Sunset at the beach

Sunday evening we went down to the beach to go for a walk. It was a beautiful evening and so nice to get some fresh air and exercise. We stopped for a bit right before we got back to the car so Grace could play in the sand. She has never really been into the beach before, she has always been scared of the water and not enjoyed being dirty, but this time she loved it. She played in the sand and loved it. Making sand angels

This last picture cracks me up, as we looked over and that is what she was doing. I think she must take after her father, as he has had more than his fair share of push-ups at the beach.

Road trip Part II

Sunday night we stopped just on the other side of the grapevine at a hotel. We had made good time, and it was just starting to get dark when we got there. We had just bought Grace a new bathing suit the night before and we had brought it along in case there was a chance to use it. Unforntunantly, the pool wasn't heated and the water was pretty cold. The hot tub was actually pretty cool (for a hot tub) and was more like bath water. So we decided to let Grace in the hot tub. She had never been in a hot tub before and greatly enjoyed her first late night jacuzzi party.

When we got back to our room, Grace was all excited about staying in a "her-tell". She kept saying "I love this her-tell. This is my favorite her-tell I have ever seen." Her excitement only grew when she found the little bottle of hotel lotion. I am very picky about what goes on to my skin and she had already had a bath and was in her PJ's, but thankfully, Gunnar took one for the team. She had wonderful time caking lotion ALL over his arm.
Monday morning, after a restless night's sleep, we got up and got back on the road. Turns out, Grace talks in her sleep. You would think that talking all day would be enough for her, but aparently not. We were pretty tired, so our first stop of the day was Starbucks. Since it was a special trip, Grace got some milk with a shot of vanilla instead of her normal order (a short glass of cold water in a warm drink cup).
We got up to my grandparents some hours later. Grace was happy to be out of the car and couldn't wait to go down to see the animals. As she was walking down to the barn, she asked if Grandpa "Hil-kon" would hold her hand. It was so cute!

They checked out the horses. And she got to play on the hay.

She got to sit on Grandpa's new ridding mower. That is my Uncle Russell in the back ground.
I am not sure who's old four wheeler it was, but she enjoyed "riding" it as well.
Such a biker chick.
She went over to my grandpa and asked if she could sit on his lap. She sat on his knee and he pretneded to give her a horsie ride. It held her attention until she noticed his mustache, which she foudnd to be quite fascinating.
Later that evening, they went back down to see the animals again. Aparently, Grandpa let her help feed the horses, and she came back looking like this.
Tuesday morning we stoped by to see my cousin Amy and her kids who recently relocated to close to my grandparents. We met at a park, although it was really hot, so the kids didnt do a whole lot of running aorund. Our sweet friend Joan met us at the park as well, and it was nice to get caught up with her.
Back at the ranch, Grace was too wound up to take a nap. So instead she helped Grandpa check the gopher traps. She said later on that day that when she is 14 she thinks she will catch a gopher. Aparently, she finds gopher catching to be a little too difficult at this stage.
Also that afternoon, Gunnar helped get up on the roof and get the swamp cooler in working order. It was a REALLY hot day, so I was glad not to be the one up on the roof.
Back down to the barn before dinner to feed the animals. Grace got to ride the golf cart, which is quite exciting. I personally prefer to walk down, although I did take them up on the offer on the way back up. I held on for dear life, and I was able to survive the ordeal.
None of the cows had been around the day before, so Grace was excited that the old cow "Cowgirl" was down waiting for her dinner that evening.

She got to feed the horses again, and this time I was there to document.
I now know how all the straw got in her hair the night before.

