We had such an amazing weekend with some great friends, the Hancock's! They live about an hour away and so we grabbed a Saturday and hung out in the San Fran area. It was so fun! (NOT San Fran, though!) Saturday morning driving in was crazy. It took us around 45 min to get in and parked. Yikes. I was so glad I wasn't driving! We tried to go to Golden Gate Park, but there was a concert there this past weekend and we couldn't find parking anywhere. We ended up eating a pizza while parked out in a red zone, then heading off to a beach Erica knew of. What a difference a few miles make! Stinton Beach is 9.5 miles (35 min driving) from San Fran and an incredible find. As soon as we left the traffic, noise, and dirtiness of the city, we were surrounded by trees, gorgeous views of cliffs, and a fresh ocean breeze. It was perfect. This top picture of Rose about sums up our beach day! So fun!
My favorite part of the day was seeing Rose enjoy the sand. She loved it so much. Dave said the sand to Baby No was like catnip to a cat. It really was! She was laying in it, rolling around, giggling, and just plain happy. She is not normally so sweet and happy and so Dave and I just enjoyed all of it!
It's nice to be friends with a great photographer! Erica takes gorgeous pictures and so I asked her to take a family shot. As you can tell, there was a breeze blowing my hair into a lion's mane. Nice.
Erica and her cutie, Claira
Love this! Ebay got some sand in his eyes and this is his shock after Dave poured some cold water into his eyes. He was screaming, but his face is priceless.
Baby No playing in the Nora-nip.
Than and Dave built a large "Turtle Mansion" with the kids. It was very intricately detialed! I was impressed.
Dave and Than hanging out. We sure love the Hancock's! They are some of our oldest friends. Dave grew up with Than and Erica- they all hung out in High School and at church. Than and Dave were college roommates, and we've hung out a lot together as much as we can during our married years. We've always lived far away from eachother, so it's fun to have them within driving distance!
Happy Baby No
Ebay!
She kept rubbing her hair and face in the sand. Wha-?
I love this picture of Dave and Than laying on the blankets with their baby girls! They are fun Daddy's. After the beach, we went to a little beach hut type place for dinner. There was a fun playground right across the street, so we bought our hot dogs, fish 'n chips, and coconut shrimp ($36 total! lame!) over to the park and the kids just played and had a good 'ol time. Norie was hilarious! Whenever she'd go on the slide, she'd grab the bar at the top and just pop up her little legs in the air in a straddle showing off her little undies! It was so funny! She just kept doing it over and over and we were cracking up! There was a group of 5 or 6 12 year old girls there that thought she was the funniest thing. They even took a picture with her. It was great.
After our adventures by the beach Than and Erica introduced me to something I'd never experienced before and it was truly a mind-blowing experience! Thrifty ice cream at Rite-Aid?! Only here in CA, I guess. But every Rite-Aid has super cheap and yummy ice-cream. Life-changing. Thank you Than and Erica for a great Sat.
Thank goodness for quiet time. Quiet time is every day during Norie's nap. I put her down for her nap, help E get to the guest room downstairs with toys for quiet time, and then I go upstairs and get ready for the day (this is after being at the gym). I came downstairs yesterday to find this (above picture). I love how E is just laying with his blanket all cuddly reading a library book. He had moved the library book basket so it was right next to him, and had lined up his and Norie's boots to a special spot. I just thought it was too cute and had to take a shot.
This was a picture I took this morning before Lils went off to school. The kids were just cuddling up together and giggling. These are the sweet times you try to remember the rest of the day when the kids are driving you crazy. :)
