Back to Santa Barbara!

It's family vacation time! We were so excited to head back to our old stompin' grounds for our time away this year. We stayed down in Carpinteria, a small blink-and-you-miss-it town just below Santa Barbara. Somehow, in the 3 years we lived there, we never took the time to spend any time in Carp at all, so it was cool to be able to actually see it! We left early Saturday morning for our long road trip, and the kids did AMAZING! It was a 9 hour trip, and the kids did awesome entertaining themselves.

We rolled into Carp at about 3:00 and after getting settled into our hotel went out to check out Carp. We hit the Bluffs first. At the far end of the bluffs there is a seal sanctuary. This is the seal's beach. If you look closely, you can see a little seal head in the upper right corner of the photo.

After the bluffs we headed down to get some beach time before dinner. Ben was still a little scared of the waves and spent much of the time at the beach like this:

But he did muster up enough courage to let the ocean get his feet with Daddy and Joshua at least once.

After the beach we got together for dinner with my friend, Lori, who I used to work with. Although we've kept in touch through email, I hadn't seen her in 8 years, so it was great to be able to get together.

The next morning we got up early to head about an hour north to Lompoc to visit our friends the Stults.

Andrew worked with John back when we lived in Santa Barbara. John's wife, Alisha and I have become friends through our blogs and social networking, but had never had the chance to actually meet face to face. They have 2 boys exactly our boys' ages, so we were really looking forward to our time with them. As we suspected, after some initial shyness, the boys became fast friends. We all went to church together, and afterward had a super fun afternoon at the park for a BBQ along with John and Carrie Ruckman. It was an amazingly beautiful day and the boys all had such a blast.

Alisha and I wanted so badly to get a good picture of all 4 boys. They were all playing up in the jungle gym, so we grabbed our cameras and tried to get them all together. Unfortunately, Joshua scooted a bit too far back on the stairs, and ended up falling about 5 feet from the top of the jungle gym! Thankfully, he was just fine and after some cuddles was good as new. After he'd calmed down, we got our pictures safely on the ground.

After leaving Lompoc that afternoon, we stopped at one of our favorite spots in Santa Barbara. Lake Los Carneros. It's such a pretty lake with wildlife and beautiful views. We couldn't visit Santa Barbara without stopping there.

One of our favorite hamburger spots was The Habit in downtown Goleta. Best hamburgers and onion rings around. We got our food and headed over to Goleta Beach for a little picnic in the back of the van and more beach time.

Monday was our Santa Barbara day. We were so excited to wake up and see the sun, which hasn't happened much this summer. It was the perfect day to spend outside. We had breakfast in Santa Barbara at Farmer Boy. The boys kept themselves occupied while waiting for our food.

After our tummies were full we headed downtown for more beach time and to see Stearns Wharf.

After some lunch at a little shop at Paseo Nuevo on State Street, I had the chance to go visit my old office.

There aren't a whole lot of people from when I worked there, but I was able to catch up with the few that remain. It's hard to believe it's been 8 years since I walked through those doors!

The courthouse in Santa Barbara is definitely a site to be seen. It has a tall clock tower that you can go up into to take in some beautiful views.

For dinner we met up with our friend Roxanne who we haven't seen in forever. It was so great to see her! After we left we realized we didn't take any pictures with her. :(

Tuesday was another big day. Of course it was Benny's birthday, so we had to start the day with a happy birthday song and present!

We spent our morning at the beach in Carp making sand castles and putting our feet in the ocean (Josh's favorite beach activity).

We made a stop at the Santa Barbara Mission and botanical garden...

and then stopped for lunch at our favorite sandwich shop, South Coast Deli. If you're ever in the Santa Barbara area, do yourself a favor and get yourself a South Coast Turkey sandwich. Trust me! They had added a great touch to their dining room... a chalkboard wall! It was perfect to keep the kids entertained while we waited for our food.

Sufficiently filled up with yummy sandwiches, it was time to head up the San Marcos Pass to the town of Solvang, the Danish capital of the United States. It's such a cute little town. We had planned to ride the Solvang Trolley (a horse drawn trolley car), but came to find the trolley driver had called in sick, so we settled for a ride in the Solvang Shoe!

Just outside of Solvang is Ostrich Land, so we stopped there to see the ostriches and emus and even got to feed them. I firmly believe that Ostriches are proof that God has a sense of humor!

It was just about dinner time, and so we decided to head up the road to Buelton and have dinner at the world famous Pea Soup Andersen's.

