SD Temple and Sea World

On Monday, the girls and I headed down to San Diego for the day to stop by the temple and then spend the day at one of their favorite places:  Sea World!

 Ahhh...where it all began.  How sweet!

 The temple was closed for the day, so we had the whole place to ourselves.  We sang "I Love to See the Temple" and enjoyed the grounds for a bit.

 It truly is our own special castle!  I love this place!

 And this place, too!  We love Shamu!

 He was having fun doing laps upside-down after the show and we were having fun watching.

 Play time!  The girls really got into the Bay-of-Play area this time.

 Tunnels, rope bridges and trampolines - they loved it all.

 They both climbed into this little cubby stocked with stuffed Shamus and had a hayday.

 Libby looking like pretty hot stuff on the SkyRide.

 Lexi and I enjoyed it, too.

 I thought this pose was just too funny to pass up! 

(There are dolphins behind her, but the pose is what's priceless!)

Back to the play area for more fun after dinner.

Sea turtles are always a favorite. 

Lexi has entered the phase of I-don't-smile-for-pictures-or-look-at-the-camera and its driving me crazy!  So, yeah, this is one of the best shots of her all day.  Sad, but true.  Despite her non-photogenic nature, we all had a grand old time and were pretty tuckered out when we left the park at 9:00pm that night!

World Cup

My first official day of summer was the USA-Germany game, so the girls and I suited up in our red, white, and blue and cheered them on (kinda).

We thought of Uncle Paul the whole time and the girls and I even worked on some mending while we watched.  Then we hit up the pool and had friends over for dinner that night.  Yep, I'd say summer is off to a great start!

Bunk Beds!

The girls just got new bunk beds a couple of weeks ago and they LOVE them! 

 Look, Mom, we can touch the ceiling! ;) 

Libby sleeps on the top, but Lexi is often found climbing the ladder and jumping around up there, too.  Libby's new "talent" she loves to show off to anyone who is willing to watch is her jumping off the 2nd-to-the-top rung of the ladder.  Quite fun!

I was super excited that their polkadot wall still looks super cute with the new stuff, too.  They are loving their beds and get to excited to get in them every night!  If only we could get Lexi to STAY in them....that girl! :)

A Saturday at Lake Elsinore

A few weeks ago we took the boat out to Elsinore again.  This time we were joined by Devin and Matt and our friends the Oylers.  It was a blast and super fun for the kids to have buddies to play with.

 Libby and Crue, the fearless co-pilots.

 Devin showing off his mad skills.

 Lexi sporting her new life vest.

 Abe with Cohen (Holly wasn't able to join us this time so Abe was dad extraordinaire!)

 Libby and Crue lounging on the bow.

 Abe invented his own sport and just got dragged behind the boat for awhile (intentionally) and loved it.

 Lexi and Brad and enjoying our swimming time on the beach.

 What cuties!

 Lexi was the ultimate flag girl - until she passed out.  Good thing we have 2 flags! ;)

Brad getting some sweet air.  He got to wakeboard and wake-skate, I got to wakeboard and waterski, and the highlight of the day - Libby and Crue each got to wakeboard, too!  Brad is amazing and somehow managed to get up with one of them in his lap and have them stand between his legs while he rode - in and out of the wake and everything!  So, we've probably got the youngest wakeboarders around - 3 and 4 years old!  I was so sad that my camera battery died by then and I don't have any pictures to show for it.  They did awesome!  And Brad was completely beat afterwards, as you can imagine.  I seriously don't know how he did it!  What a fun day.

Bonfire at Three Arch

For Porter's senior trip, he and 8 of his friends came down to stay at my parents' house for a week and enjoy the So Cal sun.  We got to meet up with them a few times (and whenever we did, Libby was convinced she was the center of the party!) and the last one was a bonfire at Three Arch Bay.  What a perfect way to end a work day - wow!

 Our own piece of paradise - and we had it all to ourselves!

 Grammy and the girls exploring the arches.

 Arches, tide pools, fire pits - this beach has it all!

 Climbing through the smallest arch with Libby...

 and Lexi.

 Daddy caught a crab - yay!

 I love this little Libby-pose!

 The water girl.  This was moments before she decided to sit down in the puddle...niiiice!

 Libby enjoying the hotdogs - but not as much as Lexi did.  Lexi ate 3 of them and was ready for more if we'd have cooked them for her!

 Brad went Eagle Scout style and made his own roasting stick.

 The gang at smores time.

What a fun Tuesday night at the beach.  I can't wait for summer!!!

Thanks for letting us crash the party - it was a blast.

Los Angeles Temple

On Saturday, May 31st the Coopers were sealed in the LA temple.  It was an amazing experience to be a part of and we wouldn't have missed it for the world!  We are so happy for them!

 We don't often make it up to the LA temple, so it was a great reason to head to the beautiful temple grounds.

 The Christus in the Visitors' Center - brought back lots of great memories for me!

 The newest forever family - the Coopers

 We are so blessed to have our own forever family, too.

 What a cool temple, right in the heart of LA.  We're so used to Newport, I forgot just how big LA is!

 More picture opps

It's obviously too much to ask to get everyone smiling and looking at the camera, but you get the idea, right?!

Memorial Day Bike Ride

Lexi's one request for her birthday was that we go on a bike ride, so on Memorial Day we loaded up the bikes in Brad's new truck and headed to Huntington Beach.  It was the perfect day!

 We decided on Huntington so that Libby could ride her bike, too.  She was the star of the trail!

 Her little legs were just a-going, going, going the whole time.  We figured she'd get all tuckered out at some point and we'd park and lock her bike up, then put her in the trailer with Lexi or in the seat behind me.  But, much to our surprise, she rode the whole way to the pier - a good 3 miles or more, and BACK all by herself!  What a trooper!

 It was slow going at first, but after a bit, Libby decided racing Pops was a great game.  He's way up ahead at this point, so she better catch up quickly!

 Daddy and his cute girls!  As you might imagine, we got lots of comments from everyone (and it was packed) on how cute they were!

 We stopped for a nice lunch on Main St and Libby claimed that we should all start calling her "Libby, the most awesome bike rider in the world!"

Making glasses out of some fun wax-stix.  Then, it was back to pedaling.  We rode for awhile, stopped any played on the beach, then trekked back to the car.  Over 6 miles of riding (and a whole lot of playing), and this was one tired girl by the end of the day! 

What a great call, Lexi - thanks for the great idea for a much needed day off for all of us!