Happy Half Birthday.

Independence Day is a special day for our J. How because the 4th of July is How's

HALF BIRTHDAY!

How had a great day ... with half birthday songs and flag cookies and streamers ...

We watched the crazies assemble themselves along the beach for the day of celebration ...

We cooked (or watched those more skilled at the grill cook) ...

We watched trains pass again and again ... How counted down the minutes to 9pm (literally ... minute by minute - starting at 6ish!!!) until ...

The sun went to sleep and it was time for the big show!

HAPPY HALF BIRTHDAY, JOSHUA!

The firework show was amazing ... our view was even more amazing and our time in California was practically perfect in every way!

Let's Go Fly A Kite.

Whenever we're in San Clemente, this cute little beach side cafe just calls our name ... begging us to enjoy some yummy strawberry topped waffles. You just can't turn an offer like that down!
We waited outside for a few ... making the most of our people watching skills before getting a table!
YUMMY!
Then, later that evening, it was back to the beach for a little sand castle making, wave jumping and kite flying! My kind of evening ...
We started off jumping waves as a family until J How (who is normally a bit timid of the ocean) announced that he wanted to do it all by himself. So ... I obliged.
He started off fully clothed ...
But shortly after meeting up with a killer wave ... lost his shorts ...
And then, after meeting his match with another wave monster ... it was down to his britches ...
Britches with sand in them. NICE!
After wave jumping, we ate snacks and changed clothes and then How spotted the helicopter kite that Cake and Pap Pap brought. It just had to be flown ...
And Ben gave it his best Baywatch attempt ...
But ... even with his running skills and the help of Uncle Robert ...
The helicopter just preferred lounging on the sand. And who wouldn't.
It was the perfect evening ...
Just ask our junior lifeguard. Lifeguard Kyle took him up on the lifeguard tower and How told him ENDLESS stories of trains, planes and life long dreams. Don't worry. Kyle was a multi-tasker ... he kept his eyes on the ocean as Joshua went ON, and ON and ON!

One. Two. Three.

After a fun afternoon of shopping, it was off to see the Angels ...
We packed the whole crew in the mom mobile and cruised down I-5 ... with yours truly driving. Cake was in the back with the boys watching Elmo and Pap Pap and I navigated the roads.
We met up with Ben at the stadium ... found our seats ...
And had a BLAST! Eli made friends with anyone within a 3 seat radius who had food. He batted those big blue eyes for the gal behind us and landed himself a handful of peanuts!
E had so much fun with his Pap Pap!
The moment we were all waiting for ... the 7th inning stretch! J How sings Take Me Out To The Ballgame EVERY night before bed and we always cheer for the Angels ... so it was so fun for him to hear a crowd of 50,000 sing it along with him :)
And as if the night could get any better ... right before heading to our car, How spotted his favorite player ... Mr. Gori (known to the rest of the world as Tori Hunter). And Cake and Pap Pap bought him an Angels t-shirt ... which he has worn to bed for the past three nights! I have this strange feeling that our children are going to be VERY BORED when they arrive home from vacation!!

To The Beach.

For the past few months, Joshua has been talking about taking the train when he gets to California. After we arrived at the beach, we held him off for two days and then ... gave in.J How and Cake bought the tickets to Amtrak tickets to another beach ...
We waited. And waited. And waited for the train to arrive....Cake and How snuggled and waited some more.Ben came down to document the big trip! And we waited some more ... (and yes, for the next three weeks .... I'll be looking REALLY happy! You can thank the splint in my mouth!)
How gave the less than thrilled "pretend conductor" his tickets. Cake tried to explain that it was How's first Amtrak ride, etc, etc ... and he kept saying, "You don't give me the tickets." Okay, Mr. Thanks for playing along! How jumped on the train and I snagged the tickets back ... only to hand them to the same unhappy man about 5 minutes later ... once we were seated.
We're on the train ...
What kind of train, How? "I told you, Mom. This spells A..M..T..R..A..K!"
Waving goodbye ...
We walked a few hundred yards to the beach and found this fancy playground. The boys were THRILLED!!
We need one of these in our backyard!
A little bit of swinging ... and it was off for lunch.
We walked to the end of the pier for our lunch at Ruby's ... we had yummy burgers and fries! We started our trek back to the station and How stopped to look at a fish a man caught on the pier and knocked all of his hooks over ... I apologized as we quickly scurried away! YIKES!
Back on the train ... loving the view!
Then it was time for dinner and a little abstract art by Eli ...
Night, Night kisses ... and we were all in bed by 8! It was a great day!

Splish. Splash.

It was a long trek across the ugliest part of the Arizona. No one took a nap. Eight. Endless. Hours. But ...
Once we saw the sign for the timeshare ... everyone was all smiles. I could hardly contain myself! The boys didn't crash that night until 10:30pm ... but they were HAPPY, HAPPY, HAPPY to finally be at the beach!
Joshua might not want to leave. Right beside the beach are train tracks. The Amtrack ... Surfliner, Coaster, Metrolink ... all pass by and wave hello. Each time he hears the engine blowing ... we all are put on alert to drop whatever we're doing (and since we're on vacation ... it's usually a yummy beverage or a fabulous read) AT ONCE and see what number engine is making it's way down the shore. I broke it to him gently that it is possible to let one go by and not wave. That didn't go over so well.
Cake (Ben's mom) and I took the kids to the beach. We scooped, shoveled, patted, dumped ... and had the best time in our very own, SUPER LARGE, sandbox!
And then this one got sand in his eyes. And I guess wanted to show Cake that his mouth was "all clear" of the crunchy stuff ...
We hauled wet sand up to make a castle. Make that one lonely tower that lasted all of 10 seconds before How and his Mini pounded it into the ground.
Cake busted out the bubbles ...
And the boys had a blast chasing, catching and popping them ...
Later that evening ... the whole family cruised down to the beach. Eli is fascinated with Pap Pap's cane (Ben's dad had neck surgery about two months ago). He thinks it's a horse.
We had a bit of wave jumping ... and I ... apparently need practice. Bummer.
A family pic at the lifeguard tower ... And this is where we ended our first day of vacation. Eating clam chowder. Overlooking the crashing waves. It might be rough ... but I think we can hang out here for another few days.