It's 95 outside and summer is over?

 I have just finished unpacking and sorting school books for three kids.  As I was putting away both modeling clay and an algebra book, I started thinking back to the fun summer we have had. We have three more days until summer is over in the Blades family.  I started with this picture, because no matter how old these kids get, I will always treasure my times with them over these past seven summers that we have made our annual trip to Cayucos. 

 Dylan will be starting sixth grade in a few days, and I get teary-eyed thinking about how blessed I have been to watch him grow into a loving, energetic, happy kid.

 The first monday we were there, Chris suggested we go take a hike through Montana de Oro.  This is one my many favorite things to do.  This year, Gracie made the hike with us and loved taking pictures of God's beautiful central coast.

 I happened to catch Bill smiling without realizing I was taking his picture.  This is his real smile, the one when he is truly relaxed and happy.

 One of Gracie's beautiful pictures of the coast.

 We can make a sport out of a stick and some stones!

 Gracie found so many beautiful rocks that her bag was filled to the max.

While the older kids went on a trip to see the Lighthouse up above San Simeon, Molly and I took the smaller kids to the park near Morro Bay.  We took a walk down to the beach and had a snack.  Although I knew if we got anywhere near the water, Luke would want to take off his shoes, get in the water, and then not want to walk back to the car.  I'm a mind reader in my spare time.

 Having a snack near the big rock.

 The weather was unusually cool this summer, with it only reaching 70 one or two times during the whole two weeks.  This meant the kids didn't want to play in the water very much.  They made up for it by playing in the sand.  One day the kids spent hours running in and out of a big hole that someone left behind.  Of course, the Blades are always competitive:  the next day, Bob and Bill dug an even bigger hole than the one before.  He worked so hard, he fell asleep inside the hole, while we were throwing the frisbee.

 One of the nice ladies that attends the Los Osos Church of Christ suggested that we try "The Tea Cozy" in Cambria during our time.  We indulged getting the complete royal tea service.  What a treat to share with Madison, Emi, Lori, Shirley, Mom and Gracie.

 We had two of these trays to share at the table.

We had no trouble finishing them! We enjoyed strawberry mango, pomegranate, and the "eye of the tiger" chocolate tea (can you guess who wanted to order that one?)

 Emi and Gracie

 More playing in the sand... Time for everyone to take their turns getting buried.  Although I have never seen Gracie let them do this to her!  This year the kids enjoyed getting to bury John for the first time.  We reminisced about all of the people that have suffered through this crazy tradition, Bill, Chris, Matt, Bob, Wyatt, and now John!

 Bill and I ran in the "Rock to the Pier" fun run again this summer.  I was happy to improve my time by almost five minutes. 

 Later that same day, we celebrated Caleb's third birthday!  He had been talking about his birthday for the past month, and after he blew out the candles, we said, "How old are you Caleb?" and he said, "SIX!"  He will still say that if you ask him today.

 Another fun part of the trip was seeing Mom embrace new technology and get her own Ipad!  She took to it rather quickly getting lots of help from all of us, even the kids, who talked her into downloading "angry birds" right away!  She joined Facebook and wouldn't believe us when we said that people would ask to be her friend.  Right away, she started getting lots of requests!

 When the older kids went on a hike through Harmony, Mom and I took the younger kids to the Avila Farm.  Nestled in the hills near Avila Beach is a beautiful little farm with animals to feed, and lots of fresh fruits and vegetables.  We took a picnic lunch and then treated ourselves to icecream and blackberry cobbler.  The weather was spectacular, and the kids were too.  One of my favorite days of the whole trip.

Caleb, Luke and Emi running through the fields. 

 As the second week comes to an end we usually spend most of our time at the beach.   The cooler weather keeps the beaches empty and gives us plenty of space to throw the frisbee, fly kites, and of course, eat snacks.  We love the Brown Butter cookies the best.

Caleb would think he needed a snack as soon as we set down all of the chairs and bags on the beach.  Here he is with a very messy but yummy piece of watermelon.  Nothing says summer like sun, sand, and a messy face!

