Where Have We Been?

Home! Sunday nights are family game night. Recently we have been having Wii tournaments with Maris ruling in bowling and Mark dominating the archery field! Last week Mark made caramel apples for us..Yum!!

Josiah is too big for naps, however he often poops out way before the fun is over!

Bear Valley! Thursday found us heading up to Bear Valley for some skiing and snowboarding. The weather was beautiful and the kids had great lessons which made the day more enjoyable for all! A big thank you to Rachel and Emily for taking time to ski with little sisters and cousins! Maia improved greatly and we have decided that either Lilly and Maris are very skilled or very lucky because every time they come down those hills at top speed they manageto come to a screeching halt just inches before plowing into someone or something!

Madison ready to go!

Maris and Maia coming down the bunny hill

Once again there was more day than energy for Josiah! He actually fell asleep standing up leaning against me!

Casa de Fruita! Saturday morning I left the house with Michaela, Violet, Moriah, Emily, and Josiah at 5 so that we could be on the beach for a dive by 9. We hit quite a bit of fog and were glad we had left so early. We made our usual stop at Casa de Fruita and even though it was only 7 am Josiah wanted his candy! Being the only "kid" he made out pretty well with a sizable amount of sugary booty in his bag! Us big girls got coffee and caramel apples!

We love the peacocks that run around the property here but never had given any thought as to where they sleep; now we know. We were amazed to see them roosting in this tree!

The Beach! We made it to the beach just 3 minutes after 9! Moriah and two other divers made a 75 yard trek on land then a 300 yard swim against waves to dive down 65 feet to see the metridium fields . ( Moriah does this with 35 lbs of equipment and weights!)

While Moriah was under the sea the rest of us sunned ourselves on the grassy area near the beach; the waves were so far in that the entire beach area was covered with water!

Sunday morning Moriah took Josiah back to the beach where the tide had receded and he made snakes in the sand, which he said he never gets to do:-)

Around 11:30 we piled into the car and drove over to Santa Cruz. We visited all our favorite shops and found a few new ones. We saw a lot of great restaurants that we would love to check out, but yesterday I only had eyes for Kiantis! They have the most amazing garlic cream sauce ever!! Last time I dipped my pizza in it this time I got the veggie sandwich and poured the garlicy creamy potion all over it! We had to order more as Michaela, Moriah, and Josiah all discovered how amazing it is!

After having some fun in the parking garage we drove over to Kelly's French Bakery where we filled a box with the most decadent of treats! Chocolate Ganache Cake, Raines: a puff pastry sugared cookie, filled with a sweet cream cheese frosting, French Macaroons, Ginger Cookies, Valentine Treats, and Strawberry Rhubarb Tartlets! The Pistachio French Macaroon was my favorite!

Now back home the time away is already a distant memory as I listen to the kids playing loudly, running through the house and making messes!! I know they say there is no place like home, but wouldn't it be nice if home was little closer to the beach!