Rest of the Reunion!

Day 3-
Swimming at Tanner's Pool

Katie, Janelle and I got together in the morning and made headbands... it was so fun to be crafty with them!
Then in the afternoon we went to Kristy's Friends (The Tanner's) pool to swim. It was a fun afternoon with trampoline, waterslide, hot tub and more!

Day 4-
Newport Beach and Celebrating Debbie's Birthday

So we headed to Newport Beach for the day. It was a little cloudy but still a fun day. Unfortunately Chris had to study for a test so he couldn't join us.
That night we went to ShoGun with just the adults to celebrate Debbie's Birthday.


Day 5-
Disneyland

Of course the reunion would not have been complete without going to Disneyland. Chris had to take his last TEST of his first year of school (woohoo!) that morning so we met up with the rest of the family later that afternoon. We enjoyed the day at Disney even though it was pretty hot and crowded. We tried to stay for the fireworks, but the spots we sat in were completely blocked by the trees, whoops!


Day 6-
Back to the Beach!

We did one more quick beach day and this time Chris got to come. Of course we hit up the new CAFE RIO that is close to the beach! Another great day!


The reunion was lots of fun. It was great to be all together as a family and get to do so many fun things!

Laguna Beach with my family

On Wednesday of Spring Break, and the last day before my parents had to fly to Salt Lake (more on that later) we decided to go to Laguna Beach and see if we could find any tide pools.

Some of the cool things we got to see

The whole gang! Can you tell that Chris is Excited to be there!

This is kind of an awkward picture because Chris looks like a giant...oh well!

Paydan trying not to get wet... but of course later on he did!

Right before Chris had to leave to go to class.

After Chris had to leave for class, my parents, Paydan and I went into the heart of Laguna and ate lunch and looked at some shops.
Another great day of Spring Break!

Newport Beach with my Family

So on Monday of Spring Break we went to Newport Beach. It was a beautiful day and we had a good time playing in the sand, Chris and I braved the COLD water, reading, talking and even a run in with a dead sea lion ( I know... very sad)

My wonderful parents! I hope I can look as great as they do when I am their age.

Chris and I enjoying the beach

Me, Grandma, and Chris. Grandma was a bit chilly (like usual) and we wanted to make sure she was protected from the sun, hence the towels

Paydan and my dad working on his sand "castle"... or more like PIT... I thought he might dig all they way to CHINA!

Here is a Seal we say swimming in the water, so cute!

Now, although this looks like a peaceful sleeping sea lion, he unfortunately is dead.

Earlier we had seen something out in the water which I just thought was someone's flippers. Well Chris was swimming and got talking to a guy on his surf board and they saw that the "flippers" we actually a sea lion's. He looked like he was struggling, but the surfer cautioned Chris, saying they can be very mean and not to get to close. Like a half hour later, we saw a group of people a little bit down the beach and it was the Sea Lion washed up on shore. It seemed as if he was sick and maybe even a little bit food deprived. It was quite sad, but it was neat to see a Sea lion up so close.

Jamaica... Mon!

(click on collage to see pictures bigger)

Stop Three: Ocho Rios, Jamaica

So for our last stop we headed to Bob Marley's home of JAMAICA. Our Excursion here was to hike Dunn River Falls and then spend the rest of the afternoon and a private section of a beach. Now I was thinking before that we would just be hiking on a trail along side a waterfall and then maybe get to stand in it or something. However, these falls were more like a river going down all these rock steps. So we actually hiked THROUGH the falls/river. It was fun to kind of be in the jungle and trek through the water (which actually had a strong current sometimes).

Then our little guide, with her thick Jamaican accent talked us through our bus tour as we headed for the beach. The part that we drove through was definitely not the nice resort part of the island. At the beach we enjoyed Music, Dancing and some Jamaican food. It was nice to enjoy the beach for a bit. However Chris thought it was a bit boring since it didn't have "waves" to ride and play in (I guess he is not the relaxing type).

On the ride back to the ship our guide quizzed us on the things she told us on the tour. Well you combine my competitive nature, my teacher-side and my love of "trivia" I DOMINATED and won myself quite a few Jamaican coins. Our whole family dominated actually... I think we were the only ones sober enough from the beach to answer!

Overall, I think Jamaica was the most lush and beautiful with it mountains and foliage, however it was the most "sketchy" too.

Beach Day and Balboa

So back in mid-July, the frist week we got down to California, we went to the beach with Katie (sister -in-law) and her kids. It was a beautiful day and in my opinion the perfect temperature. Chris of course loved it becuase he got to be back in his cold, Pacific water that had waves that he could be "pushed" around in. I had a great time just relazing, working on my tan, and most of all collecting sea shells with the kids. Chris even found a real live clam!

We also headed to Balboa after we finished at Newport. Even though I have been to Newport quite a few times, I have never been to Balboa Island. It is a quaint little place, famous for Frozen Bananas. All I could think about down there was the Frozen Banana Stand from Arrested Development...if only GOB would drive up on his segway and try and do some magic (I mean Illusions)!

What a great way to kick off moving to the Sunny State of California!