The first few days of our California Adventure

The first morning of our trip the kids begged for doughnuts.  Papa Gary has the best doughnut shop just around the corner from his house and since we can't get a decent doughnut in Utah they associate every trip to California with a trip to the doughnut shop.

After our nutritious breakfast we spent the morning helping Papa get ready for our cousin's bbq in the evening.  The kids had a blast hosing off the table and chairs in their bathing suits.  By lunch we were ready to get out of the house, so we had lunch at Chuck E Cheese-- yet another Papa treat that the kids look forward to!

We got back just in time to rest before 40 something cousins piled into Dad's backyard for a bbq.  It was so great to see everyone!  We've gotten to be such a big group that we really only get a chance to see each other when someone gets married-- and now that most of us are married that doesn't happen often.  The last time I had seen everyone was almost 3 years ago when my Aunt Sandi and Uncle Bill celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary.  I love and admire all of my cousins so much.  I'm glad I got to introduce my kiddos to their kiddos.  Wyatt hit it off with my cousin Eric's daughter Sophie and, unfortunately, Ruby slept through most of the party-- jet lag, I guess.

Dad and Linda

My brother Nick and cousin Eric

Cisco Kid-- the world's cutest and most well behaved yorkie

my dad and his brother Bill manning the bbq

My brother's family looking good

Wyatt instantly attached to Lynsie

One of my favorite's with my brother

My cousin Matthew and his adorable family

My cousin Eric and his cute family.  Sophie is the blonde that Wyatt adored.

sleeping beauty

my cousin Caitlin and her husband

Aunt Sandi and Uncle Bill

My cousin Brad and his cute wife Connie

Aunt Sandi and cousin Kelli

Kelli's girls-- Ashley and Caitlin

our little family

The following day was Mother's Day. We went to one of my favorite places in the world-- the tide pools at Laguna Beach.  My sister-in-law and niece came with us.  The kids had lots of fun exploring, and building sand castles, and soaking up the sun.  The most comical part of the day was watching me spend 10 min trying to park my dad's behemoth truck in a tight spot next to 2 luxury cars, but I did it with out incident-- whew!

My parking accomplishment!

As if we didn't get enough sun on Sunday, we went back to the beach on Monday.  This time we headed to my sister's corner of the world-- Huntington Beach.  She lives just a block from the beach, literally.  The kids had lots of fun playing with their baby cousin Dylan and collecting sea shells.  Did I mention that the whole week was unseasonably HOT?  Holy cow, it was 100 degrees at the beach in MAY!  After a few fun hours of roasting we ate a late lunch at Ruby's on the pier (tradition) and then headed back to my Dad's to spend some time with Papa.