Another Trip to California

We took another trip to California this month. We left our house at 4:00 in the morning and drove to Tahoe. It is such a beautiful place. We had so much fun at the beaches there. The water was so clear and beautiful.

After, we drove to Shellie and Paul's house. We ate and then walked to the park to fly kites.

We went to a Train Museum and loved it!

The next day, we had an ultimate kid day. It was complete with Fairy-tale Land, happy meals, splash pad, movie and Chuck E. Cheese.

We left the Lott house and drove to San Fransisco. Our first stop was at Baker Beach.

For lunch, we got some great sandwiches and ate in front of the painted ladies. Such a pretty view of the city.

Brad and Liz look like they are the parents!

We saw the sea lions at fisherman's wharf 

We went to an old military base, Fort Point. It was incredible.

We went to China Town, but didn't get pictures. Afterwards, we stopped at a beach and played and watched. 

Funny Story: Cruz had been playing on the rocks and we later found that he had, had an accident. I took him back to the car to change his clothes and asked him where we are supposed to go potty. He looked at me with the cutest face ever and said, "Pee on rocks, mom!" Then I understood. When we go camping and there are no toilets, we have taught the boys to pee on rocks. Guess we just need to work on making sure pants are down before we pee. Ha!

We kept exploring and found Marshall Beach. It was fun and basically empty. It was next to Baker Beach, but it didn't include nudists!

The next morning, we went to Stinson Beach. It was super foggy when we got there, but eventually the sun warmed the sky everything cleared. It was a beautiful beach with the softest sand. We loved playing until it was time to go meet Shellie and her kids!

Four days before Mace turned FOUR

We knew that  we would be in California for Mace's birthday, so we decided to celebrate a little early and give him the bike we had been so excited about. We didn't tell Mace about the party, until it was time for it to start. We let him pick out what we had for dinner, which was pancakes and fruit. We got the boys to play downstairs while I started the food and Tyler turned Mace's chair into a birthday chair. He was so excited when he came up. I seriously wish I would have been recording him when he saw his cake. He loved the bike. Tyler and I were so amazed at how quickly he picked it up. We took the training wheels off before we gave it to him. He was riding on his own before we went home for cake and ice cream. 

Cruz inherited Mace's old bike. He was observed with 'fixing' it.

They are really saying 'cheese' here!

The next day, we practiced riding again. Mace was a bit unsure, but rode anyways. Cruz was grumpy.

  

When Tyler got home from work that night, him and Mace went for a ride together. Tyler finally has a son to ride bikes with. I think that was a moment Tyler had been looking forward to for a long time.

Rockets on the Salt Flats

My sister watched our kids overnight, so we drove out to the salt flats to enjoy some rocket launches. It was awesome! We went with Brad and Liz. We stopped in Erda on the way home to get some of the best beef jerky we have ever tasted. We came back to our house and watched a movie and then had way too much fun laughing at pictures. It was really a great night!

Shellie came to Utah

Tyler's sister, Shellie, and her two kids came for a visit at the end of July/ beginning of August. We had a fun time with them while they were here. We got to swim, walk around Silver Lake, eat breakfast in the mountains and spend a lot of time visiting. We sure love spending time with them!

This is the only picture we got. All the cousins together.

Mace and Daddy Backpacking Trip

Lyndsay had a sore neck from our California trip, so she stayed home with Cruz while I took Mace backpacking.  We drove up Guardsman pass and then hiked up to the border of Park City Ski Resort.

I gave Mace our little camera and showed him how to use it.  He took over 100 pictures.  Here are some of them (Mace picked these out):

Mace actually took this picture all by himself!

He wouldn't smile for me.  He just wanted me to smile for him.

We had a beautiful view down the canyon at sunset

Mace told me before we went to bed that it was going to rain.  He was sure because, as he said, "there are clouds in the sky - that means it is going to rain!"

I argued with him and said that sometimes there are clouds and it doesn't rain.  

Around 2 or 3 in the morning it started raining.  Mace woke up when he heard the rain and excitedly told me, "See daddy, I told you it would rain!"  He was pretty proud of himself.  He kept rubbing it in when we woke up in the morning too.

You have to watch Mace like a hawk.  I climbed up one of the ski lift towers to see the view.  Mace wanted to climb up too, but I told him he could only go up 4 rungs, since he was almost 4 years old.  My dad called while Mace started climbing up. Next thing I knew Mace was almost at the top.  His feet were on the 13th rung.  After I got mad at him and got him to climb back down a little I took this picture.  He told me he thought he could climb up to the 4th from the top rung.

Can you believe this kid is scared of lightning and dogs?  I wish he would spread his fears out a little more evenly.