Beach Time!

Gotta love a beautiful Saturday afternoon at the beach with the family!  There's nothing better!

 What a cute dad with his adorable girls!

 The weather was perfect.

 Libby didn't exactly love the idea of being buried.

 Lexi, on the other hand, thought it was GREAT!  (Despite the fact that Libby was flinging a giant-sized shovel around perilously close to her head.  Never hit her, but she did get close, as you can see!)

 The tidepools were full of sea anemones and starfish - too bad the Nazi tidepool rangers were out on patrol.  Libby only got to touch a few before we got busted.

 Evidence of our crime.  What a cool starfish, though.

 The pants were ditched shortly after the tide pools.  Good thing, too, cuz those little legs are soooo cute!

 Ah, how cute!

 Lexi loved splashing in the water.  This is her favorite pose - hand outstretched and ready for a high-5 from anyone willing to give one.

 Libby entertained us with her pantless dance moves.

 

 

By the time we left, she was literally covered head to toe in sand.  The picture doesn't do it justice, but her hair is caked with sand.  Good thing Daddy was willing to sacrifice his shirt for this cold, sandy little ragamuffin.

What a great afternoon!

Brad's Birthday

Brad's birthday landed on a Friday this year, which was perfect for a low-key get-together with friends.  I always  love celebrating another year of the greatest man I know!

 

Everyone met up for dinner at one of Brad's favorite places:  Café Rio.

 We were so glad that there was patio seating available (and I'm sure the rest of the patrons were, too) for this kid-filled group.  Here are the Davis' and Seaders.

 The Vargas and Changs

 Then, it was back to our house for cake and ice cream. 

Mike, Brad, Clint (with Knox), and Michael

 The girls playing:  Ellie, Andi, Libby, and Lexi

 It's an even-numbered year, so it was time for the monstrosity again!  Brad's favorite Black Forest cake.  Four layers, loads of frosting, and a ton of work, but he LOVES it!  (And eats the leftovers for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for as long as it lasts!)

 

 

 I didn't do the full 34 candles, but you get the idea.

 The cake is such a monstrosity that it requires an electric knife for "carving".

 Kirk joined us a little late and got to do his dining at the kids' table.  How cute!

Brad and Wayne enjoying some grub.

Happy birthday, Brad! 

Misc. Palm Springs Fun

Ok, we've finally arrived at the last of the Palm Springs, Spring Break posts.  Turns out, we had a blast, so there's been lots to post!  The rest are other random fun things we did while we were there.  Enjoy!

This was the first group of bike riders.  We made it almost all the way to Costco to get some supplies before the bike trail ran out and we had to head back empty-handed.  At least the ride was fun!  This was our pit-stop on the way back.

Bike ride #2 was much more successful.  They biked around the golf course at dusk and had a beautiful ride.

ICE CREAM!  Lexi's first try of the stuff and she's sold!  She kept dive-bombing my cone and probably ate as much of it as I did (or at least ended up with that much on her face!).

Apparently sloppy ice-cream eating is hereditary.  Who'd they get it from?

Sidewalk chalk.  The whole group had lots of fun showing off their artistic skills.  Though, for better or for worse, it meant that everyone in the whole place knew all of our names and with how loud we were all week long, I'm not so sure that's a good thing.

"Art" is being used loosely, of course.  We did have a few dead bodies in the mix.

Tunnel fun!  Wow, Syd sure does have some LONG legs!

The egg-roll participants with our cracked treasures.

Skateboarding.  It was so fun to see Libby interact with all her bigger cousins.  She wanted to do everything they were doing and had so much fun just tagging along.

Porter was a great sport helping them ride.

Don't ask.  I have no idea!

Well, if you couldn't tell, we LOVED spring break!  I'm still convinced that it's the single greatest invention ever made! ;)

Pool Time!

After the hike, we all headed back to the pool for more splashing fun.

 Are those some happy swimmers, or what?!

 Grammy and Lexi having fun.

 Libby had fun "borrowing" someone else's pool toy which she pretty much took over for the whole time we were there.

 Macbeth family swimmers - that white blob is Lexi, by the way.

We're looking forward to a whole summer of splashing fun! :)

Oasis Hiking

When Brad finally got to re-join us on the trip, we all went hiking in the Indian Canyon Oasis area.  Who would have thought you'd find this in the middle of the desert?  So cool!

The whole gang - that's quite the crew to see coming up the trail!

The Macbeth crew

 Brad, of course, was the first one to climb to the top of anything he could find. 

 Libby liked this little cave she found along the way.

 The scenery was awesome.

 

Lexi was all smiles, too.

On the way back we were up above the oasis instead of in the middle of it.  Pretty cool to have both perspectives.

 Ahhhh...how cute!

 After the hike we dipped our feet in the water for a bit.

Libby, of course, ended up getting more than just her feet wet after all was said and done.

After the hike, it was break time with some yummy popsicles at the Indian store - Lexi's treat from her money-egg hunt winnings! :)

 

 

 After the first hike, just Brad, Amy, and I decided to do another trail and hiked a bit longer.  It was beautiful and we thoroughly enjoyed it.

 There were a few of these arch-way palms that were really cool.

 More of the oasis - sans water.

 Sisters!  Thanks for joining Brad and me for a bit more of the fun!