Memorial Day in Big Bear

We headed up to Big Bear to spend the Memorial Day holiday--besides attending Girls Camp a few years back in a neighboring camp, none of us had ever been.  Andy and I have often talked about one day getting a vacation home in Arrowhead or Big Bear, but the windy drive about killed that idea.  It's a long way up, and half the car was sick by the time we got there.  Other than that--a beautiful place and perfect place to vacation...

Our hotel is the the green building in the background--right on the lake.  We spent a lot of time out on this dock, watching the boats and the fishermen...

A rousing game of Bingo while waiting for Charlie to go to sleep a few feet away in a pack and play.  This was the easiest hotel experience we've ever had--Charlie was so exhausted that he literally climbed into his bed and went to sleep--with all of us in the room.  So, so easy.  We turned down the lights, kept our voices low, and he just watched us and was asleep within 15 minutes.  Then we turned on a movie for the girls and Andy and I were entertained by our phones, then lights out early. 

Monday morning we had breakfast on the dock then went swimming in the heated pool...

My parents drove up Monday morning and joined us for the Alpine slides...

Lunch and ice cream...

Then off to the coolest zoo in Big Bear....Moonridge Zoo houses animals taken from the wild that are injured or sick and can't survive on their own...bears, buffalo, bald eagles, mountain lions, etc....all extremely up close.  Way cooler than the LA Zoo...

Easter in St. George

We went to St. George over the Easter weekend to spend the holiday with Andy's parents...I was severely under the weather the entire weekend, so the bulk of the Easter festivities fell to Andy and his parents--the kids were in great hands and had a fantastic time...

Andy's parents live on a great cul-de-sac over-looking the city, with the perfect neighborhood in which to ride bikes, so we hauled up 2 bikes, 2 plasma cars, 1 scooter, and Charlie's lawn mower...can't believe we fit that all in the back of the van!

We had an Easter egg hunt on Saturday morning...

And after the egg hunt...came the money.  The Hyers have a fun tradition of having a sand pile money dig, and we're talking serious money for kids...usually it's a big dig up at their house with all the cousins, but Chuck had a pile of sand brought in just for our kids this weekend, and buried lots of money...Because I was sick, the job fell to Andy to take them to Walmart after the dig for a toy drive...and lucky for them because Dad let them buy things that would NEVER allow--a 4 foot stuffed pink bunny--really Andy???

I managed to get the kids dressed for Church on Easter morning, but the joy didn't last long, as Charlie melted down and I left church with him during the prelude music...

Arm-wrestling with Grandpa...

Playgroup Easter Egg Hunt

We have a playgroup that we've been with for a couple years now, and we got together a few weeks before Easter for brunch and an egg hunt...love these ladies (and their families!)

Charlie is picking candy out of his teeth...

Spring Break in Phoenix

The kids and I headed to Phoenix for Spring Break the first week of April to spend time with some of our favorite people--the H family!  We have known this family since our newlywed days in Rancho Cucamonga, back before any of us had kids!  We've both moved several times, but we've always stayed in touch...and talk about the best host ever!  She is so fun and has more energy than I could ever hope to have, especially when I was feeling very sub-par due to pregnancy.  We packed in a lot of activity in 4 days...

My friend has the greatest "bike contraption"--she has a wagon with a caboose hooked onto the back of her bike, then I rode a separate bike and the 2 older kids rode separately--so fun.  We rode all over her town.

 I'll leave this one smaller, with me in all my pregnant, wind-swept, bike riding glory...

And talk about a great daily tradition--homemade cookies with milk at the end of each day...

Her 2 darling blondies...

 4-wheeling in the backyard...

Hiking...

Late night swimming at a local hotel...no we weren't guests, but no one asked...

Thank you for a fun week!  And we'll be back next year!

Strawberry Picking at Tanaka Farms

Back at the end of March we headed to Orange County to pick strawberries at Tanaka Farms...we picked pumpkins here in the fall, but this tour was a little different.  We rode around the farm in a wagon and the kids were able to taste vegetables all along the route...didn't know Charlie liked romaine lettuce so much!

We headed down with Becky, Sophie, Avery and a much smaller William...

Each child was given a clamshell to fill, after he or she had eaten as many strawberries as possible...