SAN DIEGO

We went to San Diego with our friends, the Schmitts, right after our weekend in Pinetop. We stayed in this great rental house that was right on the beach. It was a beautiful view and great weather, but my heart will always be in Arizona.

Gage and Jake spent hours building their fortress in the sand.

Bella and Megan sat on this boogie board, not yet brave enough to try it.

Paisley kept eating the sand, which is why I kept the binky in as much as possible. She also had no fear of the ocean. She kept crawling down there into the water, and I let her, thinking she'd shy away after getting slammed by the waves. But she didn't.

We went to a less-expensive version of Sea World, Scripps Aquarium. The kids got to touch starfish, sea urchins, sea cucumbers, stingrays, and the likes. They were beyond excited!

Rob and I even got to go in a shark cage! It's totally real....I promise.

So is this shark's mouth....REAL!

We also went to the Botanical Gardens. They had this awesome treehouse that Rob now thinks he has to build in the backyard.

GREAT FALLS

We took a trip to Great Falls, Montana, to visit Billy and Alicia and crew on the Malmstrom Air Force Base. Our plane ride was great and problem-free. Of course, the suckers and candy helped. The kids were so excited to see each other and they picked up right where they left off. Bella and Kaytlin got to know each other better and had such fun (when they weren't fighting over the dolls and strollers as every toddler girl should). Gage and Braden bounded around with endless energy playing games, tag, war, superheroes, riding bikes and scooters, you name it. And each night, after the exhausted kids went to bed, we visited, ate yummy desserts, and played games like the old days. Alicia was an awesome hostess with her homemade wheat bread and delicious meals. Paisley and Jacob did a lot of eating and sleeping. Too bad they won't remember any of it!!

The first day we drove about an hour to a ski resort that wasn't open yet to skiers, but open to sledding! Lucky for us, we were the only ones there. It was a BLAST!! Uncle Billy was a trooper and carried Bella up on his shoulders and rode down with her. And again and again. Gage was a champ sledding down the hills, first sitting on the tube, then after getting a little braver he went down head first. I recently mailed him a postcard that had a picture of a young superman and people commenting, "Look at the boy of steel!". I wrote him a little note telling him he was MY boy of steel and that I knew he was brave and strong. He LOVED it and now refers to it in situations that make him scared or nervous (that was the goal!). Gage was tired after carrying the tube up the hill, but was determined to keep doing it. About halfway up, he plopped down in the snow on his knees and started praying, "Heavenly Father, I'm really tired. Please help me to climb up this hill." And sure enough, he did.

The next day we went fishing in the Missouri River. It was beautiful, but windy! Gage and Braden both caught a fish and Bella couldn't wait to get her hands on it! I'm not sure what the kids liked better - catching the fish or eating the marshmallows. Near the river is a park with pine trees and play equipment. Bella and Kaytlin were tormenting a squirrel that ran up and down the tree. And a large buck and deer came prouncing through the park and up the hill. That was so COOL!! Too fast to get a picture. We actually saw a lot of deer as we drove back from the ski resort, too.

The next day we went to this really neat children's museum. It was in this old building and they really fixed it up and had all these creative and fun activities for the kids. The pics show a lot of the different little stations. There was even a paper-airplane making station after which you raced them on a runway. Very clever! We went to eat at a pizza place and I took Gage to the bathroom. He washed his hands and then the paper towel machine was one of those automatic hand sensor ones. He waved his hand in front of it, the paper towel came out, and he said, "Look, Mama! I'm a Jedi!" I laughed and then did it for myself and he said, "Whoa...you're a Jedi too!"

I got a kick out of all the saluting Billy gets. It's very formal and serious and makes me uncomfortable. I would get the giggles everytime it happened. I guess I'm just not used to it and find it strange that people are saluting my brother. But very cool and Gage thought it was awesome.

In the car on the way to the airport to head home, Gage cried and said he missed Braden already. We had a fabulous time and we're already talking about going back again next summer. We miss them so much and can't wait to have them back in Arizona (only 3 1/3 more years)!

ROCKY POINT

We had a great weekend in Rocky Point with our friends the Johnsons x 2, Schmitts, and Rybergs. The weather was awesome, the kids did great and we got some nice, peaceful down time. Our condo was right on the beach with a beautiful ocean view. Gage and Bella had fun playing in the sand and getting their feet wet in the ocean. Bella ran out to the balcony shouting, "Hi Ocean! Hi Ocean!" excitedly (nevermind that she's never seen the ocean before.) Then she ran back to get her beloved doll and took her out to the balcony and said, "Look, dolly! Ocean!"

Bella and Paisley had to take their naps daily in order to make it bearable for all of us. That meant that one of us had to stay in the room while slept. I happily volunteered because it meant sitting on the balcony listening to the oceans waves and feeling the ocean air while catching up on some reading. All of this with complete silence. Silence is golden!! That's what I call a vacation. Meanwhile, Rob would take Gage down to the beach or to the pool with everyone else.

A friend of mine was there whom I haven't seen in a long time, not since I was pregnant with Bella. We were out at this restaurant where they have a dance floor and the kids were dancing their cute little fannies off. She asked me how I was doing now that I have three kids so close together. I had a very positive response which she didn't believe. I thought, "Do I give the impression that I don't enjoy this?" I sure hope not. I found myself having to convince her that I really do enjoy it, even though there are hard days. Actually, there aren't hard days....just hard moments. But the times of joy DEFINITELY outweigh the times I want to pull my hair out, or theirs'.