From Plaskett Creek, we headed up to Big Sur State Park and found ourselves a campsite.
This campground is awesome. The Big Sur river runs right through it, and tons of people were inner tubing down it. Next time, we will remember to bring our inner tubes.
We went on a hike in the morning.
We couldn't hike too terribly far because it was a little too hard for Brontie and his wimpy ways. But, we did see some really great views, and Brontie was a lot of fun to have along.
After the hike, we went to Pfeiffer Beach for a bit to relax.
And we took a couple incomplete family shots (Belle was missing, obviously).
It was pretty much a perfect day, and we could have stayed another week. But, come the next day, we were headed to Turlock, with some fun stops along the way.
On our way up to Plaskett Creek, we saw this cute little restaurant from the freeway and knew we had to stop to eat there. We couldn't resist a restaurant with a huge "dog friendly" sign.
The drive up the coast is the best. Unfortunately, the further north we got on that first day, the foggier it got. By the time we got to Plaskett Creek, it was so foggy, you couldn't even see the ocean, and it stayed foggy the rest of that night.
We decided to walk down to Sand Dollar Beach, which was right across the street from our campground.
Brontie wouldn't do the stairs. He is such a wimp.
But he did LOVE running all around the beach. The water....not so much. He is still figuring out what water is. Nick kept trying to get him to go in the ocean, but he kept running away from it.
But, he sure did love the sand.
We woke up the next day and ate a delicious breakfast.
Then we packed everything up in the car and headed further north on Highway 1. The weather the rest of the time was absolutely perfect and fog free, so I have much more to come.
Andrew is my first cousin once removed, because his dad (John) is my first cousin.
So, yes, I have cousins who had kids at the same time and even before some of my aunts and uncles. We have a pretty wide age span in this group of cousins.
Anyways, back to the party.
Sean and Amy..........Aunt Cindy, Aunt Vicki, Kim, Kristina, and Aunt Debbie
My mom and moi............Aunt Becky, Uncle Bill, and my mom again.
The highlight of every high school graduation in this family is seeing the quilts Grandma made for the graduates.
Always amazing!
Gotta love my Grandma!
Congratulations Holly, Andrew, and Scott! ---------------------------------------------------------------------- I will be posting some pictures from our trip soon, and hopefully Belle will write Brontie back....we shall see. (hint, hint Aunt Amy)
Dear Belle-
Wow! I have so much to tell you about, but first of all, I really miss you! I can’t wait to see you again on Sunday. I know Mom misses you too. She keeps talking to me about how much she wishes you were with us and how she is wondering how you are doing. But I know that you are being spoiled by Aunt Amy and Grandma and Grandpa, so I don't really feel that bad for you. So, let me tell you a little bit about what I have been doing. I think you would be so proud of me, because I have used a lot of the cool tricks you told me about on this trip.
First of all, Mom and Dad took me along on this hike that was really neat. But I don’t think you would have liked it. I think it would have made your arthritis hurt real bad. Even I couldn’t last as long as Mom and Dad. So, I did what you told me to do. When I didn’t want to go anymore, I just plopped down right there on the trail and wouldn’t move. And you were so right! They would either wait for me and give me some time to rest, or even better, they would pick me up and carry me. I owe you big time for teaching me that one. I am going to milk that one for all it’s worth.
It really hit me that I should not feel sorry for you on the first night we camped. It was cold and wet, and I just couldn’t stop thinking about how you were warm and cozy in our house sleeping in a nice soft bed. There I was, on a hard mat outside the tent, and my only protection from the cold weather was a rainfly. The next night, when it came time to go to bed, I asked myself, “What would Belle do?” And, I knew exactly what you would do. You would sleep in the tent, and no one would even question it. So, when they put me in that same stupid spot again, I refused to lay down. I just fidgeted and paced around until they unzipped the door, and then I waltzed right in that tent as if I owned the thing. And they let me stay!
Okay, but are you ready for the best news of all?!? I was so excited when I heard this, I couldn’t stop doing my bunny hop. Okay, well here it is. Mom convinced Dad that we should go on a camping trip to the beach and take YOU along! I am so excited, and so is Mom.I CAN’T WAIT!
Last weekend, we went over to Kim's new place to have a barbeque. Kim is officially on her own, spending her first summer in her very own place. She and some friends rented a huge townhome near Biola. This place is amazing and significantly larger than my house. But, they are cramming about 8 girls in there, so I guess that makes sense.
{The cute little hostess and the delicious food}
Kristina and Sean were home for the weekend, so they got to join in the fun, as did all three dogs.
Those dogs knew what they wanted, and their Grandpa/Dad made sure to spoil them.
Yay for family barbeques!
Nick and I are off to Plaskett Creek in Big Sur to camp for a couple of nights, then we are headed to Turlock for the lovely Molly Kinnier's wedding shower! I can't wait!
Man,this is my fifth blog post in a row, after a 3 week absence. I love having time! If only it could be summer year round.
A few weeks back, we took the dogs down to Dana Point Harbor for Brontie's first outing there.
People can't seem to stop talking about how much Nick and Brontie look like each other.
Brontie is still getting used to a leash and walking like a normal dog. If it was up to him, he would get to walk backwards while being nose to nose with Belle as she walks forwards. He loves to run in front of her and turn around and face her when we walk the two of them together. He has not quite learned the concept of a curb yet either. He falls off the curb at least 10 times every walk we go on. It is so cute.
The very next day, Kristina was out visiting, so we did a little garage sale-ing and had lunch at the harbor again. She brought her little dog Lily, so we had all three dogs there.
Brontie is about as big of a fan of posing for pictures as Nick is....actually all the dogs are.
To the man who taught his girls to be ladies (as you can see).
I love you dad!
Thanks for always being there for us and for being so much fun!
And to my grandpa:
I still adore you and always will.
So, Happy Father's Day to my favorite dad ever, to my grandpas in heaven, and to my incredible father-in-law, who I am oh so lucky to be the daughter-in-law of. I love you all!
Over Memorial weekend, Esther and I took a trip to Phoenix to see our friend Brittney as a pregnant lady and celebrate with her at her baby shower. She is due to give birth in just about 2 weeks...CRAZY!
{Brit and her sister....balloons can be so much fun.}
We played all sorts of games at the shower, and I was determined to win at least one of them.
There was the "guess what's in the diaper" game....didn't win that one...that was all Esther.
{gotta love Brit's face in that bottom picture}
There was the "guess the celebrity baby" game....didn't win that one.
There was the "whose ice cube with a frozen plastic baby inside melts the fastest and floats to the top first" game....didn't win that one.
And then there was the "who can suck the most vitamin water from a baby bottle" game...yep...definitely won that one folks.
Ahhh...it was such a fun weekend and made me miss being with Brit on a more regular basis. We did live together for many years after all, so having her in Arizona is not fun.
But now she is about to be a mom, so she wouldn't have time for me anymore anyways.
I love you Brit, and I can't wait to see your baby girl!
