Coronado Beach!

Man, I am so far behind on my blogging that I haven't even posted anything about our time in California (except for our drive down here).  I just wanted to get our trip to Missouri posted first, and there were so many pictures and videos I had to sort through with that trip that it took forever to get it all blogged about; that's ok though, we enjoy having those memories to sort through:)

Well, we are loving our time here in San Diego.  Our vote is that we wouldn't want to live here permanently (I don't think Chris could handle their strict gun laws, everything is crazy expensive, and we HATE the traffic).  But as far as having a long vacation here, we absolutely love it!  Which is why we were so excited when we had some of our family come visit us!

So, I'm in Missouri, talking with our niece and nephew about San Diego, and they both said they have never been to the Pacific Ocean before.  And I said, "Well, you guys should totally come visit us in California!"  But I didn't think much would come from that invite.  Not that it was an empty invite or something we didn't want to happen.  It's just kind of like if someone came up to you and said, "Hey, want to go to Europe this weekend?"  Of course you would want to go, but you know that chances of that actually happening our pretty slim.  So, I invited Connor and Kathryn to come see us in California.  We would love it if they came out for a visit, but I thought the chances of their parents actually letting them travel by themselves to come visit us was a long shot.  But, to our elated surprise, both of their moms (my sisters Tanya and Christine) were actually considering letting them come.  And after we looked up airline tickets and found the prices to be pretty reasonable, they went from considering it to saying "yes."  What?!  We were so excited!  Our long shot paid off!  So, after getting over a couple of hiccups in getting airline tickets for Connor and Kathryn (some airlines want to charge outrageous extra fees for minors to fly without an adult present, so we had to find a way around that), they were on their way to see us in California.  It was such a fun visit!  We would host them again anytime!  Our first stops were the pool and Coronado Beach:

Here they are getting off of their plane in L.A.!  This was Connor's first airplane ride without his parents and Kathryn's first plane ride ever (well, I think she flew once when she was a baby).  They are just growing up so fast *tear*.

Of course, Kathryn couldn't wait to get her hands on Duncan.  She is such a good little momma to him.  In fact, she kept begging for Chris and I to let her babysit.  Haha, funny girl:)

Haha, poor Connor couldn't escape Mitchell's attention.  Their plane arrived in the evening so it was pretty late by the time we got home.  Everyone was tired, but Mitchell was so excited to see them that he wasn't about to let them sleep any time soon:)

I thought this was so funny!  I guess we keep our apartment a little too cold for our Missouri family (They are too used to their 98 degree weather with 99% humidity).  Connor didn't bring any pants (and I guess he wouldn't in August) so he doubled up on shorts.  Haha, hilarious kid!  Kathryn is off to the side, wrapped up in a blanket.  (I don't want you to think we were bad hosts, we did turn up our thermostat for them, but they still thought it was too cold).

The next morning, Mitchell didn't let Connor sleep in much either:)  Connor was very sweet and indulged Mitchell in a little horsey play action.

The boys decided to have breakfast/lunch on our "porch."  Haha, yes, we serve hot wings for breakfast; we are that cool:)

Pool time!  Our first day we were still catching up from our late night, so we stayed close to home and hung out at our pool.

They thought the hot tub sounded great, until they got in and realized hot water isn't that fun when it's hot and sunny outside.  Lol!

Love these kiddos!

Later in the evening we had to run some errands (I decided to wait until these picky eaters arrived before I bought groceries, so I could get their input.  Haha, and they suggested ice cream:).  But they didn't mind running errands too much since we had ice cream sundaes that night.

The Pacific Ocean!  Kathryn's first visit, and she wasn't disappointed.

Mitchell wanted to dig in the sand AND hold onto his water gun.  It made it a bit more difficult.  Lol!

Connor wasted no time running into the ocean (that's him in the background to the left).  Kathryn and Mitchell decided to take their time.  She was so sweet to stay with Mitchell and help him:)

Haha!  I yelled at Connor to turn around and pose for a picture.

After a quick dip in the ocean, Mitchell was happy to play on the beach and dig around.

Connor decided digging in the sand looked grand and wanted to join in the fun.

Mitchell was excited to bury Connor in the sand!

Digging his body hole.  Haha, that sounds weird.  But that's what he was doing... digging a hole for his body.  Lol!

While Connor dug, Kathryn worked on her sand castle village:)

He fits!

Kathryn seemed almost TOO excited to bury Connor.  Haha!

Mitchell wanted to help too.  Poor Connor... Mitchell might have gotten just as much sand in Connor's face as around his head.  Lol!

And then he was just a head.

And he's out!  And exhausted, Lol!  It was a lot of hard work digging that hole, but maybe even more work getting himself out of his pit.  Haha, the kids had fun and that's all that counts!

Mitchell wanted to go with Connor to wash off their sand.  Connor actually got Mitchell to go pretty far into the ocean:)

All clean:)

The cleanliness didn't last long.  He was excited to try out Connor's pit.

I tell ya, these kids were champs at taking pictures.  I had orders from their moms to takes lots of pictures.  And every time I yelled their names, they were happy to stop what they were doing (even if swimming in the ocean), pose, wave, smile, and take a picture.  So sweet:)

Heading back to shore after a dip in the ocean.

Haha, I love this picture.  I asked Kathryn to pose all cute for the photo and she said she didn't know what to do.  So, this is what she came up with, plus an awkward laugh.  Lol!  Love this girl!

Duncan just chilling at the beach:)  We bought this little pop up tent for him so he would have a place to stretch, roll around, and take naps without being bothered by the wind, sun, and sand.

He got extra excited when Kathryn got into the pit (as we started lovingly calling it) with him.

The first time we visited Coronado Beach was on a Friday (but Chris had to work).  We decided to go back to the beach that weekend, when Chris was off work and could join us.  It was a much more cloudy day and the sun was hard to find at all... Cons:  More windy and cooler; Pros:  The beach wasn't crowded at all and we didn't need to worry about getting sunburned:)  Here is Connor running into the cold water!  And Chris and Mitchell playing off to the side.

Mitchell loved "playing" in the water.  Haha, well, his version of playing in the water meant Chris would lift him up every time a wave went by.  Lol!

Cloudy skies didn't bother these two!

I think he liked relaxing and having snacks at the beach as much as being in the water:)

We all had such a great time at Coronado Beach, both days we went to it!

Mitchell made sure he wasn't ignored by Connor and Kathryn their first night.  Haha, he was just a little bit excited for their visit:)

The next morning Connor got his payback.  Lol!  Although, I think Mitchell enjoyed getting this attention as well:)

First you see Connor dive into a wave, and then you'll see some of Kathryn and Mitchell's first steps into the Pacific Ocean.  I love it when Mitchell starts kicking the water/sand off his foot.

Digging the pit.

Now comes the fun part, burying Connor.  Well, fun for the rest of us.  I'm not sure if Connor enjoyed the sand in his face that Mitchell threw at him.  Haha, Connor was a great sport about it:)

Kathryn was nice enough to provide Connor with some refreshments before they finalized his burying (that sounds morbid, but I meant it fun:).  Haha, and sorry again Connor about the sand Mitchell was putting in your face (he tried to help).

Hahaha!  This was hard work guys!  So fun!  Should I feel bad that the more he struggled the more I laughed?  Lol!

These are just a few of our last moments at the beach this day:  Mitchell playing in the pit and cleaning his feet in the water (he must have asked Kathryn a dozen times to take him to the water and "clean" the sand off his feet.  Lol!).

Connor showed those waves who was boss!

They were practicing their body surfing.  They got pretty good at it eventually:)  We really had a blast the two days we spent at Coronado Beach!