California Cousins

We had so much fun this weekend! We had the great pleasure of going to visit my brother, Aaron, and my sister-in-law, Rebecca, in Fountain Valley, California. We got to go to the beach, where the water was unbelievably cold. It literally numbed my whole body and the ONLY reason I even got wet is because you don't drive to California once a year and NOT get in the ocean while you are there! Stephen, of course, had a blast playing in the sand and the water. I am pretty sure he would have kept playing at the beach all day until he literally dropped of exhaustion on the sand where he would have slept quite blissfully. Boston wasn't a huge fan of the wind at the beach but once we got him all warm and cozy, he took two naps and was quite content. We got to roast hot dogs and marshmallows at a fire pit there on the beach.

Later that night we went to visit Scott's cousin, Ali, her husband, Jeff, and their sweet little baby, Evan. It was so fun to visit with them in person. They treated us to some tasty Orange Julius - thanks! I told Scott as we left their house that I felt like I was meeting with celebrities. I get that feeling because I read their blog and see lots of pictures of them but it has been at least two years since we have seen them in person. So, like someone famous, we think they are really cool, see lots of pictures of them, know a little about what is going on in their life, but rarely actually see them in person. Weird comparison, but we will suffice it to say that it was really fun to hang out for a while! :)

We tried to go to Downtown Disney to walk around for a while that evening but we got there too late to make it worth actually getting out of the car. So we drove around Disneyland and Stephen was thrilled with the little glipses and bright lights everywhere. It was a good thing we didn't get out because Boston had one of his weekly diaper "blowouts" in his carseat while we were driving around. It was the WORST poopy mess I have ever had to clean up from him or Stephen! When we got back to my sister-in-law's house, Scott had to dismantle the car seat to get all of the parts clean. Anyway, it would have been very very bad to have been out in public when that happened!

On the Fourth we went to a song and dance 4th of July program that Rebecca was involved in. Their stake puts it on each Independance Day and they involve members and non-members from the community. One of the musical numbers called "50 Nifty United States," involved some of the cutest toddlers dressed up in different ways to represent each of the fifty states. For example, Arizona was a little boy dressed as a Saguaro cactus and Neva was Elvis. The cutest was a little girl wearing a potato sack with dirt on her face to represent Idaho. They also did a tribute to the different branches of the Armed Forces. It was awesome - a perfect way to celebrate the day!

We went back down to the beach that evening to watch fireworks. Stephen was more interested in playing in the sand than in watching the fireworks. We had some major discipline issues involving him after he threw sand and it hit Uncle Aaron in the face. Stephen cried and yelled the entire mile back to the car. People probably thought we were trying to kidnap him - he was screaming "Mommy I need you," and "I want my Daddy!" We couldn't stop to try and reason with him because there were so many people around us trying to walk down the sidewalk. The was (a lot) more to the trouble but we will just say that the nice evening was not so fun for Scott and I.

It was so nice to visit with my family. We enjoyed seeing Stephen and Boston's cousins, Anna and Jeremiah. Jeremiah weighs over 20 pounds now and Boston is not far behind at 19.5 pounds!

Sorry the pictures are in a weird order - I couldn't drag them where I wanted them for some reason. grrrrrrr