Zoo

Where ever we go, we usually go to the zoo.  And yes we went to Chaffee Zoo.

Ryan refused to go into the reptile house so he waited outside.

 And hid in his shell

 My friends Dalia Dockstader, Melinda Brown, and Sarah Adams came with their kids too!  It was so much fun seeing them and their beautiful little guys and gals!

Afterwards we went to Neal's favorite Mexican restaurant, Castillos.  Yum!  Let me just say that any ethnic food in Iowa pretty much sucks so it is always on our list of restaurants to go visit when we come to California.  And I love me some Chili Verde.. mmm... makes me want some beans and rice right now.

Bowling and Nails!

While in Cali we had a lot of fun with cousins. 

We went bowling.

So this is a shot of the names... yes that says, "Meal" and "Bryon".  Pretty close.

And the just the girls went out for some fun too!

We got our tootsies done and then went to Cheesecake Factory.  And I totally blame this trip on getting me hooked on Cheesecake Factory.  Mmmm.. Mango Key Lime Cheesecake.

Resort

The resort we stayed at was awesome.

 

While we were there, Nate and Emilie told us the sex of their upcoming baby- fun style:

Zombie Coby

Another girl!  Well, since they make such cute girls it will be perfect!  Congrats!

The boys had wanted to find seashells, but the beach was kinda dirty and way crowded so that didn't happen.  Luckily the resort had a fun craft- painting seashells!

Playing in the play room while waiting for the craft-

 

Painting time!

 

Way fun!

Santa Monica and Newport

My Grandpa passed away right before we headed out to California, so while we were there we went to Santa Monica to bury him.  We had a nice graveside service with my dad's side of the family present.  He lived a full life and was a great man.


Sorry, no pictures of that!


After the service we headed down to Newport Coast to spend some time as a family at the coast. 

We got stuck in traffic.

But then we made it (several hours later).

Ahhhh!

So I have to tell you, Ryan was NOT excited AT ALL to go to the beach.  He was so cranky and onry and would NOT cooperate.  But then he watched Adam and the cousins having fun.  And then he got close to the water.  And then he got IN the water.  And that was all it took for him to have an absolute blast playing in the waves.

Garett on the other hand would not have anything to do with the water so he played in the sand and hung out with Grandma.  And he was the only one who did not get a nasty sunburn (despite our several applications of sunscreen for us).  Hmmm... who's the smart one here?

That night we ventured to Balboa Pier to drive around looking for parking.  Several years later and almost getting killed and almost getting in a fight with nijas we found a spot and went to eat and venture on the pier.

Looking at these pictures makes me wonder why in the world we ever left.  But then I remember the parking and the squished space and the HORRIBLE HORRIBLE bathrooms.  (Let's just say I went in a porta potty at RAGBRAI in Iowa that was eons cleaner than the public bathrooms at the beach).  But then of course all our family is out in horrible public restroom land.    It's so hard to say goodbye!