California

 Every other year we plan a trip to California to see our family.  This year Trey was so excited he asked everyday for about a month if we could pack.  About a week before we left he packed his own bag.

I do have to say he did a great job utilizing
every inch of space! 

...and we know what he thinks he can't live without.

The morning of the trip arrive and these two cute little guys were pretty excited to carry their own packs.

Day one:  Travel=Adventure.  We all kept good spirits, but we were DONE by the end of the day.

We missed our flights due to the tram not communicating with us a change in policy due to construction at the airport, but our airline was very helpful in getting us out a few hours later, but to a different airport.  This meant when we arrived we had to find a way to the airport we were suppose to fly into!  We decided to take trains, trams and buses.  About three hours later we finally made it to the airport we were suppose to fly into.

Even after a two hour delay at the airport, and this being the 3rd train these cute boys were still smiling! Well, not so sure what Makai is doing, but hey...he wasn't crying(yet).

Always joking.(watch out dad.  They learn from the best.) 

Happy to be at Great Grandma's...after a good night sleep!

Enjoying a walk through the forest and to the beach.  We promised no cars or trains on day 2!

Kinda out of focus, but a cute place to take a photo!  We made it to the beach.

That evening GGMa had a great evening planned.  She does a great job entertaining and makes it fun for everyone.  No one left hungry.  It was great to see everyone

And the cousins got along great.  They had so much fun in the tent we slept in and played without a fight for hours and hours.

Monday we went to see Nana and Lu.  We spent the morning with them.  Nana made breakfast and we saw their place.  After a few hours of talking and catching up Nana and Lu went to play a game of golf.  They love golfing together.  In fact, I think they played a game everyday we were there.  It's fun to see them enjoy something so much.  Monday night all my siblings came over for a nice dinner at my parents house.  We sat around and talked and again...the cousins played and play.  Everyone had a great time.

Tuesday we went to the water park.  It was one of the funnest days of the vacation for most of us.  All expect Tyler.  He was struck with the BUG that always accompanies us on vacation.  Poor guy had a miserable day!

All the kids had a blast!(notice Tyler on in the background:(  Too bad he couldn't have been sick on a travel day.)

Four handsome guys off to have loads of fun!

Trey, back for a sunscreen break.  Always prepared!

I swear he is part fish!

Thanks for the fun day everyone.  

I was so impressed with each of the kids at the water park.  Mia and Emma are two amazingly brave girls who never complain...even if tears are rolling down their face.  Leilani and Eli played even though their lips were purple.  Makai, Eli and Leilani wore the kid slide out each going at least 100 times.  Our boys took off and we didn't see them for hours!  I was sad to see the day end.

Wednesday Andy and Nikki took us out on Nikki's dad's boat.  We had a blast!  We all tired wake boarding, skiing, or surfing.

Grant...learning the family business early!

So, Andy gets out there and shows us how to do it.  He makes it look easy!  

Kyle being the awesome kid he is was willing to jump right in after watching Andy and give it a try!  I love Kyle for this.

However, he quickly learned it wasn't as easy as Andy made it look. 

Grant and Mammy cheering Kyle on!  

Makai hoping he doesn't have to go next!

Kyle decided he needed to take a rest!

And then... he did it!!  This might be my favorite picture of the vacation!  Kyle was so excited when he got up his face showed it!  

A proud moment!!

Next up...Tyler!  No pressure.

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Tyler never made it completely up, but there is no way he could have as he was still weak from having the flu the day before.  I was just proud of him for trying.

Then it was my turn.  I REALLY wanted to do it.  Not that I am competitive or anything:)

So, this is my second favorite photo of the trip!  The half a millisecond I actually made it out of the water.  Thankfully this was before I ripped my pants and pulled my back out!  I am telling you--wake boarding is no joke!

Yeah, Makai wasn't loving this part of the trip!  He decided to take matters into his own hands and just cover up!

Nikki gets in and shows us all how it's done.  This girl has got skills!!

Kory was willing to try the ski's but was never really sure about it.

Nikki teaching him how to try.

Makai cheering Kory on.

We were proud of Kory for trying, but he wasn't very comfortable in the lake.  Great job for trying though bud.  You earned points in my book.

Andy then showed us how to surf on a lake.  Who knew?  Then he took Grant for his first ride.  A proud moment!

