Beach Vacation - day 1

We were able to go to the beach the week before school started up. We left on Sunday and stayed with our good friends Steve and Elise Sunday night. We had so much fun chatting and hanging out. The next morning we walked with the kids to get doughnuts at a little shop near their house. Then Elise, Ian and I went to Target to find me the perfect beach chair. We gave Elise a little glimpse into the wacky relationship that is Ian and Sheri. I'm pretty sure she enjoyed the show :). And I did find the perfect beach chair! Woohoo!

So...we had planned on spending most of our time at Newport Beach, but luckily Elise knew of some better beaches. On the first day we went to Salt Creek Beach in Dana Point (right by the Ritz Carlton). It was gorgeous and fun!



I was so glad that Elise and the kids decided to join us (Steve had to work). We had a blast hanging out and catching up. And all of the kids got along great!
Ben spent about 90% of his time boogie boarding with Ian. Xander and Max boogy boarded for a while, and then went to find crabs. They came back with a bucket full and stuck them in a big hole on the beach.



Evan thought he wanted to boogie board - but quickly changed his mind.

After a while, Evan, Xander, Kaz, Addy and I decided to go exploring down the beach.

We saw many sea creatures in the rocks. Xander is holding a sea slug.





Elise buried Zoe and Max while we were gone.

We stayed at the beach all day long then checked into our hotel in Costa Mesa. Steve and Elise got us a room at the Wyndam resort - free of charge! We are so thankful for their generosity. We feel so lucky to have such awesome friends!

Vacation

Guess where we were last week?

The Lodge + The Ganems + Snow = FUN

During our visit to the "Lodge" we...rode the Ranger (and froze our butts off)....

played Laser Tag (thanks to Xander)...

played Settlers of Cataan...again and again...the women dominated (sorry Ian...I know that's a sore spot and I know you got sick of my "I just won!" dance)....

played in the snow (and in Elliott's case - ate snow)....

made cookie art and played "Close the Door" with Evan - the WORST game in the world, by the way...

got warm by the fire....

sledded....

and sledded some more....

and rode the Ranger some more...

and roasted marshmellows by the fire.

All in all - one of my favorite family vacations - EVER!

P.S. Thank you mom and dad for letting us stay at the Lodge. That place is AWESOME!