Morro Bay, CA

Clara was on Spring Break from school the last week of March. Chris also took the week off from work so we could have some much needed quality family time. We decided to take a trip to the beach that first weekend. So we packed up the van and headed to Morro Bay, which is just under 2 hours from our house. We had a great time. The weather was gorgeous and the scenery was unbelievable...sorry for the overload of pics; there's just too many beautiful things to chose from!

You could see spring everywhere along the freeway on the way to Morro Bay. All the hills were vibrantly highlighted with oranges, yellows and purples.


Chris pulled off at one point to pick some flowers. Aren't those orange poppies beautiful?!


Morro Bay

Jonathan taking a break as we hiked down to the shoreline.

The first beach we stopped at was not a sand beach, but all pebbles.

There were these huge incredible rock formations on the shoreline, and tide pools with anemone and crabs. We tried hard to find a starfish, but no luck.

That's an anemone in the center of the picture.

A crab in the center of this one.

Some of the rock formations formed little caves. We had fun going in and exploring all the crevices.

Chris and the kids up on one of the rock formations.

More anemones

Crashing waves

This picture doesn't do justice to how awesome this rock was. There was so much movement in the layers and shape of it - it was amazing!


Me and the kids on that same rock

This picture makes me laugh because it is so true to how 95% of our family pictures turn out. Clara striking a sassy pose, Jonathan stomping in a puddle and Matthew distracted by my necklace...and me just holding my pose in the hopes that at some point all 3 kids will happen to look at the camera at the same time...and Chris will catch it!

Collecting pebbles on the beach

One of the coolest thing about beaches here on the west coast is the flowers and succulents that grow on the dunes.

Morro Bay

Succulents

The second beach we stopped at was a sandy beach. Here's Clara and Jonathan walking out to the shore. They couldn't wait to make a sand castle!

Almost to the shore

The sand was a really cool color and texture. Not the white powder I'm used to.

Chris and Matthew on the beach

Jonathan LOVES the beach

Clara's sand castle

Chris and Matthew helped Clara build a moat

Jumping over the waves

Love this pic!

Running from the waves...Oh, to be a kid again!

Clara found a ladybug on the beach

Ladybug

Brave squirrels live in the dunes.

Jonathan's footprint

Beach baby!

So happy

Love the angle Chris got on these next couple pics

First time Matthew feet touched sand at the beach!

First time he dangled his feet in the Pacific (it was very cold - he was not a fan!)

I miss living closer to the beach

Matthew's sandy feet

Exploring, just before he tried to eat it!

That night we went to a fantastic seafood restaurant. The thing I miss most living here in landlocked Lemoore, CA is seafood (thunderstorms are a close second). Even when we get a chance to go to the coast, west coast seafood is just not the same. I would kill for some blue crab and gulf coast shrimp! The restaurant that we went to that night came closest to satisfying this 2.5 year long craving I've had for good seafood. Clara even discovered that she REALLY likes clam chowder, but still we got back to the room and had to break out the fruit so the kids could fill their tummies before turning in for the night.

The next day we actually hung out in the bay. We took a tour on a 'yellow submarine'. Well, it was actually only a regular boat with windows in the cabin under water so we could check out the fish!

The landmark rock in Morro Bay

After our yellow submarine tour we headed out to 'Elephant Seal Vista' to check out the seals on the beach. It was the end of mating season so all the larger males had already left the beach, leaving behind the females and pups to begin molting season.

There were hundreds of them along the beach!

They used their flippers to throw sand on their backs. The signs along the beach stated no one was quite sure why they do this, except for the obvious guesses: camoflauge and cooling.

Chris and the kids posing on the boardwalk. In every picture I took of Jonathan at 'Elephant Seal Vista' he has his mouth open like this because he was 'talking to the seals'...art, art, art.

From the other direction

"Art, art, art, art...."

Clara with the seals

Cool tide pool

On the way home we stopped off the freeway to take a picture of Morro Bay from up in the mountains. If you enlarge this photo, you can see that 'landmark rock' just to the left of center at the top.

We had a great time and can't wait to go back this summer for more fun at the beach!

Clara's 6th Birthday!

On March 24th, Clara turned 6!

