Kelan pretty much lives in his swimsuit. He is always stoked to go to the beach (as we all are) but Kelan could play in the sand and water without sand toys or anything.. all day. He just loves the beach. He is starting swim lessons so he can start surf lessons as soon as possible. He is itching to get out further in the waves. Is it bad that I'm secretly hoping he won't learn to swim so he can't surf ever?! Probably.

For Janie's end of the year field trip we toured downtown HB. We started at the post office then went to the surf museum. For those who don't know, HB is also nicknamed Surf City USA. Right now, and every year, the US Open of Surfing happens right on our sand by the pier. It is a huge event. We have the Surf Walk of Fame on our downtown sidewalk and all the surfers who win the Open get their footprints set in the cement. This year because I feel more like a local than a tourist I do ot enjoy all the traffic the Open is bringing but it is still super fun to see all the stands up on the sand and to hear about the winners from my neighbors. Anyway, if you come to HB.. stop by the surf museum. Totally interesting. After we got a guided tour through the lifeguard headquarters and toured Jamba Juice. We ended with eating lunch on the sand. Super fun day.

Not an uncommon sight in HB


The Duke himself..






Huntington Beach has some of the best lifeguards in the whole world. We got to meet a bunch and they gave us a tour of their lifeguard headquarters. It was so interesting to hear all their beach tips and stories they told the kids. Such as.. there has not ever been a shark attack off of Huntington Beach. Nice to know.

Janie's 7th Birthday!!

For Janie's party this year she decided to do a "very fancy party" theme. We decorated flip flops with jewels, painted t shirts and everyone got featers in their hair.
a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHasGFBzc2iDiuUWU51HG15URIQydhX2_a4X5YGlE5sKW7KzXPDz37vV9aN3YOtS3Hjf-gs8JpM3rLcuoTzg48k35AMLMGd_SIfLt_SAAoCloW18WJdc9utnZ8OwIW3d97TzkqjlIk0K8/s1600/Janie+and+Kelan+2010+340.jpg">

"Forget about all the reasons why something may not work.
You only need to find one good reason why it will."

-Dr Robert Anthony

"We must be willing to let go of the life we have planned,
so as to have the life
that is waiting for us."

-Joseph Campbell

Sea World

Today we went to Sea World. It was Kelan's big end of the year field trip for school and it was awesome! We payed 5.75 a person and got to hang out at the park all day and even got to go behind the scenes at the shows. It was freezing but still super fun! Janie looved the dolphins and Kelan looved Shamu. We had a blast!



sharks are gnarly!!


We fed dolphins!!


We held star fish!


We saw the Sea Turtles (my favorite)

I made Ryan sit with me in the soak zone at all the shows today. He was so annoyed but I kept telling him that it was all about the experience. Enjoy the journey.. live each experience to the fullest. I have to say.. we were front and center at the Shamu show and even I was nervous for how wet we were going to get!! We were close! Some how though we had the best seats in the house and managed not to get soaked and sure enough.. it was an amazing experience!! Cutest Mom and baby! Now Kelan wants to be a Killer Whale trainer and Janie a dolphin trainer. I told them they can as long as when I'm at every show they can't have the fish soak me on purpose!

I woke up on Mothers Day to a couple of great secret holding kids of mine that had gotten me a hoodie I wanted from the street fair a few days before. I was impressed! We headed to church which was awesome. The kids all sang to us and the Dad's took over all the teaching so all of the Mom's could go to class together. I have lived here almost a year and I have to say I didn't think I would ever feel like I would ever like my ward here. I didn't think there was anyone in HB that I would want to be friends with. What a brat! Well, after a year.. I adore my ward and I have met a group of girls that are totally cool and fun to hang out with. After church we rode our bikes to the beach and decided to take a long walk on the sand. It was freezing but it was still super fun and beautiful.


After all the fleas I decided i might as well add lice to the mix and let Kelan pick up these hugs feathers and laughed all the way back to my bike as I watched him try as hard as he could to fly and yell at every passing bird "look at me.. i can fly too!" (jk about the lice btw)

We played a very serious game of UNO. Lots of very serious games of UNO.



My day ended with a yummy dinner with my favorite people.. ever.

A few months ago I started noticing Serge (our dog) scratching. Scratching a lot. I took him to the dog wash and sure enough, he had a "few" fleas. How gross. I just couldn't get it out of my head. So, I moved the baby gate from the hallway to the kitchen door and he was no longer past the kitchen. This way he couldn't get on any carpets or furniture. About this time my next door neighbor started coming by and offering to walk Serge during the day. She has another dog Dante who Serge loved and they had so much fun hanging out. Then I started noticing Serge laying by the back door and waiting for his daily walks from the neighbor and his visits with Dante. I would ask him if he wanted to go see Dante and he would get so excited. It was cute. After a lot of thinking about Serge and his life stuck in the kitchen, I decided to ask my neighbor if she wanted to adopt Serge. She was so excited! So, Serge moved next door. I will admit it straight up. I love animals. I grew up with dogs and cats, birds, hamsters, snakes.. you name it. BUT I have no problem finding new, good homes for animals when they ruin things in my house. So, give me a hard time.. go ahead. My kids have no been sad one second that Serge lives next door and neither have I! Someday I will get another dog but not now. So, in case you are still upset with me..let me show you why I found Serge a new home...
Janie's legs

Janie's back

Kelan has them too but he wouldn't let me take a picture of his bites. We all have them. Still sad i found Serge another home???
We are in war in our house. War with fleas. I started by bathing both of my cats with flea shampoo and then putting drops and flea collars on them. Then I ripped off every sheet, pillow, stuffed animal and anything else I can wash in the washing machine up and spent two days bleaching, vacuuming and bombing these gross little bugs out of my house. I hate fleas. If my kids get one single scar on their perfect skin from these bites I'm going to cry. I call the fleas Osama Bin Laden and we all know how that war ended. Wish me luck.