Fetzer Family Fun: CALIFORNIA! and WES TURNS 2!

We just got back from a super fun family vacation in California! But before I go into more detail we had a couple activites before we left.

We enjoyed a fun family hike to donut falls. All of the kids did a good job and we went in the evening to give us a little break from the heat.

The kids did 2 weeks of swim lessons. They all did a great job and passed with flying colors. Wes and I had a fun time watching them each morning.

We had a fun 24th of July, that started out with the annual ward breakfast. Jake was working this year and it was a little different not to be as involved in the breakfast, but kind of nice too. We finished off the day with a few fireworks in the school parking lot.

The kiddos enjoyed a fun playgroup that Meghan/the Bloomers hosted at the pool. They had a great time swimming with their friends.

Wes Turned 2 the day we left. We celebrated with him a little on Friday night and then a little more on his Birthday Saturday.

CALIFORNIA

Saturday:

We left around 9:30 that morning. Along with Julie (Momma Fetzer) and Quinn. We made it all the way down to St. George without any stops. The kids did awesome. We stopped in St.George and had lunch at the red rocks in 104 degree weather so we didn't stay long. Laws really wanted to stop in Vegas to see what it was all about. The temp there was 109. We tried to talk him into just driving down the strip with the A/C in the car. No luck. So we parked walked maybe a block, ended up in the Mall and looked at the Disney and Lego stores and then were off again. We made it to a city just outside of our first camp site and got Pizza for dinner to celebrate Weston's birthday. Yes he turned 2 today! I can't believe our baby is already two! He loves to play with his siblings, cousins and friends. He loves talking to people walking by and people he knows, a lot of times yelling their names at them. He can count to 10. We love him and are excited to watch him continue to grow and learn.

Sunday:

We checked into the camp at 6:30 am. It was in Temecula, California. We waited until later to set up camp in order to get a better camp site with more shade. The camp site was woodsy/desert. There were a ton of woodpeckers and crows. There was a sign on the bathroom door to tell us to be aware of Tarantulas, coyotes, rattle snakes and birds. We saw all of them but the rattle snake while we were there, which is fine by me.

Just before dinner time Will and his family met up with us. We visited with them, then had dinner and then called it a night pretty early since no one had had a good nights sleep since we had left.

Monday:

We had breakfast and then were off to our first beach, which was about an hour away. It was so fun to see the excitement of the kids. Laws is the only one that remembers the ocean. Ava has been, but was only 1. We went to Oceanside beach the first day. We set up the Canopy at each beach we went to. Some spent a lot of time there and others went back and forth to get a break from the sun. The kids loved playing in the waves and playing in the sand. It was a good beach, the waves were just right and so was the temperature. That is one of the things I love about the southern Cali beaches is the temperature outside. It is perfect! I played with Wes a bit in the waves. We had a couple of boogie boards, which added to the fun. Each evening was spent at the pool at the campground. They played some card games before bed. I usually took Pierce and Weston to sleep in the tent a little earlier than that each night.

Tuesday:

We got up and had breakfast and headed to another beach. This time we headed to Carlsbad Beach. This one had crazy fun waves. They were bigger and stronger and smacked you around a little bit more. They kept getting further up the beach as the day progressed and we had to move tha canopy at one point. I played with Jake a bit in the water this time. Wes got hit with one of the waves while he was playing and while I was asking Jake if he was good, one knocked me over. It was pretty fun. I liked being pushed around a little, but not too deep. At one point Jake grabbed my hand and said he would help me in the waves. Well I got knocked down and he came down with me, as we washed up to shore and tried to get up, it got us again. Crazy! But don't you worry, Jake never let go of my hand that whole time and then when it was over said, "Wasn't that romantic?"

I guess it kind of was 😉

Wednesday:

We had breakfast and then went to a different part of Carlsbad Beach. It was fun, but not as wild as the day before. We came back to camp for a late lunch/dinner this day. They spent our last night in Temecula swimming and playing games. We saw a coyote in the late afternoon and then a Tarantula early that evening. Kind of cool, and creepy.

Thursday:

Today we got up and had breakfast and took down camp. We were headed to San Diego! The part we were looking forward to. We had a great time in Temecula, but we will always have a special place for San Diego.

