San Diego Here We Come

Ok, I admit it...  alright, it wasn't a secret...  I was not looking forward to camping on the beach.  I pretty much avoid camping.  I don't like sleeping anywhere except for my own bed and I really like to be clean. And I know this is weird, but I don't like to be wet either.   Don't get me wrong, I LOVE San Diego.  So no bed and lots of fine sand and water did not sound like a lot of fun to me.    All of that aside, there was no way that I was not going to go on this trip, my kids were SUPER MEGA CRAZY EXCITED!!!!  I have thought a lot about how little time we have left with our older boys at home,  especially after the church's announcement that young men can now go on missions at 18 instead of 19.  Sam is going to be 17 in December and is planning to turn in his papers as soon as he graduates from high school.  that is in just over a year and a half!  Yikes!

So we packed everything up.  Richard really did most of the packing and preparing.  He was amazing, I think that I was in denial that we were going.  The plus side of camping on the beach is that you are still in town and can get food or anything else you need easily.  So that made the packing a little lighter than "real" camping.   And the camp ground had bathrooms and showers as well as laundry facilities.

We camped with Richard's brothers, James, Jon and Steve and their families.  As an added bonus, my parents and sister Jessi and her girls were also in San Diego (in a HOTEL) for most of our trip too.  

Day #1

On the road

We hurried to get camp set up so the kids could have some time on the beach before dark.

The water was cold but everyone was in heaven.  

My family joined the Alger gang for the afternoon on the beach.  It was a little scary trying to keep track of all my kiddos in the ocean.  Luckily the little guys mostly stayed on the beach with me.

The little girls had a great time getting warm in the sand.  They were freezing, no fat on their bodies to keep them warm.  They also learned some lessons about beach sand, especially that it gets every where and does not come off easily.  They were happy to get showered before bed.

Daniel had fun climbing the bluff (the camp ground was up on the bluff) until we realized that you weren't supposed to climb it due to erosion.  

Laney and Susanna were wiped out pretty quickly and once we got most of the sand off and wrapped them up in dry towels they passed out.

Sam got some gorgeous sunset pictures.  This was one of my favorites.

It was fun to eat pizza around the campfire and catch up with the fam.  We don't get together with the Algers often enough. It was great to have the evenings to chat.

I slept in the van with the girls.  We used the benches as beds.  It wasn't awesome, but it was better than I thought.  Really, the humidity was the biggest adjustment for me, I just don't like to feel damp.  The kids slept great and thought the whole camping on the beach thing was amazing, so that made me happy.

  

 And thank you to Jon's wife Leilani for organizing the whole thing and asking us to go every year until she finally got us to go.  We are glad she did!

First Day of School

October is kind of close to the beginning of August, right?  I  am not sure how I missed posting these, but we did start school this year and everyone was adorable as usual.

Susanna, aka Miss Smarty Pants, is 4 years old and in her last year of preschool. 

Miss Jill is her teacher.  She LOVES going and is learning lots.

Laney is 6 and in 1st grade.  

She is in Ms. Serafin's class.  We haven't had her as a teacher before, but she seems sweet and Laney is happy.

Daniel is 8 years old and in 3rd grade.
He is in Mrs. Young's class.  Drew was in her class so we already know and love her.  Daniel has his friend Andrea in his class.  She is blind and he has loved being her friend and helping her for the last couple of years.  

Nate

Nate and Drew are 11 and in 5th grade.  This is their first year being in the same class.  They have Mrs. Heck.  Tim and Sara both had her as their 5th grade teacher and we love her. She requested to have Nate and Drew both in her class and said that they would be great together.  She was right.  They are having a wonderful year so far.  She is an amazing teacher.

Drew

Sara is 12 years old and is in 7th grade.  She is still in the Cambridge program.  She has tons of school work but does a great job and is an amazing young lady.

 

Tim is 13 years old and is in 8th grade.  He is also in the Cambridge program.  He is doing amazingly and is a wonderful student.  I can't believe he is going to be in high school next year!

Josh is 15 years old and is a sophomore in high school.  He is still in the architecture program and loves it. He has one duel enrollment (college credit) class this year.  He is in the drama club and Key Club (a service club). 

Sam is 16 and a junior in high school.  He is on the swim team, in Key Club and in student counsel. He is taking a couple of duel enrollment classes this year.  He has a heavy load, but it doing great.

I couldn't be more proud of my kiddos.  They are all hard workers and are eager to be involved and help those around them.  I am such a lucky momma!

Random Pictures

 Sleepy Heads

Josh and Susanna passed out after school one afternoon.

Tim and Sara were looking particularly adorable Monday morning.  They both had presentations in school that day on Dolly Madison.

Sam took this awesome picture of the sky, caused by an Amry Juno rocket during a missile intercept test on Sept. 13.  The sun was just coming up and it made pretty rainbow swirls in the sky.  He woke me up before 5 am looking for my camera and zoom lens.  

Fire! Fire!

My high school buddy, Jeff, works at our local fire station.  At the beginning of summer, Jeff kindly offered to give a tour to my kiddos.  The kids were excited and I thought it would be a great outing to get us out of the house.  Well, the summer flew by and before I knew it, it was the last week before school and we still hadn't taken him up on the offer.  We called all the cousins to see if they could join us in our last week of summer celebration.  Sadly, Nan and her kids already had plans, but the rest of the cousins were able to come for our last minute outing.  

I think we surprised the firemen with all the kids.  We have 18 kids in just our 3 families, and one more on the way (Dandi is expecting any day now).

  

We turned around to check on the little ones, and there, in the middle of all the excitement, the surrounded the garage drain.  THRILLING!  They were amazed with it.  I am not quite sure what was so fascinating.  

WOW!  That stuff really is reflective!

They had a blast climbing all over the truck and pretending to drive it.

The kids love trying out the equipment in the gym too.

The whole gang, minus Lucas.

The kids did a great job and Jeff was a fabulous tour guide.  It was a lot of fun!  Thanks Jeff!

A Couple of My Cuties

Sam went to a Hollywood themed dance last Saturday.  He looked so handsome, I had to take a couple of pictures. 

It's scary how much of a man he is becoming!

Sara has been wanting to do something different with her hair for a while.  She has mentioned a few times that she wanted to get it cut shorter, just for a change.  She has loved having long hair and always does it up so pretty.  It was scary for her and there were a few tears the first time she ran her fingers through her new shorter hair, but she loves it.  It was just what she wanted and it looks so cute on her!

Maerin and Brandon's Reception

Our beautiful niece, Maerin, got married (in July... I am a little behind)!  She looked amazing and so happy.  Brandon is a great guy and we are glad to have him in the family.  I didn't get many pictures because my battery died, but it was beautiful!

 Daddy Daughter Dance

 They had little birds hiding all around the reception.  Laney had lots of fun looking for them.

 This picture does not do the room justice.  It really was splendid.

Me with my "big" boys

 Sara showing us that she is what completes any picture. Silly girl!

Our brother-law Grant made these cute benches and the table topper arbors.  It was super cool! 

 I tried to snap a few shots with my phone, but they didn't come out too great.  There were flowers everywhere.  It really had a garden feel.

The kids helping to "clean up".  They enjoyed dismantling the cake.

It was a fun night.  We are excited for Maerin and Brandon and their new life together!