We decided to let her celebrate with her first sleepover the Friday before her birthday. Her school friend, Ava, came over to spend the night. Ava's dad had actually just gotten home from a couple weeks away earlier in the week, so we watched both Ava and her brother Finn (who happens to be Jonathan's age) allowing their parents to go out without kids. They swung by and picked up Finn on their way home and Ava stayed for the night. I would have more pics of the evening while Finn was here, if not for the fact that I was just a tad overwhelmed with 5 kids on my own. The initial plan was of course for Chris to be here as well, but about an hour into the evening when Chris started to make dinner, he cut his hand landing him in the ER for the rest of the evening. He had opened a can of baked beans, and dropped it with the opened lid still attached. His instinct was to of course try and catch it, but that didn't turn out so great for his hand. The cut wasn't so bad, but the ER staff quite literally forgot him. 3 hours later, after Finn had been picked up and all the rest of the kids were finally asleep, I jokingly texted Chris, "All the kids are asleep, you can come home now." No sooner than I sent the text, than Chris came storming in the house, totally frustrated with his visit to the ER and having to miss Clara's 1st sleepover. All in all it wasn't a bad night. All the kids played well together. The only rough spots were when Matthew would start crying for a bottle or food and I was not able to get to him right away. Then not only would he be crying, but Ava and Finn would start inquiring, "Why is the baby crying? Can you make him stop? What's wrong?" -- It all does wonders for your nerves!

Clara decided she wasn't to sleep on the floor with Ava. When we bought Clara's bed we were planning for nights like this. We bought a trundle bed so no one would have to sleep on the floor, but since Jonathan is still sleeping on that trundle mattress on his own floor, this is what we ended up with. As you can see, no one seemed to mind!

On Sunday, the 21st, we had all our friends/neighbors over to help celebrate with a cookout. Here's the guest of honor posing for a picture!


Jonathan was not in the best of moods as usual.

Uncle Larry and Aunt Sandi came to help celebrate.

That talk with Chris didn't do much to cheer Jonathan up.

Grandpa John has recently moved in with Larry and Sandi, so he was able to celebrate with us as well!

Aunt Sandi's turn to try and cheer Jonathan up.

Chris and Uncle Larry

Progress...this after Chris told Jonathan he better go somewhere else and get 'ungrumpy' if he wanted some cake. He yelled from across the lawn. "Look Dad, I'm happy now!"

Party Animal (sorry, I had to say it!)

Present time!

Princess and the Frog Wii Game..."Just what I always wanted!"

Birthday smiles.

The Cake. Clara insisted she wanted one from the store this year...because she wanted the toys that came on the cake.

Daddy's home for Clara's birthday this year!!!!!!

Blowing out the candles.

Already wearing the tiara from the cake.

As you can see that new attitude didn't last long after he got his cake.

Jonathan spent about 30 minutes just eating the icing off his cake.

Jonathan with one of his best buds, Alyssa. About a year ago he tormented the poor girl, even bit her quite a few times...it's a wonder she'll have anything to do with him anymore!

Turns out Matthew likes to play basketball.

He thought Chris' dribbling was hilarious.

Icing face

On Clara's actual birthday, she got to wear the new birthday outfit she picked out and her new Twinkle Toes that she just had to have for her birthday!

That afternoon she got to open her gifts from the family. Jonathan got her a Barbie Car.

More presents.

She asked for Polly Pockets too. Do you know how hard it was to buy her those, knowing Matthew is just starting to get around really well on his own?! But that face makes it worth while!

I had to get my picture with the birthday girl!

Our sassy pose...she's better at that than I am!

Making one more wish for her birthday!

Happy Birthday, Baby Girl!

Mom of 3

This 'Mom of 3 Gig' I have keeps me hopping a bit more than I thought it would. Of course it doesn't hurt that not only do I have the 3 kids, but those 3 kids are involved in extra-curricular activities that have put Mom's Taxi Service into business. We are constantly running from school to dance to gymnastics for 2 and now T-ball for 2, all the while trying to fit in naps and just a few home cooked meals. We've had a birthday and a weekend trip since I last blogged, so before everyone totally gives up on checking on us here in lovely CA, I thought I'd try and catch up a bit.

Matthew is now just a few days shy of 8 months, but I took these pics when he was 7 months.

I love EVERY little part of this guy!



Comfy in the exersaucer.

A month later and I still can't look at this picture without laughing!

Such a handsome guy!

Matthew's 1st St. Patrick's Day!

Matthew and 2 of his biggest fans!

These kids are great together! Well, more specifically, the 2 older ones are great with Matthew. Some days Clara and Jonathan are the best of friends and some days it seems they're on a mission to see who can start the most fights over the stupidest things! I'm trying to savor this time when Matthew isn't old enough to join in on those days!

We're STILL waiting on those first teeth. We can see the white mounds in his gums, but those teeth just can't seem to cut the surface. Still, we introduced Matthew to puffs.

He wasn't sure what to make of having something more solid in his mouth, but quickly decided it wasn't such a bad thing!

Yum!

Roly Poly

This is how Matthew gets around: