Summer Vacation Part III (Days 10-14)

Day 10 (July 9th)

Lake Day. Stephanie had told me about Lake Yosemite many times in our previous visits and I'm sure we talked about going once or twice but never made it there. We finally decided to check it out. I am so glad we did. This is the perfect hang out spot! They have boating, fishing, a scout camp, playgrounds, camp grounds, a beach, and many places for picnics and barbecues. This quickly became a favorite spot of mine for future visits. The beach is small with lifeguards and a swim area roped off with water that is only about 4-5 feet deep. Perfect! The boys waded in up to their necks but there was no surf to knock them over. Charley was in the water the entire time. Ben was happy to play in the shallows next to Nana and I while we sat in the sun. After a few hours of this he was ready for a nap in the shade. This was a great day! We decided to bring Ron and Papa back at the end of the week and allow Joseph and Sam to try fishing. On the way home we picked up some KFC for dinner. The kids ate every bite of their dinner and went happily to bed and slept the entire night.

Day 11 (July 10th)

Movie Day! Nana and I took the kids to see Disney's Ratatouille. I was surprised at how long this movie was. I didn't see all of the movie as I was taking kids to the bathroom for many parts of it. Ben was done about halfway through so I ended up having to ask Stephanie how it ended. The kids seemed to like it for the most part so that was good. In the afternoon the kids played outside on the slip-n-slide. Water had to be involved somewhere.

Day 12 (July 11th)

Stephanie and I braved Boomers and miniature golf with the kids. Stephanie started out with a hole in one of the first hole. Joseph got his on the Windmill hole. He was so excited. Sam was a little dangerous with the golf club. I was sure he was going to break one of the lights or wallop one of us with his club. He did not want any pointers on how to stand or how to hold the club! After this we gave the kids a few tokens to play some games and pick out prizes with their tickets. Once we finally pried them out of the place we headed over to Aunt Karen's for another dip in the pool. The kids love going there and Porter and Stephanie ventured in to give me a hand with the kids.

Day 13 (July 12th)

Beach Day! We all hopped in the car and drove over to Aunt Deborah's house on this day. On the way in we picked up some sandwiches at TOGO's. After changing the kids into their bathing suits we packed them back into the car and headed for Santa Cruz. We found a nice spot next to the life guard tower and set down our blankets and towels. The boys still need to learn the rules about beach etiquette. I am sad the kids don't get more beach days, this is something I grew up doing every summer. Charley never came up to the blanket once, she was again in the water the entire time. Ben and Sam mostly played next to me in the sand, however Joseph and Sam both enjoyed chasing the waves. After having our fill of the beach we drove over to the boardwalk for dinner and carnival rides. The kids loved the ferris wheel and Charley liked playing babysitter to cousin Jacob and taking him on the rides. She did a great job holding on to him on a ride that neither Deborah nor I realized was a little too fast for such a young guy. Ben really enjoyed the horses on the ferris wheel. On the way home that night we put on a movie in the car thinking they would be fast asleep. We were wrong again. They didn't fall asleep until we were about 1/2 hour from home. It was on the drive home that I realized I had forgotten to put sunscreen on my legs. I would pay the price the next day. Ronny flew back in that night and we were happy he was back.

Day 14 (July 13th)

That morning I woke up in quite a bit of pain. I have had bad sunburns in the past but never have I had so much pain in my legs than I did this morning. For some reason the sunburn caused my legs to swell and it was difficult for me to stand in one place without having significant pain. Nana was kind enough to watch all the kids while Ronny and I went to see the latest Harry Potter movie. After the movie we headed over to Walmart to look for a fishing pole. We found "Cars" fishing poles for the boys, not to mention weights and hooks, and fishing licenses for the big boys. Then we headed to In N Out for some lunch, YUM! After we showed the boys their poles they headed outside to see what kind of trouble they could get into while we prepared to go back to the lake. We loaded up the van and headed out along with Papa. Nana made a run to the store on the way there. We arrived expecting for the lake to be crowded but much to our surprise it wasn't at all. We found the spot we had that Monday and a table nearby. Stephanie arrived with all the fixins for sandwiches. The boys headed off to do some fishing. They soon discovered it was not safe for Sam to have a hook on the end of his. No fish were caught but they had a great time! That night we visited the book store and grocery store for our trip home the next day.

Day 15 (July 14th)
Driving home. We slept in a little late this morning but the sleep was needed after so much fun that week. The kids went on one last hunt for fruit with Papa before loading up in the car for our trip home. The kids did well on the drive and we arrived around 8 p.m. that evening. We felt a little bad as it was technically bedtime when we arrived so we let them play outside while we unloaded the car. We had so much fun on our trip. Sam continues to ask if we can go back to Nana's today. If only it were that easy. My next step is to make a slide show of all the pictures that didn't make in on the blog. Hopefully I will get that done sometime this week.