What a wonderful visit!

I know, I know, it's been a while since I've updated anything on this blog. We've been so busy I haven't had the time. But now I do, so here you go :)

Last week we had some of our wonderful Florida and Alabama family come out and visit. We had Downey (sister in law) and her youngest, Summer. Mariah (sister in law), Carl and their two babies Carson and Amelia. Popsy (father in law). Last but not least, Carl (Mariah's father in law). What a treat! They main purpose of this trip was for the guys to play golf. I was informed of this many times before they even flew in. They all stayed in a hotel not to far from where we live. I would have loved to have them stay with us, but 10 people wouldn't have fit in our 450 sq foot apartment to well :D Heck, three people don't fit either!!! ha ha!

Well, we all took it easy that first day. Not too much went on. Early the next morning the guys left early, early to play a round of golf at the Miramar military base. The rest of the crew met up a little later at our apartment. I cooked pancakes and eggs (I hope it was ok) and then we headed to the beach to see the seals. It's pup season so there are little baby seals all over the beach. Carson was fascinated! At first he didn't see them because they looked like rocks until they moved. The water was so clear that we could see them swimming around too! He didn't want to leave! What made it all better was as we were walking, a little ground squirrel scurried out onto the sidewalk. Now these little critters are pretty tame and know that where there are people, there is food. This was true. I had some crackers that I let the kids throw to it. They loved it, and so did the squirrel! We soon realized that he was storing all the crackers in his cheeks and his face was looking pretty bloated. At one point we thought it was going to crawl right up Downey's leg looking for more crackers! lol! As we were headed back to the house they guys called and said they were done and were headed home. Perfect! Back at the house we let the kids play for a bit while we waited for the men folk. They decided that since we got to go see the seals they wanted to too. So back again. I was able to get a couple pictures to capture the moment.

Bowen and Mason with the Mommy and baby seal behind them. It was roped off so you couldn't get too close. I wouldn't want to anyways...she was vicious!

Summer, Dad, and Downey.

Downey and Summer. You can see the seals right on the shore behind them Mariah, Amelia, Carl, and Carson. They were a bit more brave and got a little closer to the seal Dad and Bowen. Overlooking beautiful La Jolla!

There's a cute little candy store near where we were so of course we had to stop and take a peek and fill our sugar cravings. My oh my did we have candy. Jellybeans, chocolate, lollipops, soda, you name it, bought it! Ha Ha!!! What a treat! Literally! With sugar running through our veins we walked around La Jolla and enjoyed the rest of the afternoon.

Saturday morning was the big day for the guys. They were out the door bright and early to golf on the famous Torrey Pines Golf Course. Tiger Woods himself has walked those greens. :) They thoroughly enjoyed that! The rest of us girls and kids went to get some breakfast then decided to head up to the Birch Aquarium just up the road a ways. It seemed that Carson wasn't feeling very well, so Mariah opted out and headed back to the hotel. The rest of us had a great time seeing all the fish and such. We arrived right as they were feeding the sharks and that was pretty neat. Summer had a fun time with the kid activities they had going on. Two hours later we were done. We check on Mariah to see how Carson was. He hadn't stopped crying and that she was taking him to see a doctor. Luckily a clinic close by was open. We soon found out it was an ear infection. Poor little guy! I guess between flying and such it took a toll his little ears. Some Motrin later and he was back to normal. Thank goodness! They guys got home soon after and we just took it easy for the rest of the afternoon. Later that evening we showed the crew Pacific Beach. We got some frozen yogurt at Yogurtland and walked up Garnet Ave. Most of the stores were closed, so it just gave us an excuse come back later.

Summer and Downey got swallowed by a enormous shark at the aquarium!

Mason loved playing with the toy lobster and shell

Summer wanted her picture too! Before she even got done saying cheese she was asking to see the picture I had just taken of her. What a little ham!