After feeding the animals, we had dinner ourselves and got back on the road. On our way out we saw some buffalo and pulled over to check them out. If I had more energy I would find a picture similar to this from a couple years ago of Gunnar and a long horned bull. We enjoy taking pictures with animals on the side of the road. If you haven't done it recently, I recomend it, as it is fun. :)
And yes, Grace is sitting on top of my belly. I don't usually carry or lift her, and now I remember why. :)

We drove some hours Tuesday night, and stoped at the same hotel as on Sunday night. We got up Wednesday and headed home. It was a lot of time in the car, but we had fun being together. It was a nice break from everyday life, although we did come home exhausted. I think we need a vacation to recover from our vacation!! :)

Road Trip Part I

We got home from today from a little weekend away. Technically, you may notice that Sunday night-Wednesday morning isn't what most people consider a weekend, but seeing as Gunnar works on most people's weekends, we have to take our weekends on the non peek days. So after church and a meeting on Sunday Gunnar, Grace and I headed up north. Coincidentally, my brother Michael and his darling wife and daughter were on their way back to San Diego from speninding some time in Fresno. We decided to play it by ear, and keep in touch via cell phone, to see if we could meet up for dinner.

Well, it couldn't have worked out any better. We met up in beautiful Castaic, CA. They got there maybe 2-3 min after we did. Even more perfect, was that it was 5:30, so the perfect time for dinner. Elena and Grace were both ready for a break from their car seats. We ate at Pizza Factory, mosty becuase their slogan is "We toss 'em, Their awesome!" and who can resist that?

The basketball playoff game was on, in HD. Pretty much the perfect storm. Oh, and the pizza was good!

As any frequent blog reader knows, Grace and her cousin Elena absolutly adore each other. It is the cutest thing. They were so excited to have dinner together. Grace enjoyed helping hand Elena cheerios and modeling how to eat them.





As I mentioned, there was a huge flat screen hung right above our table with the playoff game. Elena was mezmorized, aparently, she is a big basketball fan.
Uncle Mike asked Grace to watch the game with him and Elena. The progression cracks me up.
She looks up, but then thinks, wait, am I doing this right?
How does he do that with his mouth? That is trickier than it looks.
Finally, she get's it down, but they are done watching already. Oh well.
Grace loves to hold Elena, and as time goes by it is looking more and more akward as the size diffrence between them get's smaller and smaller.
This was just the start of our fun days on the road, another example that the fun really is in the journey.

Family Easter

Our family Easter celebration had two parts to it. We kicked it off with a trip to Gunnar's moms. Grace got an Easter basket with all sorts of goodies. Grace had her first try of peanut M & M's, and surprise, surprise, was a big fan. She also was a crazy sugar hyped kid the rest of the evening, but oh well, it is only Easter once a year, right?

On Easter Sunday, we had the rest of our family up for Easter dinner. It was an absolutly beautiful day so we ate outside on the back patio. The food was all delicious, and everyone pitched in, so it wasn't too much work for any one person.
I didn't take too many pictures with my camera, as we took a ton of pictures of the girls with Michael's camera, so I think I had my picture taking fill. We did take a picture with Gunnar's dad before he took off.
Before my family left, they joined us in Grace's nightly routine of "Devo's" (nightly devotions, for those of you who aren't pastor's kids) and prayer. I guess I should have paid better attention to what Grace was doing when I was taking the picture. Opps.
Most families take a group picture Easter morning, when everyone looks good and is wearing their best. Who wan'ts to be like everyone else, right? How boring! We finally remembered to take family picture after a LONG day of two services and a bunch of company. Grace in her Pj's, Gunnar in his BBQ clothes, and I was still in the dress I wore to church, but mostly becuase I have so few articles of clothing that fit that I wasn't worth changing.
We hope your Easter was blessed!

Adorable Cousins

Okay, well be forwarned...there are a TON of pictures here. So don't feel like you need to look at all of them. Unless, of course, you are my mom and dad. Then you have to. :) I just couldn't narrow it down becuase I love them all! Possibly, I love them becuase they are of my two favorite subjects, Grace and my niece Elena. More than likely though, I just know cute when I see it!

Ann got them matching Easter dresses. So cute! Michael took the pictures in our yard. Great job, Michael. :)