OK OK!!!! I know I’m a slacker blogger. It’s been over a month that I have posted and I got told that I need to up date yesterday so here I am. Beware it’s going to be long.
Our trip to the beach was so much fun. Mom and Dad rented a Beach house back in March and we waited anxiously for June 21 to come. Seth kept asking me “Mom can we go to the beach today” I would have to explain to him that we had to wait. Well on the 20th of June we left Pima and went to Mesa to break up the trip. We stayed at my cousin’s house that was big enough for the whole family to stay in and each family have their own room which was nice. We played in their pool that night.
(Saturday) We got up early and went to Jodi’s house and she had breakfast all ready for us. After we ate we loaded up her stuff in the Trailer that was already PACKED clear full with all of our stuff. It’s amazing how much stuff you take when you have little kids for a week. We left around 9 am and got to the Huntington Beach around 6 that evening. We took a tour of the 4 bed 3.5 bath house and had to draw straws to see who got what bedroom. Mom, Dad and Jodi got the master room then JJ and Marlo got the next biggest room (boy was he excited). Then Chauncy and I got the last room upstairs. Steven and Ciminy got the only room downstairs. It was tinny so they put the 2 kids out in the living room. It worked out great. When we got there we tried and tried to turn the air down so it would cool off but guess what the house didn’t have and AC or a swamp cooler you had to depend on the outside air and it was stinkin’ hot. The renter guy said we hit a heat wave and it should pass in a couple of days. So to cool off we went to the beach. The kids loved it but weren’t so sure of the water rolling in at them. It was cute they would run to the water and as soon as the water would start to come in they would run from it. This happened all week. This was kind of nice because you didn’t have to worry so much about them getting in the water.
(Sunday) today was nice because we just laid around doing nothing and got caught up with rest from traveling all day on Saturday. We were going to go to the LA temple and walk around it for our Sunday activity, but it was an hour away and the kids had already had it with their car seats. We each took a day for meals and Sunday was my day. We had biscuits and gravy for breakfast and tostadas for lunch. At Huntington Beach they have fire pits so you can build fires so we decided it would be fun to do tin foil dinners so we brought wood clear from Pima to make a fire and do the dinners. We started the fire around 5 or so and while it was burning we went and played in the sand and the boys of course had to take the roping dummy and rope some. We were going to make a sign that said “will trade roping lessons for surfing lessons” I think that would have been so funny but they didn’t take the dummy again. We ate late because the coals took a while to be ready. After dinner we made smores. They were good it was kind of hard to see what you were doing in the dark. The beach closes at 10 pm so he had to hurry and clean up and get out of there before they closed the parking lot.
(Monday) the guys decided they wanted to surf so they went to thrift stores to buy one we thought it would be cheaper then to rent them. While the guys were shopping for surf boards us girls went and set up on the beach. We got all settled and were playing in the sand when the guys finally showed up with NO surf boards. They said that the cheapest was $120 so it wouldn’t be worth it so they went and rented 2 for $35 each for the day or $12 per hour. Well they surfed for and hour and the lifeguard came and told them that the south side of the pier closed at 10 am to surfers so we had to make a choice of moving to the other side of the pier of to take the surfboards back. We decided it would be best to just take them back so we didn’t have to clean up all of our stuff and move since we were going to clean it up and go for lunch in a couple of hours. So we just played with the boogie boards. After a while we went back to the house and ate lunch. We puts kids down for naps and just rested but not the guys then went back to the beach and had some more fun. After naps we went back to be with the guys and let the little ones play in the sand. It gets tiring when the waves keep wiping you out. So us girls could only handle a little bit at a time. Except for Jodi she is a go getter and just loves to have fun whether it was tiring or not.
(Tuesday) we went to Sea World. It was an 1.5 hour drive. The kids traveled pretty good. Seth cried a little bit because he gets so sick of his car seat that he gets mad. We all had on red matching shirts. So we could find each other easier and it worked. I was grouchy at first because my kids were crying and I was frustrated because here we are at Sea World and its suppose to be fun and they are crying. They finally calmed down and so did I. We 1st went and saw the Clydesdale horses. They are HUGE. Then we went and saw Shamu or (Shampoo) as Seth called him. We sat probably about 10 rows from the bottom. They were perfect seats we were close and we got soaked. It was so much fun. It was then that I finally relaxed and could enjoy everything. After that we saw the dolphins, Sharks, Polar bears, the w
alrus, and the pets place. They all were really cool to watch. I would like to go back again sometime. About 4 all the adults, Justin and Seth except for mom and dad went on the ship wreck ride they stayed with the little ones and Riley(he wasn’t tall enough). It was fun we got soaked. Ciminy really didn’t want to get all that wet but guess what she was the one that the water hit every time. The last show we saw was of seals and their show was making fun of all the other shows it was really funny. We laughed though the whole thing. The little boys wanted to go play on a jungle gym thing so we went over there for about a half and hour or so they loved it. We left and went to get something to eat. We got in line at in and out burger but it was to long so guess where we ate McDonalds (YIPPY) NOT!! We got home about 11 pm so we all just crashed.
