California Trip 2010 - Part 1

I'm SO far behind at documenting our past couple months of travels and fun so this might take me a while to catch up. We went to CA to visit both families for almost a month. It took us 5 days of trying to hop 6 different MAC flights (free military flights) to finally buying last minute commercial flights before we got to CA, but all in all it was a good experience. (I can say that now ;) ). We went and visited great-Grandma Dee (Matt's mom's mom) and had a fun time. It was the first time she met Lydia and she's 18 months! Lydia's name came from Dee's ancestor, Lydia Knight. We had a sweet time together.

Then we had a little accident at Grandma Gwynn's house. Matt was pushing Lukas really hard on the backyard swing and he fell off backwards and hit the back of his head on a large flower pot and then biffed his face smack dab into the deck. The amazing thing is that he didn't really get seriously hurt even though all odds were against him. The swing sits half over the stairs and deck and half over the grass which is like 3 feet below. Luke barely missed the wooden railing when he fell and the metal outdoor deck set. The pot he hit was also VERY soft, made of like styrafoam, and so that probably saved him from being hurt more seriously. He got a little scrape on his nose and mouth, a swollen lip and nose, and a bump on the back of his head. We are VERY grateful for the Lord's tender mercies. (Just a note, Luke didn't ride the swing for a while and then when he did he went slow).

We then headed to a beautiful, relaxing beach house with Matt's family. It was so wonderful to all be together again. Very fun to watch the cousins go crazy together! Lots of time was spent on the simply beautiful beach, playing in the water, shopping, picking strawberries, eating, and playing games. We always go to the O'Neill Surf shop's memorial day sale and get some good bargains. Last year Matt got a full body wet suit for himself as well as other things. Lukas' cousin Zoe was getting a 1/2 wet suit this year and guess who wanted one for himself? That's right, Lukas. So we caved and got him one too since he looked too darn CUTE! ;) We had lots of fun!

Great-Grandma Dee, Lukas, and Lydia

He really wanted to climb this tree but couldn't. Good thing for dad's, huh? (Can you see Lydia's head and hands at the bottom trying to climb up just like her brother. lol.

Owies from the swing fall.

Can you believe he fell off of this swing. Backwards! See the pot that's tipped over on the right. Yep, that's the one he hit. Super close to everything that could have done some real, scary damage...

And the blessed pot that saved him.

The beach house we stayed in is the one to the left of the yellow one.
Right on the beach. So nice.
Living room
Kitchen. And sweet cousin Hadley.

At first, Lukas was scared to get in the water. But as soon as he did it he LOVED it!

Eatin, always eatin'. ;)

Newest cousin Amara at 9 months. So cute!

So sweet. Mom and son.

My favorite picture E.V.E.R

I love this cheesin' pic of Lyd
Bros zippin' up the wet suits

Matt, his younger bro Brett & older bro Jeremy

Aren't my wet suittin' boys adorable?!

Luke had a BLAST playing with his cousin Zoe!

So funny with his band aid. He picked his scab from when he fell off the swing and blood went everywhere. He was shocked and screamed. Band aids have magical powers to make everything better.

Kids after picking strawberries. From left to right: Hadley, Jonas, Malachi (all 3 bros), Lukas, Zoe. It was near impossible to keep them from eating all 20 lbs of strawberries we picked!! And yes, we ate all 20 + lbs in 2 days. ;) They were the best! Oh, and only $1.45 a lb. Heaven. Thanks Janelle for finding the place.