San Diego 2

Here are the rest of our San Diego pictures!  First I have to start out with this group shot at Legoland!  This was just as we were leaving for the day.  The kids did an awesome job all day--no temper tantrums and great attitudes throughout the day even though they were tired.  

One more funny story is that we learned that Nolan has some motion sickness.  On the windy roads from Ramona into Legoland on the coast Nolan got sick in the car!  It was very reminiscent of my many childhood memories of getting sick on the very same roads.  Poor guy.  He felt better once we got him cleaned up and we avoided those roads the rest of the trip, taking a longer way around.  

While we were in town we also stopped by to see my great aunt Jackie at her house. Luckily, my dad's cousin James, and his wife Maria were able to come by too!!  Here are James and Maya giving some big smiles!

Maria is a mom and grandma and she is so great with kids! Maya and she bonded right away and Maria made Maya feel so special!  She also brought some bubbles for the kids to play with which they loved!

Here is the whole gang sitting on Jackie's patio enjoying the beautiful weather with our coffee and snacks.

Jackie also had a trampoline that she got out for the kids.  Yippee!

Wheeeee!

While we were walking around Jackie's backyard, Nolan slipped and put his hands on the ground to steady himself...and landed right on a honeybee!  The startled honeybee stung him which didn't make Nolan too happy.  Luckily, we got the stinger out and Jackie knew just the solution...baking soda mixed with water to form a paste takes the pain away!  Here is my little man with a smile on his face after Jackie doctored him up.  I am so disappointed that my camera took terrible blurry pictures of Jackie fixing Nolan up so I don't have any of her!  :(  But you can see the relief on Nolan's face.  We were so happy they were there to help us!

Here is the whole gang minus Darin.  We had a great time hanging out with our family and are so happy we were able to see them during our trip!!

On our last day in town, we went to the beach!  We found an awesome family beach called Moonlight Beach in Encinitas.

I love this shot!  Maya insisted on carrying her "surf board" because she told us she wanted to go surfing.  Ahead of her, Nolan is carrying our lunches and my dad is carrying the boogie boards.

The kids were so excited to run into the water!  They had no idea how cold it would be but they ran in anyway and braved the waves.  

Nolan loved to play a game with the waves.  As they came into the shore, he would run away and pretend that they were chasing him!  

Then out he would run after them as the slid back to the ocean.

After playing with the kids a bit, Darin and I decided to go boogie boarding.  It had been so long since we had gone (10 years?) and we were excited to do it again.  We caught quite a few waves and it was so much fun!!  It was so wonderful that my parents could keep an eye on the kids while we were in the water together!

When we were done, Nolan wanted to play in the water with Daddy again.  Darin carried each of the kids out deep in the water so they could see what it was like and Nolan loved it!  So then we went out deep in the water together.

Nolan just loved the water!  

Maya was a little more tentative.  While ankle deep in water, she got knocked down and the waves rushed over her, she inhaled some water, and got scared quite a bit.  She was a little more nervous about the waves after that!

Then Nolan got some salty sandy water in his mouth too.  Yuck!  

 

"Hey mommy!"

"This is fun!"

Of course there was plenty of time to play in the sand!

Maya's favorite thing of all was covering her feet (and Nonnie's feet!) in sand!  Then she would wiggle her toes and pull them out.  I think she and Nonnie did this over and over for an hour.  I think there may have also been some sand castles in there somewhere too.

Here is another cute picture.  On Sunday morning before we left for the beach, Nolan found the comics in the newspaper and laid them on the floor and started to "read" them!  Adorable!

One main reason that we went to San Diego in July was to go to our church's annual family picnic. The kids were such good sports on this day letting me take pictures of them!

Maya's happy face!

Maya's silly face.  This reminds me of a funny story...
At breakfast one morning we were having a delicious pancake breakfast on the patio and Maya and Nolan started to play a new game.  Maya would tell Nolan to make a certain face and he had to do it.  "Be sad!"  (Nolan would make a sad face)  "Be frustrated!"  (Nolan would make a frustrated face)  It was so funny....I have to get some of these faces on camera and on my blog soon.

The best of friends!

We had such a wonderful trip.  I think this was my favorite trip by far.  My kids were at the absolute best and I was so proud of how they behaved.  It is always a wonderful feeling to show friends and family (and grandparents!) the best of your kids and Maya and Nolan were certainly at their best.  Thanks Papa and Nonnie for making our trip so special and memorable!  We loved our long walks, playing store, reading books, swimming, Legoland, the beach, and doing so many fun things with you!  We love you and can't wait until next time!!