we just went there for the Hula Pie!)

And I tried day after day to get just one shot of all my kids together where they were all looking and smiling at the same time...I thought it would get easier as they got older and could follow directions (but apparently not...unless it's with my iPhone apparently!!)

And we enjoyed a most beautiful sunset...I am a little bit of a sucker for a great sunset...maybe, just maybe I took a few too many photos (but really, how can you just walk away...!) Got to love a trip to the beach!
  

It never rains..but it pours

Particularly when a toilet decides to just pour water all over the house.....

What a fun filled weekend it has been...flooring ripped up, baseboards out, fans everywhere in the house trying to dry everything out.....it's noisy in here!!

This will be interesting...

Busy, busy

Amelia made "Diver of the week" this week...

And Abbie placed 8th in her dive meet....

that equals two happy girls:)

We got the Climb for Cancer t-shirts in the mail that James and I had designed....

Daniel finally made it home much to the girls' delight...

I had been working on his room while he was gone (and since I forgot to take a photo of the room before he got back - and now it is a disaster already with bags and clothes everywhere - I will just leave you with one pic of his blackboard wall)...

And the girls bought balloons and made cards and books and a huge sign (that sadly fell apart in the random dust storm that whipped through the area right in that hour that we were gone at the airport...)

The problem with doing one kids' room is that now everyone else wants their room done....

Guess what I'll be doing this week??