Monty decided to try to surf. (His feet didn't fit in the wake board boots.)  He did great!  I think if he had a little more upper body strength he could have done it!  Ha.  Check out those arms!;)

I like this photo because he looked like king Triton!

We decided to take a break and eat some lunch.  While mom and Nikki made lunch the guys enjoyed some lake time!

 We all had a great time at the lake.  I wish mammy could have gotten in.  Next time mom!!  I know she's got skills!

Thursday we hung out and watched movies in the morning while we all complained about out aching bodies!  Ha!!  Then we went swimming and Nikki's parents pool.  It was a nice relaxing day and the hot tub felt good on those sore muscles!

Friday we drove Trey to the hospital he was born in.  He'd been asking to see it.

Yep...he is so proud that he was born in California!!

We spent Saturday enjoying the bay area.  So beautiful.

Ahhh...I love the smell of the ocean and being with my man.  Oh, and thanks Kyle for your coat because it was cold!  I love that the boys are my size right now!

So, this was kinda funny.  Makai needed to go to the bathroom, but there was not a restroom around so we said, "Go in the water."  He ran out to the water and instead of just going he pulled his pants and underwear down all the way and sprayed.  Well, that is until a wave came and he tried to run from it.  This totally embarrassed Tyler, but just made us laugh.  

We decided to lay back and enjoy the sun while the kids played in the sand.  It was just a little on the chilly side for me, so to lay in the sand felt so good.  I was soaking in the rays of the sun thinking--THIS IS THE LIFE!  I turned to Monty and say, "Doesn't this feel good!"  To which he says, "NO!  I feel like a fried egg!"  I laughed so hard!  I guess we are not all created equal.  He sat up and watched the boys and let me take a little rest.  AHHHH!:)

Carmel By the Sea!  Loved it!!

I have always heard of Point Lobos, but have never been.  We spend the rest of the afternoon there and it did not disappoint.  Makai touched a star fish!

Tyler found a crab and wanted to catch it so bad.  Monty helped him catch it in a way that wouldn't hurt him.  Thanks dad.

He loved every second of holding that thing...well, after Dad saved the day!

The little dude left a mark before.

We love these boys and that they love adventure!!

Seriously the best brother ever! 

Told ya dad!!  It came back to bite you!!

My moms Uncle died so they were actually up in the bay area for his funeral on our final day.  We enjoyed seeing them one more time before we left.  We met at the wharf and took a fun walk through town.

Love this statue.  Grandpop says it reminds him of me every time he sees it.  

Tyler may be tied with me, but Mammy still has him beat...at least for now.

A family photo before dinner!  

I love this picture of the boys with Grandma and Grandpop.  Good times.  It was so cold!  Mammy gave her sweater to Trey.  That is a great grandma because I didn't and I'm sad to say it did cross my mind.

Sunday Morning we stopped by to see my grandma again.  We had lunch with her and I have to tell you it was kind funny I ordered the same thing as her.  I also know if my mom was there she would have ordered the same thing!  Chili Rellenos are in my blood!:)

Priceless!

Love you Grandma!!  So glad we got to see ya!

As our final stop we decided to go see some redwoods.  The reason we booked the trip was to see the redwood, so I was glad we were able to see some.  We went up to Big Basin and saw some beautiful forest of the biggest trees we've ever seen.  We took a fun hike and my camera battery died.  One of the funnest parts of the hike was seeing Banana Slugs.  I never knew they existed till we took the hike and now I know I never wanna touch one.  Those in our family that did were rather sticky!!

Too cool!

WOW

The boys took this photo.  They were so embarrassed! 

Bad boys, bad boys!  Wouldn't wanna mess with them!

And that's all she wrote!!

The trip home was smooth as smooth except we had a little trouble finding the keys after a week of not needing them, but they were in the bottom of one bag.  Makai got sick on the plane ride home of course, but he was a trooper and thankfully Monty had the muscles to carry him and the luggage through the airport.  I just carried the dead camera!:)    There are some perks to living with 6 boys!!  

We had a wonderful vacation. Thanks so much to all our family for being so hospitable and doing so much for us while we were visiting.  We love and miss you.  Looking forward to our next visit and know you are always welcome in our neck of the woods.