girls weekend to la jolla.

at the beginning of may, my friends and i went down to san diego for a weekend.

my aunt was kind enough to let us stay at her gorgeous beach house in la jolla. this is the view from the front porch. not too shabby.

that first night we dropped our stuff of at the house and then drove over to old town for legit mexican food and a little mormon battalion-ing. we were very serious about finding the best gold nuggets to bring home to our kids.

the next morning we drove over to la jolla shores and lay. in. the. sun. (i have consulted with my grandma {the grammar queen} and she has assured me that is the correct way to phrase that sentence. i mean without the period situaion, of course)

when our little white skins couldnt take the pure baking anymore we decided to paddle board.

i had never SUP before (stand up paddle boarding, to all you losers). it was very fun.

basically professionals.

after a long day at the beach we went back to the house to clean up and then headed over to fashion valley for shopping, sees candy and a complicated dinner. (ordering dinner off of ipads isnt very slick with six picky ladies)

on saturday morning we drove up to disneyland!

it was only mildly awkward going on all the kiddie rides without any of our kiddies!!! :) anything is fun with this nut!

megan and i spent the majority of the day together, walking around and eating. we are both expecting and couldnt ride any of the legit rides. at one point we even went to catch a movie in downtown disney to escape the heat. ha!

at night, we watched the light shows. i have never stayed late enough to watch these (even though i grew up in san diego and probably visited disneyland 874957398475 times in my childhood) but i am so glad we did this time. it was very entertaining.

my favorite photo op at disneyland.

the tram back to our car. with our caramel apple, light up rings and a-hot-day-at-disneyland-glow.

on our last day in san diego, we woke up and drove over to la jolla cove to see the seals.

then we went over to this little shop where you can pay four dollars and go down a staircase at the back of the shop that leads down to a cave under the cliffs.

the cave. while we were down there we saw a guy swim by. he got stuck in the current and repeatedly got knocked up against that huge boulder on the left. it was very scary. he was screaming "help" (until he pretty much got knocked out and went under completely) but we couldnt get to him. after about 5 minutes the lifeguards came and rescued him. it was quite the ordeal.

a very fun weekend. i know that i am blessed to have such wonderful friends in my life. (missed the heck out of you, hanna)

easter weekend

we had our friends over for treats and an easter egg hunt this year. the skies cleared up for exactly one hour and it was perfect timing.

the kids were so excited to find the eggs! but not before a picture, of course. poor children of social media.

on easter morning tagg and silly (typo but it stays. i mean look at that face) had just enough time to look for their baskets before church. what nuts. after church, we had both sets of parents over for dinner. happy easter!

spring break 2014

a few weeks ago we went to maui for spring break. the weather was great all week and we loved our hotel. it was a perfect week.

the first day we were there, the boys explored the pools and waterslide!

then the gees took us to the most amazing shave ice place ever. and next door was a fantastic little bakery. such great finds. tagg was in heaven.

speaking of heaven. across the street from the shave ice place was a great little beach with a rope swing.

the next day we played at the beach in front of our hotel. freaking stunning.

that evening the boys had their usual meal out on the lanai.

we skipped the pb&j sandwiches that evening because we were headed off to mama's fish house. our favorite.

two beautiful sisters.

the next morning was more fun at the beach. love it there.

and the pools at our hotel. they were great.

that afternoon we drove out to my favorite place to "hike". (i use the term "hike" loosely. but its a little more intense than a walk. somewhere in between)

exploring little, private beaches in between the lava fields.

even though no one else was getting in the water out there i wanted to be able to say that i swam out in the middle of nowhere. so i took a little dip.

more shave ice that afternoon.

and more beach.

the boys enjoyed their first pina colada of the week. their favorite.

that evening we went out to dinner then drove out to the beach to watch the sunset. my uncle, david, brought his ukulele to serenade us through the experience.

my favorite bunch of nuts.

sappy pictures with the sunset.

the next day, craig took the boys down to the beach to dig a huge hole in the sand. it takes them hours. they love it.

see?

then i had tagg take a picture of craig and me out in the water. he did a pretty good job!

that afternoon we relaxed by the pool and the boys played "rock paper scissors". so cute.

later that evening, we walked along to beach to watch the sunset. my boys looooooved having my mom with us for the week.

our sun kissed little group.

the following morning, my mom took the boys to the pool so craig and i could go out and snorkel. it was a beautiful day.

 

as we walked up the beach to go snorkeling, we spotted this guy sunbathing. it was VERY cool to such a big animal out in nature.

tagg got a super cool tattoo that afternoon.

we drove over to lahaina that evening to get ice cream and show the boys the banyan tree.

the next morning was more snorkeling in our favorite spot.

my favorite little guys. and their shark tooth necklaces. they were so proud.

waterslide time! sully was the cutest little nugget going down that huge slide.

and tagg is apparently a teenager now and couldnt just go down the slide like a normal human. each time he came down in a different position.

mostly i just tried to go down without losing my sunglasses.

CRAIG!

that evening, my mom watched the boys so craig and i could go watch the sunset and have dinner. "secret" beach wasnt very secret that night. there were about three weddings and two prom groups. :)

the lobby of our hotel. we LOVED the fairmont.

our last morning there, craig treated me to a fancy breakfast at the hotel. it was suuuuuch great food.

then we all went down to the beach to play and explore in the tidal pools.

we had to drag ourselves off the beach that day. its always so depressing to leave.

tagg and sully with momo. it was such a great week, made better by having her there with us.

every evening, at the hotel, a local hawaiian guy ran around the grounds, lighting the torches and blowing a conch shell. the kids all ran as fast as they could after him. it was seriously so cool.

sunset in wailea.

last few shots before we had to leave. love my boys' rosy cheeks!

such a magical week. there really isnt anything better than a relaxing week in the sun with my favorite people.