OCTOBER 2012

SETH'S 3RD BIRTHDAY: We had a small family party with grandma, grandpa, Katie, and Kelly

LITTLE ITALY:  We went with the Mendeses to the Little Italy festival in downtown San Diego.  Aubrey is starting to walk with some help.

THE MAD POTTER:  It is one of my favorite places to visit and look at pots.

THE HOME AND GARDEN TOUR:  This was the most interesting house we visited.  It had a Puerta Vallarta style pool and a palm tree growing in the living room.

THE DRESS:  Ed gave this dress to Dana, Liz gave it to me for Elaina.  I gave it back to Liz for Maren, and now Aubrey is wearing it.

LOOK A CAMP FIRE:    After going camping Seth was excited about camp fires.  One night we made Aubrey's hair stand up when it had sticky stuff in it and Seth responded by saying, "Look a campfire."

THE CORN MAZE:  We finally went to the corn maze in Temecula to celebrate the Halloween season.

LONG SHADOWS

HALLOWEEN CARNIVAL:  We went to Elaina's Halloween carnival at her pre-school.  She waited in line for an entire hour to get her face painted.  It was a hot day, but we had fun.

TRUNK OR TREAT AT CHURCH:  Seth made a cute skeleton this year.

HALLOWEEN EVE:  I was a witch, dad was a gladiator, Seth a skeleton, Elaina was Ariel, and Aubrey was a Pumpkin.  We ended the evening by watching Shrek's Halloween.

SEPTEMBER 2012

LIME KILN PARK 100 FT WATER FALL:

Lime Kiln is a fun place because it has wonderful hikes as well as beach access.  This was a nice short hike to take with little kids thought they needed help over the challenging terrain.

LIME KILNS:  The park is named for these kilns that have been out of use for years.

MOTERNEY BAY:

It was fun going to Monterey.  We had to buy our kids new coats as the ones we brought with us camping were so dirty, they weren't to be scene in public.

PEBBLE BEACH GOLF COURSE:

This is one of the most beautiful places on earth.  I love the view of the bay and Point Lobos on the opposite side of it.  It makes me want to play golf just for the view.

THE BEACH AT CARMEL:

It was a crowded day at the beach, many a silicon valley geek could be scene at the beach.   No wonder rents are so high when you have access to this beach.  The kids had fun just playing in the sand.

CAMBRIA, CA:

I went jogging that morning on the Cambria board walk.  It was fun searching for restaurants the night before.  I have always driven through Cambria on the way North and never took the road to the left leading to the coastal side of Cambria.  No wonder it is such a nice place to stay.

SANTA BARBARA PARK:

We saw this park on a former visit when I was pregnant with my first child and I am glad we got to come back a few years later and bring kids.  Yay!! I have children.  I waited a long time to have them and have an excuse to go to the park.  No wonder Neil goes out of his way to find fun playgrounds to visit.  We have had to wait twice the normal amount of time to relive our childhood.

AUBREY CLIMBS THE STAIRS:

She started climbing the stairs early.  Elaina started going down the stairs first, Aubrey started going up the stairs first.

OCEANSIDE HARBOR AT SUNSET

BY BY POND:  Our pond is disappearing.  After years of being filled by an unknown water main break our pond fades away.  We are sad to see it go and wish that it could rain a lot more to keep it filled up.

ELAINA'S FIRST FIELD TRIP:  Elaina went to pre-school for the first time this year at Zion Luthern Pre-School in Fallbrook.  She got to visit a dairy farm in Temecula.  I never knew they fed dairy cows cotton.  Apparently it has good fiber in it.

AUGUST 2012

AUGUST 2012

LAGUNA:

Lainy and Seth look at the tide pools near the Montage in Laguna.

REALATOR CARAVAN:

We crashed a house showing near our house and were rewarded with Mermaids.  Elaina wanted to have a fancy party after this experience.

JULIETTE'S BIRTHDAY PARTY:

Aubrey enjoyed playing in the balls at our the Birthday party.  No wonder she loves to play with balls.

MOSS POINT:

This was my favorite place to go snorkeling in Laguna when I use to live in Orange County.

NEWPORT HYATT FAMILY REUNION:

We had an impromptu family reunion organized by my oldest sister Marilee in New Port, California.

SEALING AT THE SAN DIEGO TEMPLE:

We attended Rachel and Bryan's wedding a year ago. They got sealed in the San Diego temple a year later.  We had to leave the New Port family reunion to attend the occasion with Neil's room mate of 6 years.  Getting kicked out might have been the best thing that ever  happened to Bryan as it helped him get married to Rachel a few years later.