Raspberry lemonade, sweet tea, and lobster tacos

 June means the beginning of summer time, and lots of basketball games for Bill.  As the kids get older, they have been able to handle coming to more of these games than before.  Thanks to help from Lori and Chris, we were able to make the trip to Arizona State University again this year.  One of our favorite parts of the trip each year is Cracker Barrel of course!  I think we made four trips there total during our four days in Arizona.  At this one, the waitress brought all the kids their raspberry lemonade in frosty cold glasses! Caleb ended up taking most of his naps while we waited for the food to come.

 Over the course of the four days, Chris, Lori and Emi went with us to six games!  Dylan sat on the bench with Bill and the other kids took turns watching movies on Uncle Chris' Ipad, reading books and coloring.  Over the years, Bill and Chris have discovered that they can get their sweet tea in "to-go" cups when it is time to leave.

 After being home for a week, Bill and I headed off for a trip to Santa Barbara for our 14th anniversary.  We love Santa Barbara because we can ride bikes and walk everywhere.   On one day, we hiked up one of the trails and found our way to the top of this hill which had an awesome view of the city and the ocean.

It is always fun to reward ourselves after a hike with some awesome food.  We have found a restaurant on Hendry's beach called the Boathouse which has become our new favorite spot.  My favorite thing is the lobster tacos. 

 The next day after our bike ride, we tried another place at the end of the pier which we loved almost as much.  This time Bill had lobster tacos and I had a crab salad sandwich.

 This was the longest trip we have ever taken alone since we started having kids.  I realize how blessed I am to have so many people willing to help me out so we can have these times together!  Uncle Chris took Dylan and Delaney to basketball camp every day that week at Pomona Pitzer College. Bill's mom and dad kept the kids at their house for us.  Gracie helped Grandma continue potty-training Caleb.  (Yay!! I am happy to report that he did not backslide in any way, and is now out of diapers!) Uncle Bob took them hiking, miniature golfing, and even set up the slip and slide. 

One of my goals for this summer was for Luke to finally get the hang of riding his bicycle.  We took his training wheels off several months ago, and he just kept getting frustrated every time he tried.  Finally the other day, something clicked, and he happily rode up and down the sidewalk in front of our house.  Now the next challenge:  getting him to tie his own shoes!  I know that sounds crazy, but a homeschooled kid can get away with this for a long time if they have a weak mom who keeps doing it for him!
On a side note, those who know me well, know that I don't like driving very much.  That has been another goal I set for myself this summer: to get over it!  So, when faced with the opportunity to drive Dylan to Santa Barbara alone for Bill's basketball tournament, I didn't want to do it at first.  Then I remembered my goal, and took off.  It took me almost three hours to get there, and then two hours back home, but Caleb and I enjoyed the drive.  Thanks to Uncle Chris and Aunt Lori for watching Luke and Gracie!  I enjoyed the peace and quiet, and he enjoyed watching the DVD player!  Dylan came home exhausted but with great memories of spending the night in the dorms with the players, and eating dessert pizza from Woodstocks at 11:30 at night!

Tato-Heads!

 Molly saw that the Discovery Science Museum in Santa Ana was having a Potato Head exhibit and invited us to go.  It was a perfect idea since Caleb loves playing with "tato-heads" as he calls them.  So we picked a day, got there when it opened and explored.

 The first part of the exhibit had more parts for Potato Heads than I even knew existed.  We were all impressed with how long Caleb was content to keep fixing and changing his "tato" over and over again.

 I didn't get a very clear shot of Luke's "competitive game face" as he was determined to do this crank back and forth as quickly as he possibly could.

 Aunt Gail showed Dylan how to maneuver the submarine in the water exhibit.

 Don't know if you can tell, but that is Dylan's face in that hockey player!  In their "science of hockey" exhibit the kids were able to design their own hockey costume, take their picture, and then have it put up on the wall.  Below is Gracie...

 Then Caleb's turn... and sadly poor Luke's didn't turn out.

 Here we are trying to figure out how to make the hockey player skate across the ice.

 I have many great memories of going with Molly and Aunt Gail to museums when she and Kate were little. Now it is fun for them to come and experience the same things with my kids.

They were super excited to get to eat at The Habit for lunch, and even more happy when Aunt Gail treated them to frozen yogurt.  I was so tired by the end of the day, we had cereal for dinner.  It's hard to beat that for a fun day.