Oceanside California Trip Travelog

We had such a great time in Oceanside California.  We went with the Overly Family.  Every family member was there except one which we missed you Devin (Greg's Oldest boy)
We took 211 pictures on the trip!  So I will just share some of the best to tell the story of our trip.

Saturday--Arrived to Oceanside about 5:00 pm after leaving Smithfield at 5:00 am--We had no troubles driving.  The kids were really good and we ate breakfast in the car and lunch at a Las Vegas gas station parking lot.   It was so hot in Vegas we found shade from a pole in the parking lot.  Next time we are hoping to find a good rest stop to eat at.  But you never know when you need to stop so that's where we were.

This is Mt. Soledad.  We had quite the driving adventure getting here but it was beautiful and nice view of the LDS San Diego Temple

Sunday--Went to church in Oceanside.  The ward was great and had lots of visitors.  The primary told us to come back anytime because all the kids were great.  We went on a Sunday drive to Mt. Soledad and then saw Seal at the Children's Pool in La Jolla.  We had fun climbing around on rocks on the beach and eating dinner in the park.

Beautiful View of a Seal at Children's Pool

Monday:  We spent the day on the beach.  I didn't take one picture of us on the beach because of the sand but we had so much fun.  We built an awesome sand castle with lots of cousins contributing.  We buried all the kids that wanted.  We boogie boarded and splashed around in the water.  I read in the shade.  Kids were so occupied just playing in the sand I was amazed how much fun they had.  Traeden got pretty shaken up after getting toppled by some huge waves, so he was pretty cautious about getting too far into the water.  I really wanted to get him excited about boogie boarding but no luck, maybe next time.
Tuesday:  Old Town, San Diego.  We had such a marvelous experience at the Mormon Battalion Museum.  My kids loved the tour, the movie, panning for gold, building block buildings, and riding the toy horses.

Traeden and Josh dressed to be a Battalion Member.  

Outside the Mormon Battalion with Cathy and Nathan

Tuesday night the boys went to the Padre's Baseball Game and the girls did foot massages and went out for dinner.
Wed.  Each family did their own thing.  We went to Balboa Park.  We spent most of the day in the Natural History Museum and had a great time there.  They had a great exhibit on Penguins and polar bears.  Then one on Dinosaurs that was great.  The movies we watched were fantastic.

Walk like a Penguin

That night we stayed for the Concert in the Park.  The Catallics were playing and it was great fun.  Abi and I danced and we all sang along to the oldies.  We then had dinner at Darband 5th Ave. Grill.  This was a Persian Restaurant close to Balboa Park.  It was such a cultural experience and the kids loved the food.

Thursday:  Day at the beach , Overly Family Olympics (Minute to Win It), Oceanside Sunset Market, and Bonfire on the beach.

Devin doing the orange swing-knock over bottle challenge!

Friday:  This was our travel day.  We got up and left about 8:00 am.  We had a long wait going through the customs checks.  I think they were looking for people selling drugs?  We stopped in Mesquite to mail the parking pass we forgot for the beach house.  We ate PB&J sandwiches in front of Smiths in Mesquite.  Very hot!!  Where is that nice rest stop we were going to stop at?  =)

Sitting on a bench in front of Smiths eating lunch

We had a great time and the best was the memories created for the kids being with cousins.  They had such a great time being with family and those memories are priceless.
For more pictures of our trip you can visit our picasa website.
Hope the link works!

Super Saturday

(Pictured above Kids doing the sponge game and Abigail even helping out. Gwenda getting Traeden back for getting her wet. )

What a day it's been. We got up bright and early to head to Grandma and Grandpa Overly's home. They were selling their truck and we have been contemplating getting a truck for quite some time so the timing was great for us. We were told by Dad Overly that the tires were so bad they would need new tires. Kent and Don were going to put new tires on but Devin would rather get them himself and have the tires in his name. They agreed on one condition: that we drive straight to the tire store. It's always good for the kids to visit their Great Grandparents. Conrad is completely terrified of their tiny dog "Lady" She is a bit spastic but harmless. Conrad wanted to stay in the van during the visit but Devin had him get out with tears running down his face. I noticed Grandma's shoelaces were the coiled and stretchy. She got so excited to show us these laces and she showed us how they worked. She was so tired of the laces coming undone and a store clerk showed her these "elastic" laces. It was cute to see her so excited about something simple. We got a tour of their yard. I can't believe she still is growing tomatoes at age 93. If I live that long I hope I can still do as much as she does. Grandpa was moving slow but he is still walking relatively well with his cane. Speaking of old age, today I ran into a man at the bank who is 96 and walks all over. He wears really cool hats (the bank tellers told me) and has so much spunk and zest for life.

After our visit we headed to Jack's Tires in Orem since they have one close to Devin's work, but we didn't make it. Devin got a flat about two or three miles down the road. We got split up because of a parade going on and he called me to come find him. The tool that gets the spare tire lowered down bent while Devin was using it (the mounting bolt was rusted). This was also the tool that you use to jack up the car so we were in big trouble. Luckily Big O Tire was very helpful and drove to us and helped get the tire off and drove Devin to the store and got a new tire and then drove the whole truck to get the rest of the tires on. Wow what an ordeal.

The kids and I headed to the Grow family reunion while Devin stayed with the truck. The reunion was huge. I was suprised how many people came. We filled the park with people. It was great to visit with some family I haven't seen in a while. I found out that the game we played, the sponge game is a traditional game. You divide into two teams and the kids run a sponge from a full bucket and squeeze the sponge into the empty bucket. The goal is to get all the water from the start bucket to the end. The winning team gets to pour the bucket on the losing team. The kids thought that was so much fun. The first time we played it where all the kids stood in between the line and they passed the wet sponge down the line and the little kids froze up and were confused and the older kids got upset with the younger ones who were not fast enough. Individual runs worked better for the age group we had.

The Grows had a bazaar like the Titensors. They didn't do an auction though they did a number deal where you sign your name by the item on a number then they drew out your number and you pay the asking price. I got some really cute girl bows made by Evonne and a pink winter hat with a ribbon in it. Traeden wanted the candy sacks for a dollar. It was an awfully hot day so luckily there was lots of shade trees to keep us cooler.

Samantha is getting quite independent. She wanted to go to the bathroom and half way there she says to me, "You stay right here and I'll go to the bathroom." I thought that was pretty cute. Last week I forgot to mention that the Doctor called Abigail a little fire starter. She was climbing all over his equipment which is very normal. She even climbs up the playset ladder outside which is crazy because she isn't even walking, yet she loves to climb ladders--it sure scared Devin and I to death the first time we saw here half way up the ladder. Now we have to keep a close eye out for her. Her hair is getting lighter and longer so I can finally put a tiny pony in it.

Traeden is way into Pokemon cards. He has a few neighbor friends that get together and trade and look at cards.

Side note is I just love Pandora radio. I made a Mormon Tabernacle Station that is awesome. It rarely plays Mo-tab but it plays some beautiful arrangements of hymns. Perfect for a Sunday afternoon while I'm blogging. =)