A Mexican Memorial Day

For the Memorial Day holiday we went to the beach house in Baja, Mexico. The first day was cold and rainy so I was a little nervous that we would be stuck inside the whole time. Luckily the weather changed and the rest of the time was gorgeous. I absolutely loved it and can't wait to go back. I guess I will have to work on my Spanish. Our house is the brownish one in the middle. We were planning on leaving on Monday but because of some car trouble we had to stay an extra day. Nobody complained.

Star Fish

We loved looking for starfish and sand dollars. One day we found 11 starfish. Here is Gracie giving the international signal that she found a starfish. It was a really fat one too.

The Tide Pools

One of the favorite parts of the trip were the tide pools. The kids loved to look at all the sea critters. Crew has decided he wants to be a marine biologist, or as he says a man in charge of sea creatures, when he grows up. We got to see several different kind of crabs, sea anemones, mussels, and starfish. Crew actually caught a fish with his bare hands. He coaxed the fish into a shallow area and then grabbed him. If it was bigger we all could have had fresh fish that night but we threw him back into the ocean instead. Everyday at low tide we would go down to the tide pools to see what we could see. The ocean really is an amazing place.

Fun At the Beach

Who could stay at a house on the coast and not spend some time at the beach? Layla cried every time she thought the water might touch her up until the last day. When the waves finally reached her she cried mournfully. There was no consoling her until she was safe in the house. If I had to guess I would say the kids dug in the sand the whole time.

Meet Frank

While we were in Mexico, Crew found a pet. The garden there has several lizards in it. He caught the lizard soon to be named Frank, and it jumped out of his hand. Papa told him to be really nice and put his hand close to the lizard and maybe it would come back. We were all really surprised when it did. Frank walked right back into Crew's hand and hung out with him awhile. The lizard climbed up his arm and sat on his shoulder and then scurried up and rested on his head. Frank let me hold him and would have let the other kids if they weren't too scared. Everyday Crew went out to the garden to visit Frank. The last night he cried because he didn't want to leave Frank behind.

Gracie's haircut

It seems no matter where I hide the scissors Gracie can always find them. I guess she got tired of growing her hair out long like Rapunzel's which was her previous plan. I have been trying for the past week to fix her hair in ways to disguise her handy work pretty much the really wide cloth headbands are the only thing that works. Good thing her hair grows so fast.

The Teddy Bear Picnic

The long awaited preschool Teddy Bear picnic is over. Gracie had been waiting for this event for awhile. All of her preschool teacher's classes met at the park and brought picnic lunches. The kids got to play at the park, eat on blankets (which is more exciting than I realized), and play lots of games with their teddy bears. Unfortunately, I was unprepared and the battery ran out in my camera. The only pictures that I got are of Gracie running in a teddy bear relay race.

Layla's Swim Lessons

Layla graduated from her first swim lessons. She did really well. Her first lesson she didn't cry until the last 5 minutes. The next lesson, however, she knew what she was in for and started crying when we started heading toward the pool. By the last lesson she was back to hardly crying. She learned to roll over and float on her back, kick her legs, and get over to the side of the pool, reach up and grab on. It really is amazing how fast kids can learn. I was hoping that swim lessons would make her a little more cautious around the pool but she still likes to jump in. I think we will be reinforcing her lessons all summer in the pool.

Mila's Blessing Day

Here is Mila's sad face


Here is Mila's happy face

We had the chance to go to Utah and see Jenae's baby Mila blessed. Baby blessing are always so sweet. It was great to see Grammy and Grandpa and of course the baby (i guess Jenae and Sam too). Sam and Jenae are moving back east so my parents flew out and helped them make the long drive back. We had a wonderful time at Uncle John's house playing with cousins and eating all of Aunt Susan's great cooking. We are already looking forward to August when we get to see Grammy and Grandpa again.