Fourth of July

 We headed up to St. George, Utah for the 4th of July

it was still hot but they had a super cute parade

 family selfie

 more selfies

 they even had a Frozen float

 Kellan was just dancing away it was so cute. People were 

even coming up to him taking pictures because he was loving the attention.

 Mia made a haul on candy

 we stood in line forever for this swing ride and technically

he couldn't ride it but I was not about to let him down since he was so excited.

 we came home 4th of July day after the parade/park in St. George and dad

let some fireworks off so we invited my dad and Rick's parents to come watch and then

Mia went with Rick and watched more at my parents' house. 

Mia said mom you always miss out on stuff because of Kellan ( cause I had to put him to bed)

I told her well, that's what happens when you have kids so make sure you get to do tons of fun

things before you become a mom and then you get to do different fun things after that..I always try and 

push college first then marriage, but we will see if it pays off :) 

 thanks to her aunt and uncle Kevin and Nicole, she will hold sparklers now

sleepy boy with Grandpa M

Camping with dad and Monterey for our Anniversary

 Rick took Mia camping right after school got out to Duck Creek, Utah.

She REALLY wanted to tent camp so that's what they did. I guess it was pretty cold still.

They did some fishing but didn't have any luck.

 Dustin happened to be up there with his trailer so they got to ride the Razor for an

afternoon.

 she got to go in the fun ice caves there.

 camp set up...

 cutie! They had an awesome time eating burgers and going exploring and

just hanging out with her dad. He didn't get a picture of him though. She loved every minute of it!

 Rick and I went to Monterey Bay, CA for our 8th Anniversary.

Both grandmas took turns watching the kids so we were lucky enough to go

and it's nice to be able to not put it all on one grandma so we are pretty lucky they were both able to 

watch them. It was my first time away from Kellan with Rick so I was a little nervous but I was ok after the first day. We just fell in love with this beautiful place. We promised to take the kids next time because Mia

is so obsessed with wild life that she would have a blast. 

 tons of seals, they had whale watching too but we wanted to save that for the kids and the

world famous aquarium. The land here is very protected and the water is so clear that you can

see everything under the water. It reminded us of Washington State near Seattle but even more beautiful.

Forest plus ocean, you just can't get any better. We will definitely have to figure out a way to spend some time here when we retire even thought it is definitely chilly- I figure when I'm older I will have gone through

menapause and not get so cold haha so I could stand to live here part of the time. 

 this is the beach at Carmel... sooooo pretty and not busy at all!

We just couldn't believe how quiet such a pretty place was!

 in front of one of many mansions.

 Carmel Beach... LOOK at how quiet and it's a public beach??

I don't get it.. AND dogs are allowed.. huh?

 After Carmel and walking around the shops downtown,

we decided to drive to Big Sur National Park since it was only 40 minutes away and

world known for its Redwood trees against the ocean. I was in flip flops but I hiked anyway :) 

 this hike was beautiful, it went across bridges and tunnels down to the ocean.

 Big Sur is gorgeous isn't it?? We met this cute couple who had been married for over 50 years

and had a house there. They were fun to talk to. 

 Every night we went down to Fisherman's Wharf and walked along the stores and saw

all the otters. They have a contest with the clam chowder amongst all the restaurants so you can literally

just walk and sample until you are stuffed!

 they even had raccoons by the wharf one night.

 view from our room right on Monterey Bay: the hotels are super pricy here which is a bummer

 We went to Pebble Peach : famous golf course and had lunch. We actually saw the retired Director

of the CIA at the golf course and Rick was so bummed that he didn't get to go shake his hand.

 these are all pictures at Pebble Beach Golf course. The ocean was 

BEAUTIFUL! While we were eating lunch, somebody pointed out a guy in all white and said it was

Josh Groban

 There was even a jacuzzi at the top of the hotel so that was pretty fun! They also brought breakfast in bed each morning included in the room filled with fresh fruit, juices, muffins, and eggs. 

 We pretty much ate seafood the whole time, walked a ton, ran each morning, went sight seeing and just had fun together. It was a great trip!

oh ya and we rented a convertible black Chevy Camaro so that

was awesome except we both got super sunburned on the top of our heads. It was a great time!

The kids were really happy to see us. Mia is so intuitive and says, "Why do you guys look like you are very sad to be back here and not still at t Monterey?" haha