California Vacation

 

We were able to take a whirlwind vacation to California during the kids Mardi Gras break.  Lucky for us, California had a warm spell the whole time we were visiting so we had some fabulous weather.  

Our first day, we traveled to Newport Beach to visit with the most loving family in the world, the Bonds Family.  (I nannied for them when I went to Valpo and most recently, we went to eldest daughter, Taylor's wedding in Nashville).

God has sure brought our families together full circle and Tom and Julie have been such a great example of how Jesus can be the center of a marriage and family.  

The Bonds live about a block from the Pacific Ocean so we were excited to see what California beach living had to offer.  It was fun to watch the surfers, we definitely don't have big enough waves for that on our Gulf.  

  

My kiddos with youngest Bonds daughter, Ali.  Ali recently got accepted to Ole Miss and will be visiting the college soon!  We are hoping and praying she becomes a Mississippi girl!  She already loves the big bows so she is halfway there :)

 

Luke enjoying some beach time.

  

Can't keep my kids from boogie boarding but the water was absolutely FRIGID!!  They did not last too long but at least they can say they boogie boarded in the Pacific Ocean.  

 

Addison getting warm and snuggly with Julie.  Love.

  

Me and Julie!  So much fun and laughter, it was a great day.

 

The next day we headed to Stephen's sister's house to visit with her family.  It was the first time the cousins met and it took all of three seconds for them to start running around and playing together.  It was very cute and warmed my heart.  

Andrea and Marlon have a beautiful house and yard and the kids enjoyed swimming, especially in the hot tub.  Luke and little Marlon were two peas in a pod the whole trip and had so much fun together.

 

Grandma Joan with all of her grandkids.

Marlon 7

Amelia 11

Addison 6

Luke 9

Matthew 3

 

Andrea, Joan and Stephen after a fun filled day of food and swimming and jumping on the trampoline.

 

The next day we traveled up to the mountains in the Big Bear area.  

It was a long, winding road up the mountain with an amazing view.  Unfortunately Luke and Matthew have a similar tummy and both got sick on the side of the road.  It was a long trip but worth it once we got there.

 

Amelia ready to climb to the summit!

 

Addison posing as cute as can be.  

 

The hike was absolutely beautiful and so fun!  We all were so proud of Grandma Joan, she was a real trooper and we were thankful she made it!

 

The boys taking a break.

 

Luke playing with some snow he found.  

 

Grandma Joan with all the kiddos.

 

This is near the top of our hike.   You can see Big Bear Lake in the background.  

We were unbelievable impressed with all of the kids.  Not one complaint or whine, they were awesome hikers on some difficult terrain.  

 

We made it!

 

The Camas Family

 

Addison found a little nook that she wanted her picture taken in.  Always ready for the cover of a magazine, our little Addison Kate.

 

Pacific ocean one day, snow up in the mountain, the next.  Pretty cool.

 

After our hike we went to the lake and the kids fed the ducks.  Luke and Addison even had ducks take the crackers right out of their hands.

 

Such a fun day!!!  Puke and all.  

 

The next day we traveled to Knott's Berry Farm.  This was perfect for the ages of all our kids and there was nobody there!!  It was amazing, our kids could go on the rides over and over without even getting back in line.  We could not have picked a better day and we pretty much stayed open until close.

 

We had to get a picture of Luke with Linus.  Linus is the character with the blue blanket and who sucks his thumb.  Just like our Lukey.  

 

This ride was a hit with everyone!  Amelia is not a daredevil at all so she loved staying in Camp Snoopy with her little cousins.  The big boys even went on some roller coasters but Amelia stayed behind.  Her most thrilling ride was the Log ride, and of course Addison wanted to go on every spinning, fast ride she was tall enough for.  

 

Choo Choo ride!  Yay! 

Matthew and Amelia enjoying some time together.  Matthew loved Amelia and stayed with her wherever she went.  The feeling was mutual and Amelia was a great helper with little Matthew.  

 

Daddy getting some love from Addison.

 

Mommy getting some love from Daddy :)

 

 We had such a fun trip and enjoyed all of our destinations but man did we HATE the traffic.  This is how we felt we spent most of our trip.  Stuck in traffic with a billion other cars.  

We are very spoiled where we live and we could not wait to get back to non existent traffic in Mississippi. 

 

This is how the kids felt about sitting in the car for hours every day while we were visiting.  

Boo.

But, we LOVED our trip and visiting with everyone in California.  Thank you for everyone who hosted us!

Happy Mardi Gras!

 

Mardi Gras is not just a day down here, it is a whole season of celebration!  There are balls and parades and all sorts of traditions.  We made it to our Ocean Springs parade this year and collected a gazillion beads and stuffed animals and Moon Pies!!

