Hiking with a View

 

One afternoon we all went on a really beautiful hike that overlooked the ocean. 

Caelan fell asleep on the drive to the hike so she was a bit out of sorts for the whole trip.  She resisted all pictures…..

This is her style of hiking….

Sean and his siblings (Sean, Ken, Erin, & Molly)

Beach Fun with the Cousins Under the San Diego Sun!

 

The kids could not have had more fun with their cousins playing the beach right in front of our hotel. 

I, of course, LOVED that they had so much fun, but after a few days I realized that beach meant SAND in every crevice!  It always meant a shower would be required later…..

That water was C.O.L.D!

This is one happy girl!

Brennan was in heaven throwing the football back and forth with his older cousins….

And, of course, Caelan was in heaven to have so many older cousin’s to play with too.  This is Madison, she’s the oldest cousin on Sean’s side – and she is such a sweetheart. 

I was playing the soundtrack to the movie Frozen on my phone and they were singing the closing bars of “In Summer” by the snowman Olaf with lots of drama!

Making sand balls with cousins Madison, Paige, & Oakley…..

Making ‘sand angels’ with cousin Kade….

And, of course, a trip to the beach would not be complete without someone getting buried up to their shoulders in sand.  Here the ‘victim’ was Oakley. 

San Diego

 

In February we all ventured to San Diego for a mini-Ward Family reunion.  Sean’s brother, Ken and his family were stationed in SD from Aug-Feb before getting transferred to Japan (he is in the Navy).  Sean’s parents, his sister Erin & her two boys, and his sister Molly and her husband also came.

Caelan hanging out with Grandpa Jack

Sean’s step-grandma Roberta, who is 96yrs old, actually took the train up from LA to be with us for dinner one night too.  She then stayed with her daughter and went back the next day.  She is an amazing women! 

The kids were just in ‘heaven’ to be with their cousins……they did actually play WITH each other and not just NEXT to each other as this picture would imply!

Of course, the kids all stayed up WAY too late, and Caelan is our ‘snoozy’ girl anyway.  I just could not rouse her on our first morning there…..but I realized it was a great photo opportunity.  I don’t actually get to see her sleeping anymore since she no longer naps. 

Trouble with B

So, this blog is intended to record a lot of different memories…..and I would be remiss to not show some of the ‘not so great’ stuff as well. 
Ever since the holiday break, Brennan has been having trouble not being a goofball at school.  It is so frustrating!  His academics are right on par with where he should be, thankfully.   
So, in mid-February, he got in trouble at school for drawing a picture of a butt on his ‘slate’ (dry erase board) during math.  He and another little girl were apparently having a bit of a competition over who could draw the best picture, so they both got in trouble. 
This is the note he had to write to us to document it all.   (He sometimes writes a ‘b’ instead of a ‘d’ or vice versa.  He also has equal trouble with ‘p’ and ‘q’.)

A Little of Snow in February

 

We got a little bit of snow in early February, but it was enough to get the kids out to play!

Caelan and her best buddy Ewan.  Ewan is wearing Brennan’s old coat and hat in this picture.  And, I think Caelan is wearing a hat that was handed down from Cassidy. 

I love this picture below of Damian (Ewan and Cassidy’s Dad) with the ‘littles’'.