Sunday morning we all headed to church. Our plan afterwards was to cook some hamburgers and hot dogs down by the beach, but it was rudely interrupted by the rain and wind. So, we headed back to the hotel and grilled out on the patio. Everyone was wanting to see our new house so we arranged to have our agent come and open it up for them to see. What a nice guy! Everyone loved it and was so happy for us. The girls wanted to stay and help me decorate! I wish they could have!!!

Monday was a beautiful day! Carl and his dad made last minute plans to golf at Pebble Beach. As for the rest of us, we went to the famous San Diego Zoo. We have friend who works there, so we were able to get in for free! Woop Woop! Oh, he definitely got a thank you card and a plate of brownies for that one! We had so much fun seeing all the animals. There was a new baby gorilla named Jack. The mom was proudly showing him off in front of the window for all of us to see. We stopped for a little rest on the lawn and let all the kids run around. I think this was the highlight of my day. Dad and Bowen were chasing them around while we all enjoyed the warm sunshine and wonderful memory making. We also got a chance to pet and feed a couple of the camels. The kids were a little scared at first, but eventually warmed up to the idea and had a great time! Oh what a day! We were exhausted by the end of the day and I don't think we even saw the whole zoo. The Carls were supposed to fly in that evening, but there was a little bit of a mix up, so they stayed in San Francisco that night and made plans for us to pick them up the next day. We polished off the day by going out and buying Twilight *angelic voices...ahhhh* and watched it that night.

These a just a few of the zoo pictures. I took way to many!

Summer and Carson ready to see the elephants!

Kids group photo

Happy Mason in his Outback hat. Good day mate!

Carson just about wore himself out he ran so much!

Mariah and Amelia

I guess Amelia wanted to eat the map instead of giving us directions.

Carson was a bit worried about feeding the camel at first, but soon warmed up to it.

Sassy jumped right in and fed her!

Aww...uncle Bowen!

Me and my baby!

This is our little break that we took on the lawn at the zoo

Mason loves his popsy! Especially when he did this...

Oh too soon did Tuesday come and Popsy had to head back to Alabama. We had such wonderful time! I hope he has some very happy memories that he took back with him! Miss you already! Bowen was able to take him on his way to work so that worked out perfectly. Before the guys flew in we met Bowen downtown at Joes Crabshack for an early lunch. It was right on the water and had pretty good food. As usual, we ordered WAY to much! Mmmmm....it was good though! Bowen headed back to work and we went and picked up the guys and headed back to the hotel for a quick pit stop. We decided to head back to Pacific Beach and do a little shopping!!! woohoo! Our first stop was a store called Pangea. It's a really neat store that has 70 little stores in it. Then, off to the next store. We had spotted a clothes store a couple of nights before that sold little baby converse shoes and we just had to have them! Downey also found some super discounted, super cute UGG boots. Nice find! Oh how fun. After a couple of hours we were done. The kids were anxious to run around so we headed to the park just right down the road from our apartment. Bowen got home from work soon after and met us there. He and Carl played a pick up game of basket ball with a bunch of guys while the women watched the kids. Three hours later we were done with the park. We all met up at the hotel afterwards. Carl and Mariah had made plans to go out to dinner and Carls dad watched the kids. Downey had wanted to go to the temple, so Bowen took her to go do a session. I stayed and watched Summer and Mason. Soon after they left Mason passed out on the bed. He was sooooo tired! I got Summer some dinner then she got her PJ's on. Not to long after that she was out too! Next it was Bowen. He fell asleep next to summer. I guess we had a big day! I went and picked up Downey, brought my boys home, and called it a night.

Everyone had to be to the airport early the next day. We loaded up the cars and headed out. We said our teary eyed good byes and love you's and they were off.

Our vacation was over, but it sure was a fun one!!! I'm so glad they had the means to come all the way out here and spend some time with is. I really lucked out on they wonderful family that I married in to!!! Miss ya'll! Come again soon!