S. Carlsbad State Beach

During the month of July we got to take our first family vacation in years. Joe and had been working a lot before the trip, and I spent a lot of time and energy in preparing and packing that we were both pretty tired starting off the trip. Besides being tired, and me getting sick one of the days, we still enjoyed ourselves. It was so great to be with Joe's Uncle Bob and two of his sons, Aaron and Joseph, as we hadn't seen them in years. Joe's other cousin, Dax and his wife Jorgi and their awesome kids were there as well, Roy, Kett, Decker, Frankie and Freddie, as was Dax's brother Kade. It was great to be there with Kade and to get to know him better. He was so good with all the kids and made them each feel special and was helpful in watching over them and making sure they had a good time. We spent both days all day at the beach, swimming, boogie boarding, chatting, building sandcastles and enlisting other beach goers to help build a dam on seaweed around Joe's castle to save it from the rising tide. It was fun having people watch what we were doing to try and save it from being washed away, and then without asking for help, come in and start  to help us. We enjoyed holding little tiny crablike creatures that would burrow in the wet sand and watching Crimson enjoy the water and the waves chase after her little feet as she  laughed with pure joy. Shereen who was scared to swim in the water for two months prior to the vacation due to her worry of sharks, once there had no problem jumping in. She never came out. Hours were spent with Freddie and Frankie out on the boogie boards without a fear in the world. Clayton enjoyed boogie boarding and helping dad build sand castles, and of course get burried alive in the sand more than once. Both nights after dinner we'd go down and watch the sunset over the ocean horizon. What beauty we saw. The ocean was never ending and to watch the sun go down behind it was breathtaking. We were in a good spot on the beach because you could see miles of shore line up and down and there was no inland or buildings to impede the view. It was so vast, its hard to imagine how big it was. Seeing such a site might make some people feel small in this great big world, but it made me feel alive. Seeing the beauty and wonder of the ocean and big sky made me feel close to God, as I believe he made this beautiful world for us. I know he is aware of us and I'm grateful for that knowledge. On Saturday after we left the campgrounds Joe and I decided to take the kids to Legoland. They had a great time. It was neat to see all the sculptures they made of popular cities in the US out of Legos as well as popular characters and animals, etc. The kids had fun going into legos stores for a break out of the heat and making their own creations. We even got to be on the actual set of The Lego Movie which was awesome since we LOVED that movie. Crimson even got to sing on the microphone on the set part of the movies theme song. She was loud and proud!

Preschool

I can't believe my little Angel is going to preschool today. I want nothing more than to keep her here with me all day. Although I could do without her toddler tantrums, she's a happy light in our lives and it makes me sad to think that she is probably our last child. I want her to be my baby forever but she is growing up whether I want her to or not. She is super excited to start with Mrs. Hartman. Even better her sweet friend E. is going to be in her class. Last night when talking about it with big sis, she couldn't contain the excitement and it shot out of her body through wiggles and dancing and jumping in a fast forward type speed. We couldn't stop laughing. Today she posed for some pictures for me then went into her modeling poses where after each time she hears the picture take, she moves into another pose. Below is one of my favorites is what we call Photos by Deb, in tribute to the movie Napoleon Dynamite.