return to fossil springs

Last year we made the trip to Fossil Creek/Fossil Springs in a camping adventure that I wasn't too keen on repeating.  There was a death-defying drive to the spot which was hot, dry, and deserty (no pine trees) and to top it all off, fires were unallowed. 

The creek and the swimming, diving, and rope-swinging were awesome though.

This week, Dan and Sean went back with some of Dan's work friends just for a day trip.  They took a back road in which seemed to be slightly less terrifying as they tell it, and the 1 1/2 mile hike to the falls was an easy one.

Totally worth it for this:

The waterfall had its share of visitors that day, and to hear them tell it, that launch off the cliff was pretty scary, but they had a really great time.

 

  

Gotta love the hidden treasures in Arizona.  :)

sean's 12th birthday bash

It's been a couple of days since I've written because we've been quite busy.  We had family in town from last Friday until Tuesday and then more birthday stuff and then catching up stuff and before you know it, a week and a half has gone by.

The main stuff?  I now have a 12 year old.  :)

 

Sean turned 12, which means he got the Aaronic Priesthood and was ordained to the office of a deacon at church.  One of his main duties will be to pass the sacrament each week; kind of surreal that we have a child that old.

 

We were surprised that all the grandparents planned to come into town for the ordination, but pleased of course to have so much family all together to support Sean.

It doesn't seem that long ago that all those same people got together to witness his baptism at age 8, or even his blessing as a newborn.  My, time does fly.

 

He's a great kid, and very talented.  I'm so proud of his musical abilities, his fearlessness to get up in front of a crowd, his uncanny love for attention.

  I took hundreds of pictures of course, but instead of displaying all those this blog post, I'm just going to make it about Sean and my love for him.  He's growing up so very fast.

Big thanks to all our family members who came and made his weekend special.  We love you all!

Happy birthday Sean!  We love you so much!

day 3, pismo beach and a birthday

About 3 hours west of my in-laws, one can find this:

Well, minus the three cute kiddos that is.

 

And down the Pismo Beach Boardwalk you can find this.

And these.

 

Blech.

 

I'd prefer this, where I wasn't brave enough to order seafood (I got a turkey sandwich) but I did sample the clam chowder which was really super creamy and caloric and delicious.

 

Waiting for our table.

 

Chowing down.

 

Out on the pier.  I dare you to find one picture in which Cameron is actively looking and smiling at the camera.  He just can't do it.

 

 

The water was stinking COLD.  Dan was the only one brave enough to go past his ankles.  He actually body surfed for a half hour or so and had a grand time.

 

Meanwhile, I played in the sand.

 

The clean, soft, dry, warm sand.

 

Everyone takes that shot, right?

 

The boys played in the sand a bit too.

 

I'd like to claim that it's the distortion of the water that makes my toes look funky in this picture, but you all know that is not the case.

Look at the camera, Cameron!

Sigh.  Although I detect a new wallpaper for my desktop.

 

I enjoyed the view from the sand.  :)

 

The sand castle ended up pretty big.

 

My first time seeing a jellyfish.  Dead.  Is it gross that I post this?  I was fascinated by it's jelly-like consistency.

And then the lifeguard came and hauled it away.  See how big it is??

So we played and layed out, relaxed and soaked up the sun, enjoying the frigid cold Pacific Ocean.  (AZ wimp, here)  Then it was back to the house for Kyle's birthday party with all the cousins.

 

Hello there Jordan!  (I think)

The grandkids always love "Rock 'em"!" with Grandma and Grandpa!

  

So cute.  These guys are serious camera hogs!

 

And hello Joey!  (I think!)

 

Happy 11th birthday to Kyle--with some seriously delicious cake.

 

And, oh, why not, some more swimming, as if we hadn't had enough of that yet this vacation.  :)

 

Our birthday present to Kyle, ha.

Such a great day!  Wish I lived 3 hours from the coast!

The next day (4) of our vacation, we relaxed.  We swam (what else?!) layed out and read books by the pool, watched a movie on the couch, and had a perfect vacation day before it was our time to head on home on Day 5.  As always, this trip was full of fun and cool memories.  We love our family and wish they were closer so we could hang out more!  It's fun having so many cousins here there and everywhere.  We love you guys!

day 2, annual family summer olympics

A few years ago around this time, Great Grandpa (Dan's Grandpa) hosted the H-------- Family Summer Olympics, and it is truly one of my favorite memories of all time.  We were so excited that it was planned for the week we visited this time around.  {looking at the pictures from both years, I realize Sean is wearing the same swimming suit. . . 3 years later.  Hmm, might be time to buy him a new one!}

Though there were other things planned, it was really really hot outside, so we stopped after the water portion.  It was fine, the kids (minus Cameron) were happy to just do the swimming events and stay cool that way.  Unfortunately, Cameron was really looking forward to pulling into the lead during the other competitions, and he never got his chance.  Those California kids are all swimmers!  Some have had lessons, many of them have pools, and lots of the competitors were just plain older and taller, so my kids didn't win anything this year.  But it was still a blast.

 

We start with some laps and relay races

 

Spectators!

He won just about every race!

 

Sean did his best, but his competition was older and faster.

McKay was awesome in his age group.

 

Brianna was the all around winner!  She is learning sign language because she has a deaf friend at church.  We had many conversations during the week about signs and using signs.  She's doing great!

  

Supporting the cousins.

Too stinking cute!

 

Creative dives.

 They did this for hours, it seems!

 

The giant score board!

  Finally, time to eat!

 

Some great weather moving in.

The three in charge of all the games, (cousin Lindsay, Grandpa, and cousin Kristelle) great job you guys! A lot of planning and organizing went into this.

Ethan receiving his ribbon.

Good job kisses from Dad!

 

This isn't even all the great-grandkids, but it's a good portion of them. What a fun group!

 

I finally made it into a photo.

 

Sean got Bronze for his age group.

  Then Grandpa took us on a tour of the property to see the things he'd built for the kids.  First up, the Zoomer, as he called it, or the Zip Line.

Isn't it awesome?!

  Only for kids 75lbs and below or I would have totally tried it.

Then he showed us a couple of the tree swings he'd built.

And an awesome treehouse!

Crow's nest and everything.  Too cool!

 

I love this guy!  He is such an awesome Grandpa (and Great-Grandpa).  My favorite part of this trip (I think, there were so many great times) was this last 30 minutes when I got to sit and talk with him.  He shared some wisdom with us, and I have to say, out of everyone I know, this is one guy who's pretty much got it all figured out.  I love him!

That night, just as we started the day, the kids ended up back in Grandma's pool.  So they'd  been swimming at least 3 times by this point!  You can certainly see it in Ethan's and Cameron's eyes too. . . and this is the good picture!  It was a really fun and busy day.  We were so happy to participate in such a fun family event.