On our way down to San Diego we stopped at the Scripps aquarium. We have been there 2 other times and it never disapoints. The kids had a great time, as well as the adults. We watched a scuba feeding in the big tank this time, which was an added bonus. It was pretty cool to see the leopard sharks tear apart their fish for lunch. After we headed to camp for a late lunch and to set up camp. We did camp activities the rest of the day, including swimming in their new pool and hot tub. It was nice. Their facilites have been updated and they always keep the grounds very nice and clean. We have enjoyed camping there for all our San Diego Trips.

Friday:

We got up and had breakfast and headed to the beach, this time only about a 20 minute drive now. We headed to La Jolla beach. One of our favorites we have been to in the past. We beach combed this time around. We walked quite a ways down past the pier up by the rocks were we could see all the crabs. It was fun. All the kids collected shells and sand dollars along the way. On our way back when we were just about back to the canopy an ice cream cart was walking by. Pierce said he was hungry and I told him we were just about back to the canopy. Typical Pirece said he was hungry right now and I said we don't have food right now. We were like 50 yards away from the canopy at this point. He said there was ice cream right now and I asked him if he had any money. Then Jake and I kept heading up to the canopy with him, or so we thought. A minute or two later, Jake asked where Pierce was. We couldn't see him around close by. Jake, Will, Quinn and I strated to head back to the girls and Laws who were still beach coming. When Quinn and I saw Jake running back we knew Pierce was not with them, so I started to head the other way. I oddly enough wasn't panicked yet, worried, but not panicked maybe it is because he always tries to run off when he is shopping with me, who knows. I just kept thinking, maybe he didn't notice us turn up to the canopy and kept by the ice cream cart. I told Quinn he knew not to be by the water and if he noticed he wound probably be crying wondering where I was. At that point I saw a nice mom leaning down with him, crying and I ran towards them. He ran to me and I waved and yelled thank you to the lady. He was a little shaken up, but it didn't last long. He seemed to be much better when we got back to the canopy and Grandma gave him licorice and Lanie gave him goldfish. So that was probably the exciting part of that day. We swam and did the hot tub that afternoon and the kids did a lollipop hunt that evening.

Saturday:

We had breakfast and went to Coranodo beach. It was our last beach day so everyone took advantage and had a lot of fun playing in the waves and in the sand. We saw a few dophin close to shore when we first got there. We headed back to camp for a late lunch and then had hamburgers and hot dogs for dinner. We spent or last evening in the pool and the kids made smores when they came back. We tried not to go to sleep too late because we were trying to get an early start home the next morning.

Sunday:

We woke up at 5:00. Although it seems like the noisy birds woke me up around 5 every morning while camping. We took camp down and were off just after 6. We made it a few ours and then had a quick stop at a rest stop. Our next stop was around Mesquite for gas. Then we stopped at a park in St. George for lunch. We made one more gas stop and then we were home about 7:30 that night.

We had a great time together as a family and also with Julie and Quinn and Will's Family. We love spending time together and we loved our time in California! It was nice to have so much time with Jake as well, he was glad to have over a week off of work.

Monday we were back to the grind. Jake at work and the kids and I getting things ready for school this next week.

We had lunch with Katie at Wheeler farm today. It is always good to catch up with here every so often and the kids like to visit with her as well!

Tuesday was our last play group. We went to liberty park and played and had snacks. It was so fun to visit with Lanie and her girls, Becca and her boys and Stephanie and here little one this time. We always have such a great time. The kids love their friends so much and I really enjoy the time talking with the other moms! Sometimes I feel like I could use more of it.

Wednesday was kind of a relaxed day, just getting things together for next week.

Today we had a fun little cousins pool party at my sister Amy's house. It was fun to get together with my mom, my sisters and all of the cute kiddos.

We had a fun time visiting and watching the kiddos play!

We ended tonight with back to school night at Wasatch! After a lot of back and forth and looking into schools and talking to other moms we decided to move the kids to Wasatch. While we have had some great teachers at Bennion, it was so convient to be so close and the kids have been able to go to school with some of their best friends we decided a change would be good. After our back to school night I felt very reassured about our decision. The kids have some great teachers this coming year and they seem pretty excited about this new chapter.

Now a picture overload from our fun filled vacation....