Happy Birthday Morgan!!

Yesterday this cute girl turned 10!!

She has now entered the double digits!

Oh, how we love her!

Happy Birthday Morgan!!

CA Trip Part III: Lake Arrowhead

Tuesday morning we left Long Beach and headed up to Lake Arrowhead for the remainder of the week.  Of course, as soon as we arrived we had to go down to the lake to swim.  I kid you not, we spent more time in our swim suits than clothes for this trip!!  Ha!

 Burnt Mill Bay was first up.

 My brother, Andrew, lives in Big Bear (which is a bit further up the mountain)...so he came down to hang with us which is always good fun!

 Wednesday morning we went for a ride, and when you ride in Lake Arrowhead it's either up or down...flat roads do not exist!  And the last climb to the cabin nearly kills me every time!

And then we hit up Tavern Bay for the afternoon!

 Haley loves floating in her tube.

 Morgan absolutely loves fishing, but she has yet to catch a fish.

Thursday we headed up to Big Bear for the day (for more lake time of course) and so Morgan could fish with her Uncle Andrew.

But alas...still no fish.  Darn it.

 Morgan heading out with Ryan and Andrew...and of course Haley is out there in her tube.

Friday we decided not to go to the beach (I know...What???) and do our traditional hike to the village for ice cream.  I did this hike tons as a kid, so it's always fun to do it with my children.  It won't be long and I bet Haley and Morgan will be doing it by themselves.  

And then Saturday it was back on the road for home.

So side story:

On the way to CA we stopped into Peggy Sues for a bathroom break and to let the kids run around.  Peggy Sues is a restaurant/gift shop right outside Barstow, CA...so we were in the homestretch of the drive. When we arrived in Long Beach we realized that Piper had left her beloved Hippy (a stuffed Hippopotamus) at Peggy Sues.  Oh my, the devastation that ensued...poor Piper was so heartbroken.  I quickly called Peggy Sues and explained that we had just been there a couple hours prior and please could someone see if my daughter's Hippy was left on a picnic table.  The woman I was talking to was happy to look for him and low and behold she found Hippy!!  Just like we suspected he was left on a table.  She said she would keep him safe until our return trip a week later.  So...you better believe our first stop out of CA was Peggy Sues, and sure enough, they had Hippy safe and sound!!

 Piper was thrilled.

Happy Day!

 Pool side hotel room in St. George for no extra charge!

Happy Day indeed!

 7 layer bean dip with chips for dinner!

We're easy to please.

And more swimming!!

We got home Sunday afternoon...tired and happy.

Ryan and I even had time for quick ride!

Now, it's been back to reality and of course lots of summer craziness.

Have a great weekend ya'll!

CA Trip Part II: 4th of July!

After spending two very full days at the beach, and getting quite sunburned, none of us were up for doing much of anything Monday, which happened to be 4th of July.  

However, Jeff, my dad, Ryan and I did get out for little spin that morning.

What fun to ride along the coast again!!

 .And of course a ride along the coast would not be complete without a stop at our favorite coffee hangout in Seal Beach!  Just like old times!

And honestly, I can't even remember what we did the rest of the day!
But I'm sure a nap was in there somewhere.  Ha!

That evening we celebrated the fourth with a BBQ and eating alfresco.

I hope the kids don't hold it against me that we didn't see fireworks this year, but sometimes staying in and just hanging with family, watching a movie is just what the doctor ordered.

Besides, we had to gear up for the rest of the week in Lake Arrowhead!

California Trip Part I

 Road Trip time!

At the very beginning of the month we headed out for California.  However, this time we broke the drive up into two days with a stop in St. George along the way.  Road trips with this crew is no easy task and I think spending the money on a hotel room is worth it, and pretty much saves our sanity...truly. 

 We got a late checkout and had them swim ALL morning...and let me tell ya, it made the rest of the drive so much easier with them being a little tired out!

We arrived in Long Beach on a Friday evening.

It's been a few years since we've been in my hometown and it was a bit nostalgic driving around my old stomping grounds.  

 And the girls got to see Rocky again, my parents' pet squirrel.

No, he's not dead in this picture...this is him lounging on a hot day.  I assure you, he is one happy, spoiled squirrel!

 Hitting up Seal Beach Saturday.

 Of course an outing isn't complete without Rory napping somewhere.

She had sand in her eyes and put her head down in her towel...the next thing I knew she was asleep!

 We had planned our trip around a friend of mine's wedding celebration.  It was such a treat for Ryan and I to sneak away for it!  And it was 20's themed, so I had a ball dressing up for it!

 I bought the dress, shoes and the headband. My mom loaned me the purse and I used my great grandmothers fur shawl (and let me tell ya, I'm pretty sure that shawl saw a lot of speakeasys back in the day!)

And then Sunday morning...you guessed it...more beach!

 Jeff joined us, and Ryan and him got to do quite a bit of surfing.  If there is one thing Ryan misses about living in S. CA, it's the surfing!  He got to pull his old board out again and it was just like old times!

We spent ALL day at the beach and even though I reapplied the sunscreen several times we all came home with sunburns...pretty bad ones in fact.  What the heck?!

Mom fail!

Okay, since I have an overload of pictures from this trip, I decided to break it up.

More to come!