beachy...

so...our summer vacation came and went...

and now i feel like i can check the best part of summer off of the list,

and everything else just becomes a bonus.

our entire family looks forward to one thing all summer:

our beach trip to san diego

{that and my birthday!!}

this year was a little unique in that we had mr c's children for the entire month of july

so they were able to head with us to mission beach

i am still recovering from a month with 6 kids plus various friends/cousins and the like in and out of our home...

we stay at the same hotel every time we visit

the kids love the ducks that wonder freely and the talking parrots that repeat every word...even the bad ones

we have our favorite spots to eat at

and...
our favorite area of the beach to set up camp for the day
can you imagine how much gear the 9 of us toted around each day
did i mention that on top of mr c and i and our 6 kids, we also brought their cousin with us?

the photo above is mikey and mr c's little guy trevor waiting for the girls to get off of the roller coaster on our first night in town...



the photo below is morgan right after we unloaded from the 5 1/2 hour drive with her flawless hair...

unfortunately, we had issues with our hotel suite on the first day...lets just say that somebody who stayed there before us got sick and left their mark all over the living room floor...
we were grateful to be upgraded to the 11th floor in a bigger suite with views like the one below

mr c...i could stare at the view of his backside all day

this year was a very low key trip...

we didnt plan any excursions or trip to theme parks since there were so many of us.

we spent lots of time on the beach and at the bay

and i was able to spend my 35th birthday in my favorite place

i had morgan take the above photo to prove that i was actually there on vacation with my family...seems that the one who always snaps the photos doesn't make it into them much

landon is my beach boy

this kid is going to end up living on the beach

maybe as a surfer or life guard

he is totally at home in the sand

on our first night...we walked down to luigi's pizza for this:

the biggest pizza i have ever seen...and seriously so good.

the photo below might be one of my favorites from this trip...landon just got in trouble for trying to sneak back into the water while we were eating lunch...he has the best pouty face

see mikey below...he turns 13 tomorrow!

i have my first teenager...not sure i am ready for that

not sure if i can wait an entire year to go back...

i love the feeling of being in the salty air and throwing the schedule out the window.

my kids start back to school in 2 weeks...

i think summer has gone by too fast this time and i'm a little mad at that...

we are going to squeeze as much into these last 14 days as we can.