I can't say that I've ever craved a bowl of split pea soup, to say the least, but being at PSA, I had to give it a try. I'm so glad I did. Holy cow, was that some tasty good soup!

Even Benny liked it!

Wednesday we headed home, making one tourist stop along the way, the Cabazon Dinosaurs.

We were surprised to see that the gift shop was full of books and t-shirts talking about how the dinosaurs were created by God, that they are mentioned in the bible, and discrediting the theory of evolution. It was so cool!

We had another great ride in the car on the way home, without a tear shed and even no whining. Just an enjoyable day. We couldn't have asked for a better vacation. We definitely plan on making Santa Barbara a regular vacation spot. If you haven't been there, I highly suggest putting it on your list of "must visit" places. You won't be disappointed!

Benny is 3! - Round 1

Well, Ben isn't officially 3 until Tuesday, but since his school is on break next week he celebrated his birthday with his friends at school today. He chose cupcakes to bring and share with his friends, and of course, all the kids loved them. Since we weren't able to be there, we left our camera with the teacher to take some pictures for us.

I think Will needs more sugar. Don't you?

The three musketeers. Maddie N., Benny and Will.

There are plenty more birthday festivities planned over the next week. Happy birthday, Benny Boo!

John 14:6

Jesus answered, "I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."

In Case

I have been meaning to blog about this for quite a while, but just haven't gotten around to it. I'm not even sure what to say about it, or how to decribe it, so forgive me if this makes absolutely no sense. I just had to record this so that we would never forget, because it amuses us so.

Over the last couple of months, Joshua has been using the term "in case" a lot. And what's so funny about it is that he has NO IDEA what it means, so he uses it in the complete wrong context. Every time. For instance, he was opening one of his dresser drawers and pulled too hard, causing the drawer to come all the way out. Joshua's response: "In case the drawer fell out." He can also use it instead of saying something like "at least". Like this morning when he was putting on his clothes, he swung his jammy shirt around like a lasso and then threw it across the room, just being silly. I'm sure I gave him kind of a disapproving look, and he said "In case it didn't hit you."

We don't feel the need to correct him. I know one day he'll figure out what it really means and use it properly, but until then, we are going to just enjoy this one. In case I love this kid!

Matthew 19:14

Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these."

James 4:7

Resist the devil and he will flee from you.

What's for Dinner?

The boys have always loved playing with toy kitchens. I don't know what it is about them, but they just love them. We have talked off and on about getting them one, but with the price tag of new, inability to find any quality used one and the amount of space they take up, we've just never have gotten one. Until this week, when the boys' school put 2 of their kitchens up for sale... for $10!!! Yes, $10! For that price, I don't care how much space it takes up! That was just a deal we couldn't pass up. Did I mention it was only $10? For this!

They were so excited, and have already gotten so much more than $10 worth of fun out of it. I just love finding smokin' deals!

Swimming Lessons

The boys started their swimming lessons this weekend. We really should have gotten Joshua in swimming lessons a year or so ago, but sometimes it's just hard for us to get our act together and do these kinds of things. But we finally got them signed up, and since they are both beginning swimmers, we went ahead and enrolled them in the same class. They are taking the City of Chandler swimming lessons at Hamilton Aquatic Center. They are in the Tadpoles class, where they learn basic beginning swimming skills, like front and back float, kicking and entering and exiting the pool safely. They both did a good job and had a lot of fun.

Next year we hope to get through 2 more rounds of swimming lessons for them, in the hope that we can be floaty free by the end of next summer!

The pool opened to the public right after the lesson ended, so we thought we would stick around and have some swimming time before heading home. Hamilton is so cool! They have an enormous kiddie pool with a water slide, tire swing and shower sprayer. We all had a great time swimming and playing. It's nice to know we have such a fun swimming facility so close to home. I'm sure we will be frequent visitors for many summers to come!

Put a Ring on that Finger, Boy!

Ms. Victoria (Benny's teacher): Is Hannah your girlfriend? Are you going to marry her?

Benny: No, I'm going to marry Maddy Nillen (his main squeeze in his class)

Maddy (coming over to give Ben a hug): Do you want me to make you some dinner, Benny?

Andrew:Put a ring on that finger, boy!

Sucker Punch

My kids are huge fans of the ABC summer show Wipeout. It's just plain ol' fun watching people run through obstacle courses and fall in mud and water. I learned on Tuesday that the Sucker Punch is Ben's favorite part of Wipeout. It's a big wall that, well, punches you. Like this:

No one ever makes it past the Sucker Punch and they always end up in the mud pit below. Ben was watching, and decided he wanted to play the Sucker Punch too. Here is Ben's Sucker Punch impression:

Happy 4th of July!

