Spur of the Moment

Monday I got an email from my Sister in law that Brandon, my nephew, was getting baptized on Sunday.  Tuesday by 11am the kids and I were in the car driving to CA for a week!  

Rocky had his own pair of orange clippers, so he was set to help trim the oak tree in the front yard.

I am not the only one who loves my parents backyard. Lots of fun memories of playing pretend with the kids from the court after school. We had on going make believe games that could last a week.  After school  we would just pick up where we left off, hunting, gathering, cooking, war...I could write a book about it..

Rosy and Rocky unlocked a little bit of the backyard magic while we were there, on the days it wasn't raining.

Isn't this a sweet play car?  Flea market baby.

Who needs a seat cushion?

Love me my beaches...

Rosy pokes everyone and everything with her one dainty finger.

There were a bunch of sea lions down the beach a ways! The baby pups had already been born and were squirming around the beach like inch worms. Pretty cute.

Also out and about were banana slugs! Kaylee I thought of you for some reason.  And Cameron too.  Rocky spend time collecting them.  They were EVERYWHERE.  At one point we stopped and counted as many as we could see just from standing in one spot and we counted 16!  If you have never seen a banana slug they are just big gross yellow slugs, and no matter what any older sibling may tell you, they do not taste like bananas when you lick them.  

This is my favorite beach, ever.   You not only have your tide pools and sea lions, but it has this magical forest on the cliffs above the beach.  I told Rocky it was magical, and I think he really believed the monsters and dinosaurs were in there.  He stepped very lightly within the forest, even though he knew they were sleeping.

Look, at that face, you know he thought it was magic.  

Those trees are all facing the ocean.  I think it looks amazing how their branches are all reaching out identically towards the beach.

It's tradition to pause at this downed tree and take a picture (I've been here a few times...)

Aah.. Goodbye beach.

Grandma Jeanne is a kid magnet.

Rosy is playing peek-a-boo with the screen.

Talk to the hand mom, this photo shoot is over.

Back at the car again.  She looks determined to get somewhere.

We had quite a few cousins over the night of the baptism, so fun.  Rocky and second cousin Lexi claimed the blanket box as their corner of the house.

These twinners!! Oh man, they are my mom's youngest sister's girls and they are cute.

Rocky Boy Turns 3!

We all drove out to Joe's parents for Rocky's big birthday bash.  7 hours in the car requires for a few stops like this :)

Rocky's day was an all day birthday celebration.  We had the house decorated when he woke up, and the theme was ORANGE.  It's his faaaavorite.  Joe's doing what he does best, makin pancakes, with ORANGE juice, of course.

He got some great play-doh play sets from Grandma and Grandpa with 2 big extra ORANGE ones, we have played with them almost every day since his b'day.

Rosy liked his slink, I think mostly because she felt like she was getting away with something when she played with it. 

Rosy loved exploring Grandma and Grandpa's new house, she would recruit Grandma to take her on walks to the back bedrooms...

or through the kitchen...

She's really good at pointing and grunting exactly where she wants you to take her.

For dinner on Rocky's big day he had pizza, ORANGE plates, forks, napkins, cups, streamers, tablecloth, balloons, soda

and CAKE!

and ORANGE popcicles.

did I mention forks?

Working together to put his new CARS puzzle together.

It is a wrap around puzzle that turns into a race track!

Interesting side note, we felt pretty lucky to be away for the weekend because there was major flooding on our street.  My friend and neighbor took this photo of our neighborhood. wow.

Today, we took advantage of the 55 degree sun shiny weather and went on a hike! Oh my, it felt good.

Also, we went back to the bowling alley this weekend, and since Rosy has become a some-of-the-time-walker-girl, she took a more active part in the bowling.

Lastly, did anyone ever play with Bristle Blocks growing up?  Well, I found a set at the thrift store for $3, I couldn't resist and so far it's been a good investment.  Rocky and Daddy used every last piece to make this train!