Big Island: Mana Road

As soon as we got home from our California trip, we quickly packed up and headed for the Big Island the next day.  Most of Christian's family was in town and we didn't want to miss out!  We definitely missed the Kringel family!  

Sunday afternoon, we went for a walk down Mana Road, our typical Sunday outing when we are in town.  I love this road.

 

Road trip to Central, CA

Ian and his family moved up north a few months ago.  Some of us took a road trip up to reunite with them, and to explore more of their new neighboring towns.  I'm so glad we did!  Lovely, lovely drive up the California coast.

We first met up in Santa Barbara at a beach park:

Our hotel was next to the city of Solvang, a little Danish colony.  We walked around and ate dinner a restaurant called The Mustard Seed.  Not the finest food but the kids loved it and actually cleared their plates!

Betsy discovered her pockets:

We packed some lunches on Saturday and found a beautiful picnic area right on the coast.  It was freezing there, especially when the wind picked up.  By the end the wind finally died down and we warmed up a little.  

Lying on the warm grass helped a little.  

Betsy girl and Tristan enjoyed some rock throwing:

We visited Hearst Castle and also stopped to see the elephant seals in San Simeon.  Those big guys are crazy!  They covered the whole beach.  A couple hundred of them.  Bummed I didn't have my camera with me.  

The last day we visited the Ostrich Farm.  We got to feed them and realized they are pretty violent eaters and freaked the kids out a little.  They are gi-normous creatures and a little intimidating.  

Swimming, Birthdays, and Something Blue!

We spent MANY hours in the swimming pool!  Tristan mastered his swimming skills:

One day I was having Chocolate Chip Cookie withdrawals.  The kids and I made a batch of Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies, and Chocolate Chip Cookies with Pecans.  I love this picture for a couple of reasons...the screws on the mixer at home are loose, and we normally have to hold the top of it while it's mixing, super annoying.  So the kids thought they were helping by holding the top of my mom's mixer as we mixed these cookies.  Also, their hands are overlapped and they are super cute.  

All three of their birthdays are within a few months of each other, so we decided to celebrate them together with cake and presents: 

Lighting the candles took longer than expected.  The kids were getting impatient and kept blowing them out  They were too excited:

My sister Brookie, who is about 4 months pregnant, found out the sex of their baby while we were there!  Joaquin took a big bite out of this cupcake and found out he was going to have a baby brother!  Yay!

Lake Arrowhead and Cousin Love

The kids and I made our way over to California last month, to make up for our spoiled trip in March, due to the broken arm tragedy.  It's always so nice coming home, to see my friends and family, watch growing nieces, nephews and bellies!, and visit my favorite places in CA.

Our first weekend in California, we went up to Lake Arrowhead and stayed at the cabin.  It had been years since I've been up there!  It was a little chilly and dry, which was a fun change for us, and Betsy's hair was as flat as can be.  

We visited the village and had pizza for lunch, shopped a little, and let the crazy kids ride on some rides.

Everyone is excited and ready to go!...until...

...the train starts and Joaquin realizes that he was tricked into a wild ride!

Still not having it;

Betsy bonded with some of her cousins:

Alisa's sister got married in Orange County while we were there, which brought the rest of the gang to town!  Katie made a beautiful bride!

After a loooonnnng day of swimming, we got all seven cousins together for a photo op.  It's been a long time since we have all been together.  

The boys. Joaquin, Von, Tristan, and Leo:

The girlie girls.  London, Addison, and Betsy:

The youngins:

We visited Pretend City, and met up with my friend, Steph and her two cute boys, Ben and Oliver. Below, Betsy checks out a library book from Tristan, the Librarian:  

Tristan takes a 911 call and is ready to save some lives.  He took this job very seriously:

The kids went fishing:

Betsy and Leo drove around town together:

Joaquin served us some delicious pastries: