fall break at the beach

my parents got the family together for a family reunion in Newport Beach.  it was kind of like this:

California weekend!

 can you believe i traveled to California with my 4 kids at 8 months pregnant to celebrate my sister's graduation from her Master's program, and I didn't take a picture with my sister?  (sorry Ash, we really did come to see you.)  

but the star of this blog post is the beach.  we love our beach time, and the two days we were able to spend were glorious.  the weather was awesome, the kids entertained, the company wonderful (thanks mom, dad, Austin and Holly), and we even saw dolphins.  in a word, our weekend was perfection!

Daddy was jealous of our beach time.  he would be so proud of his little groms. 

the weekend was full of celebrations.  Friday was dedicated to Ashy's graduation  the kids are so excited that she is a teacher, they gave her a whole bag of Smarties!  

Saturday was a birthday party for this guy.

his Grandparents and Aunts and Uncles spoiled him with cars, trucks, and superheros.  and we even got a sneak peek at the new Aquabats season!  thanks for a great weekend California!

back to the beach

so, we thought our last trip to the beach was going to be in August, but i had some photo sessions scheduled in Los Angeles, and they coincided with my dad's 60's birthday, so we made a trip out of it.  all of my siblings, came into town.  (except Collier of course) and my parents rented a beach house.  i really wished i wasn't working!  but, we made the most of our time for sure!  the kids got right to work digging, digging, digging in their weekend backyard.  

 while i was at the beach, i definitely snapped some pics of these cuties.  

 i love these shots, my generation of 3 sisters:

 my mom's generation of 3 sisters:

 and the next generation of 3 sisters:

 here's all nine of us!  not a bad looking group!

 we even got to see Sawyer before we left.  

so, i feel like a schmuck, i don't even have a picture with the birthday boy.  but in my defense, he was golfing and hanging with the boys a lot.  but seriously, i need  a picture with my dad, i think the last one i have is from my wedding!  

Happy Birthday Dad!!!!!

a last hurrah in California!

the weekend before school started we packed up the family and headed to California for a last ditch session at the beach! even though we've made a happy home here in AZ, we still miss the beach!

 we were happy to have good friends on vacation too!  the kids had some beach buddies to play with, and Colin was able to take a nap peacefully in Mirium's arms.  

I hope these two enjoyed their vacation, it's off to school when we get back!