(Wednesday) The guys wanted to rent surf boards again so they decided to get up early and get them rented so they could surf all day. At 10 or so I was asking if any one wanted to go but nobody did well about 10:30 dad got ready to go so Ciminy and I decided to hurry and get ready and go. Ciminy and I packed all the stuff out there by ourselves and got set up. While dad tried to find someone he could pay for parking. We saw the guys out here in their bright Blue, Red and Yellow shirts so we sat camp up where they were. After we got set up we were playing in the sand with the little boys and looked up and we couldn’t see the guys anymore so I got up and was looking around for them. I finally found them about 200 yrds down the way from where we were so we went and got them to come where we were. They stayed with the kids while Cim and I went and had some fun in the water. They were pretty good about giving us a break from the kids and letting us go have fun too. (that was one of the stipulations of the trip). About 2:30 mom, Jodi, Marlo, Kashlee and Aiden We were smart this time and brought the food with us down to the beach so we didn’t have to pack up and leave. We stayed there until 5:30 that’s when the surfboards had to be back by then we were all ready to go anyways. We went home and got ready and went and ate at Joe’s Crab shack. Dad, Marlo and I weren’t very advertous. Dad and I ate steak and Marlo had a hamburger. Chauncy ate Shrimp and Fish. JJ had a sampler plate with some fish, Crab cakes and something else and then Steven, Ciminy, Jodi and mom all had crab legs. They enjoyed them.
(Thursday) We were going to go to the San Diego Zoo but we didn’t want to travel another 1.5 hours with the kids and car seats. So we decided to go to Raging Waters (water park) It was about noon when we got here so we ate lunch before we went in. we saw a in and out burger and went to go there and guess what? the line was to long again. So we went across the street and guess what it was? You got it McDonalds. I wasn’t to happy about that. But oh well. We had fun there they had a ton of slides. They even had a slide that was 7 stories and it went straight down. Yea they all went on it already and then took me back there. Cim wouldn’t go on it again but they made me. I can now say I went on it and I don’t need to go on it again. All the couples took turns w
atching the little kids. they had a perfect spot for little ones they had so much fun. It worked out perfect so everyone could have fun. It was fun even watching the kiddos. The lifeguards there were HORRIABLE!!!!! There was 2 different times the lifeguards could have helped out but just stood there. One time Kashlee went under so I hurried and got her up well in the mean time Preston was about 5 yrds from me and he went under right as I was getting Kashlee. There was an adult and the lifeguard right there and you think either one of them helped him up? NOPE!! I run as fast as I could in water and with Kashlee in my hands to get him. The other time Riley got pushed down the slide and wasn’t ready and went under the water and couldn’t stand up. We were about 10 to 15 yrds away from him and started running and Ciminy had run around the lifeguard who was standing right where Riley was to help him up. Like I said they where HORRIABLE!!! But other then that we had so much fun. We got back to the house about 8 pm and we were all wore out and ready to go to bed.
(Friday) We got up pretty early and headed down to the beach. We wanted to get one more good swim in before we left. It was overcast and the wind was blowing. It was much warmer in the water then it was on the beach. We applied sun screen when we got there but didn’t think about it because it was overcast. Well guess what we all got FRIED!! Luckily it was the last day. About 4:30 we cleaned up camp and went to the house and we all got ready to go take pictures on the beach. I was so excited because I got to use my new camera. I think the pictures turned out pretty good. (So if any of you out there wants your family or kids pictures taken just give me a callJ ) We went home and got all of our stuff packed and in the trailer so we could get up early and get home.
(Saturday) we got up around 6 am and got out of town about 7. we made a couple of potty breaks but other then that we didn’t stop until we got to Peoria where my dad wanted to look at a Belgian horse. We looked at her and dad decided to buy her. After we left there we went to help Jodi move to her new house she is renting. After leaving her we stopped a Bahama Bucks to get a treat for the way home. It was a really fun vacation and would love to do it again. THANKS MOM AND DAD we had a
GREAT time!!!!!
On July 12 Seth Moroni Russell turned 3 years old. I can't believe that he is 3 already. He is such a joy in our lives. he is so much fun to be around. He keeps us on our toes thats for sure. I am so glad the is is apart of my life. I don't know what I would do if he wasn't.