IRVINE SPECTRUM AND THE FOUNTAINS OF THE ALHAMBRA:  Yes we tried unsuccessfully to keep Elaina and Seth out of the fountains, but by the time we left they were both sopping wet.  That is why I am always happy to have a spare change of clothing in the diaper bag, then I don't stress.  These fountains mean a lot to me as I took a graduate school math course on the mathematical tile patterns of the Alhambra.  Believe it or not the math was rather complicated and for months after, I couldn't pass a set of tile without analyzing it.

TEH LAGUNA SAWDUST FESTIVAL:

The setting makes it worth the admission and it is fun to see the art work.  Seth at 2 and a half proved to heavy to carry in the back pack and the the 90 degree weather didn't make it easy either, but it was fun to attend.  I like the mermaid sand sculptures best.  The pageant of the masters across the street from the Saw Dust festival has been fun to attend in Laguna also.

HOT SUMMER NIGHTS:

They shut down the streets of small down town Fallbrook and let us walk Main street and look at vintage cars and dance in the town square.  No, I don't drink.  I'm not enebriated.

CARPINTERIA, OUR FIRST CAMP OUT WITH KIDS:

It was warm we all slept and I am serene looking out at the ocean from our camp site.  It was hard having a 9 month old on a camp out.  You can't put a crawler on the ground because they get dirty.  So baby Aubrey had to be held the whole time.  Camping with little ones was a fun experience and we have even repeated the experience.

LIME KILN PARK, BIG SURE:

I love this place it is my favorite place to camp.  The ocean is on one side and the forest is on the other.  Of course the California coast line is beautiful.

LIME KILN STATE PARK:

I am watching the sunset along the California coast line.

We took Aubrey our 9 month old everywhere in the back pack.  

JULY 2012

THE 4th OF JULY:  We like to wear Red, White, and Blue on that day.

TEMECULA WINERY:

I like going here, it makes me feel like I am in Europe, when I am only 20 miles away.  It fits the expression " It isn't how far away you are, but how far away you feel."

THE BRUGGERS VISIT:

It was nice to have them come and visit and they loved Grand Pa's pool,

JULY 24 PIONEER DAY:

Elaina gets to dress up like a pioneer in primary.

FAMILY HOME EVENING HIKE:

We finally explored the canyon that we drive by every day.

CAROLINA'S GOODBYE PARTY:

I was sad to say goodbye to my good friend Carolina as she moves to Phoenix, Arizona.

LONDON 2012 OLYMPICS:

The London 2012 Olympics start at Carolina's Goodbye party.

THE LAWN:  Aubrey and Seth  are so cute and Aubrey is sitting up.

JUNE 2012

CELEBRATING OUR 5th ANNIVERSARY:

We celebrated our 5th anniversary in Laguna.  We only had our youngest with us.  I discovered it isn't that I am getting old.  It is because 3 kids under the age of 5 take a lot of energy out of you.

LAGUNA BEACH:

We discovered a new place in Laguna the Montague hotel and beach.

CHALK ART FESTIVAL:

This is how you get around with 3 kids at the Chalk art festival in Temecula.

NORMAN ROCKWELL:

One of my favorite artist.  My sister painted him on a door at our high school.

MAREN VISITS US:

The cousins from Virginia come and visit.  That fish pillow is amazingly popular.

BEACH BONFIRE NIGHT:

Elaina and Seth do get along well together as they walk in the waves at Oceanside Harbor side beach.

LA JOLLA COVE:

The Virginia cousins, now the Alaska cousins, play in the waves near La Jolla Cove.

May 2012

May 2012

The Father Son Outing.  Seth goes camping for the first time, in Temecula, Ca.

Elaina's 4th Birthday a princess Tea Party, all the yard work comes together.

The Arbor on display.

Neil's 51st Birthday was celebrated with a trip to Crystal Cove and a hike.

Memorial day weekend we planned to go camping, but it snowed so we stayed in this cute French Chataue in Arrowhead on Friday night.

Saturday we went to the LA Temple.

Then to the La Brea Tar Pits.  Elephants are symbolic of our family.

Then Saturday night we went to the Grove and to Cheesecake Factory.

Lastly we stayed at an old art Deco styled hotel in Korea Town/Down Town LA.

Sunday we went to church at the Tabernacle of LA.

Next we went to The Getty Museum, a place with great gardens and a fabulous view.

Lastly Seth shows his great ability to catch Lizards.