Mom, Ashley, Laura, and her kids came to visit this month. It was so fun to have them see where we live and spend time with them. The kids were so fun at the beach, aquarium, and even dinner. They stayed close by so we could visit and play each day.
The first day we went to the beach. I didn't get any pictures of the beach, so I'll describe it. Saylem fell in the waves right when we got there so she was a little nervous of the water. But she entertained herself all day long. She gathered seaweed from the sand and made a pile. She dug in the dirt, and watched some teenagers next to us with great interest as they covered a friend in the dirt. She was so cute. Gage, Mayson, and Cayden were fearless in the ocean. The waves were pretty big that day, but they were boogie-boarding like pros. Even after getting stuck in a few washing machine waves, they didn't stop. Ashley also boogie-boarded with the kids, and unfortunately neglected the sunscreen. Being a redhead on the beach without sunscreen isn't a great idea. She got really really burned and blistered. Mom, Laura, and I spent most the time hanging on the sand with Saylem and watching the kids in the water. It was a perfect beach day. The "hottest" day of the year at a whooping 83 degrees.
That night we had a special BBQ on the beach. Deven and I went down to Huntington Beach by our house and reserved a pit for a fire. We watched the sunset and watched some really funny guys doing "parkour." When the family got there we started the fire and had hotdogs, chips, drinks, and of course s'mores. We even had a mini marshmallow roasting contest where Mayson was the judge. It was really fun to have a fire on the beach.
Saylem loved the hot dogs!
Cayden and Mayson
Me and Deven with smoke in our eyes. Sorry Deven! 
Saylem, Mom and very sunburned Ashley
Laura, Cayden and Mayson roasting some dogs
The next day, everyone was pretty "sunned out" so we went to Laguna for some exploring. The kids DID NOT like doing this, but luckily we had enough adults to manage the situation. After some ice cream they were okay. After a VERY nasty experience at the Crab Cooker (all us girls got soft-shell crab that tasted like mud and fish guts) we drove up to Long Beach to go the aquarium.
Gage got some chocolate ice-cream. Can you tell? Don't you just love 5 year olds?
Saylem with her blue ice-cream. She didn't care about getting it everywhere at all!
Cayden, Saylem, Mayson, Gage, Laura: some shade and cones makes everyone happy. 
Saylem, Mom, Me, Cayden, and Gage in Laguna Beach. 
Mayson, Gage, Laura enjoying the view
The Hooper kids: probably dreaming about being IN the water rather the looking at it. 
The Aquarium of the Pacific was a blast. After 5pm they have a cheaper rate, and NO ONE was there. It was so great. All the boys got to run around finding stamps throughout the exhibit to put in their maps. Saylem LOVED all the fish, and loved all the little kids even more. She would walk up to anyone her size and start to gabber. I think she would freak them out more then anything, but she loved it. I was pleasantly surprised with how much I enjoyed the aquarium. It is such a relaxing experience to marvel and get a glimpse into another world. We also watched a darling 4D movie that reminded me of a disneyland movie. It was a fun night.
Saylem would run to each fish tank and point and gabber until she noticed another one. She could have stayed all night.
The next day was departure day. Laura and Cayden got a few more hours of beach in the morning, and we did get to have one last lunch, but then there were off. I was really sad to see them go. It has been so fun having family visit and break up the summer. It is funny how having something like that to look forward to gets you through boring lonely days. Now I guess I can look forward to my trip to see them in August!
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