Addison showing her awesome grab and catch technique.  

 

Amelia chose to celebrate the parade with her Youth Group this year instead of us.  I sense this may be our future...sniff sniff.  

 

Addison boogies down the entire parade so she gets a pretty rockin' collection of beads.

 

The big girls at Youth Group.  Love, love, love.

Happy 6th Birthday Addison Kate

Happy Birthday beautiful Addison Kate.

 

On Addison's big day, she had a special birthday celebration at school.  The school honored each year of her life with memories, pictures, and songs.

 

Addison showing her class how much she has grown since she was a baby.  Look at that teeny tiny dress.  

 

Addison explaining to her class that she sleeps with her lamb, "Lamby."

 

Part of the celebration involves showing pictures of each year of her life.  It is really cute to listen to the children comment on Addison's pictures.  They look for similarities of how she looks currently versus the pictures, "She is wearing a bow in her hair in both."  "She has the same big, blue eyes."

 

She circles the room with the globe for each year of her life as the children sing, "The earth goes around the sun, tra la.  The earth goes around the sun. And every time it goes around, another year is done."  

Whimper, whimper, sniff, sniff goes this mommy.

 

And then she blows out her candle.  

 

And then they do a big Hip Hip Hooray for each year!!  

 

Addison had a whole room full of us to celebrate with her.  

 

We will miss this school and Miss Mary Ann and all of the teachers so much.  It is such a special place.  

 

SIX YEARS OLD!!!

 

There is that big personality we love so much!

 

She could not believe she got her very own Kindle.  She was beyond excited!

 

'Frozen' lego set.  Yay!

 

Birthday hugs for the birthday girl.

We all love you so much Addison Kate!  You bring us so much joy and laughter!

Happy 6th Birthday!

Pony Party!

 

It is painful to report, but Addison Kate turned six years old!   I can barely stand it.  

We had a gorgeous day for a birthday party and Addison had four "big kid" helpers to make the day even more special.  

 

Big girl and her daddy.

 

I mean really, how else would you celebrate turning six?  Of course, you get a pony!!  Actually we had two ponies and a horse come to the house!  

Addison and all of her kindergarten friends were literally bouncing with excitement watching the horses come off the trailer.  

 

Precious girl.  

 

Another birthday, another awesome cake not made by mommy.

 

My sweet baby girl is becoming such a big girl.  I wish I could freeze time.

 

Smiles and giggles were abundant all day.

 

Big brother took some time out from managing the games to take a ride.

 

We set up games and prizes for the kids as well so they could have oodles of fun!

Amelia and Luke and their friends were great at being in charge of the games and helping all the kindergartners win lots of prizes. 

 

Amelia still loves riding horses.

 

Happy Birthday to you!  Happy Birthday to you!

The start of a new year

 

This is one of the many reasons I love my coastal Mississippi home.  Because only here can we jump in the rain in our bathing suits (because it was in the 70's) in January and...

 

Dance and play with Olaf in the snow in the same week.  

When the rest of the country gets an arctic blast, we sometimes get it as well.  Granted, it is not as severe but it still can get cold here.  I was driving Addison to school the morning of the "cold day" and I noticed snow flying in the air in our downtown square.  So of course I could not pass that opportunity up and I pulled over to check it out.  Our sweet town, brought in a snow machine and Olaf for the kids to enjoy the snow!  So fun for Addison...

 

She made a snowball, played with some friends and then told me she was cold and ready to go to school.  Ha!  Enough of this cold stuff, I guess but it was cute.

 

Getting together with my girls, love them.

 

Notice both my dogs kissing Mary Claudia to death, they can always find the one that has a heart for dogs.  

 

Amelia's gifted and talented class has been studying underwater robotics this month. Each group got to design and build an underwater robot and then for the last few weeks, take it to the pool to test it out in different obstacles and tasks.  The above obstacle involves the kids manipulating the robot to slide the red ring across each bar.  I cannot even fathom controlling that thing, or designing it, or even dreaming about it.  

Love these kids brains.

 

 

Amelia got another awesome opportunity in January.  She and the rest of her youth group went to Twin Lakes camp up in Jackson for the "Polar Thang" middle school camp.  And look who went with her!!  Our wonderful and amazing Ashley is now one of the youth leaders as well; so Amelia gets lots of special time with Ashley and her two best friends, Mckenzie and Lizzie.  

 

Rock climbing, games, singing, bible studies, all that great bonding stuff.  She loved every minute.

 

Capped off by doing the "polar plunge" into the lake.  I put it in quotes because I think of a polar plunge as cutting a hole in ice and jumping in water while the air temperature is below zero.  It was like 65 degrees that day although Amelia did say the water was FREEZING!!