We had such a fun 4th of July! For the last couple of years, we have gotten together with our small group for a BBQ and fireworks, and it just couldn't be more fun! The kids were so excited to go swimming and play with their friends. Joshua, of course, took to the water like a little fish. Benny has really discovered his love for the water, and was swimming around the pool with just his floaties and a pool noodle, telling us not to touch him. For only being his second time in the pool this year, and probably 5th time in his whole life, he was doing awesome! Everyone at the party got in the pool. So fun!

We all worked up quite an appetite swimming, so after prying the kids out of the pool, we threw some meat on the grill and feasted on all of the other yummy food everyone brought. One thing no one had to worry about was going hungry!

Mr. Kevin manning the grill.

If there is a car around, that's where Ben will be. Every. Time.

After we were all sufficiently stuffed on all the yummy food, we all went over to the park in our friends' neighborhood where you can see the fireworks from Tumbleweed (minus the crowds and traffic!). Ms. Melinda brought glow sticks for all the kids, which were a huge hit and kept them occupied while we waited for the show to start.

Happy birthday, America!

Bowling! It's Right Up Our Alley!

The marble jar that we were using as incentive for Joshua's good behavior has kind of run its course. It has done its job - we haven't had a negative report from school in quite some time - so now it has been officially retired. But he had one last full marble jar to cash in, so as his reward, we decided to go bowling. We had such a great time! He loved the funny shoes we got to wear...

Here's Joshua's first throw of the ball...much different than pretending with the Wii remote! (Forgive me that the video is sideways. I forgot we couldn't flip a video around)

Turns out the ball was a little too heavy for him to use one hand, so we showed him another way to do it, which worked much better.

We played two games, and Joshua was a very consistent little bowler.

Game 1

Game 2

We had so much fun!

I Do Not Like Them, Sam I Am

Seriously... Could he be any cuter???

Introducing.... Benzy!

John 3:16

For God so loved the world, He gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life.

Family Photos

We haven't had a real family portrait taken since Ben was about 4 months old, so needless to say, it was a bit outdated. Over the last couple of years we haven't been super motivated to get some new pictures done, as the kids have gotten some really great pictures taken of them at school for a reasonable price, and as a bonus, we didn't have to be there to deal with it! But this year the school portraits were beyond horrendous, so it forced us to go get our own done. So we FINALLY got some new family portraits today. I'm so glad we did! They turned out so good! We went to Portrait Innovations. The photographer was so amazing, coaxing some precious genuine smiles out of the boys. Here are some of our favorites:

Wild Kingdom

Our house has three new little residents these days. We have become a "safe house" for three little baby birds who have outgrown their nest but are not quite yet ready to venture out into this big ol' world.

The first one was brought over by his mommy on Monday. Andrew noticed the little guy out there after hearing very consistent "peeps" from him all evening. We weren't sure where he had come from, but could tell he was very much a young birdie.

The next day we saw that his little brother had joined him...

...and on Wednesday there was another one still.

On Wednesday our neighbor across the street called us to shed some light on these little guys' history, after seeing us checking out our new little birdie friends. Apparently their nest where they hatched was on his porch. Over the first part of the week, he had watched the mommy bird bring her babies over to our house one by one because they had gotten too big for their nest.

We have been watching them all week. It's more entertaining than television! It's so cool to see Mommy show up with a little tidbit for the babies to eat. As soon as they see her, their mouths pop open. Poor mom. All she's good for is a meal.

It's been so cool to watch them become more confident in their flying, and to see mom try to get them to be proactive about getting their food. At first she would bring the food right to them. But then she stopped doing that. She would instead make sure they knew she was there, but then would make them come to her to get it. She's also been trying to get them to venture a little further and higher from the porch. Yesterday they were able to make it up to the roof, which looked like quite the feat for them.

These little guys are so funny. They seem to be almost as interested in us as we are in them. When we're looking at them, they stare right back at us as if they are really trying to figure out who these strange people are that keep bothering them. One in particular seems especially interested in us. He'll perch himself on the sill of the window above our door and stare inside at us. And they are SO loud. Not in a disruptive annoying way, but we can hear their peeps plain as day in the house.

It's been so interesting watching our "birdie friends" (as Ben calls them). We'll be sad when they're big enough to go about their way, but we've sure enjoyed the time we've had with them.... it will be nice to clean up all the poop though. Who would have thought that something so small and cute could make such a mess!