Mr. Strong, Future In-N-Out Manager

Monterey Summer 2009

This is the life!

Our extra cool friends the Nygrens.

Then there's us. What will it take to get one decent family photo? Sedatives for all?

1,2,3!

1. Let's touch the bat rays.

2. Reach, just a little bit farther.

3. Oops! Just a little too far and a lot too wet!

Good Friends Good Times

Emmie, Clay and Madelyn in Monterey. Life is good!

Kids on the Sand

Tide Pools

We stopped at a beach in Monterey with our friends the Nygrens from Commanche.
We have seen, or should I say smelled, more dead sea lions than anyone should in a lifetime. Now we know sea lions crawl up on shore to die in case anyone was wondering. And it takes months maybe years to decompose completely. Clay's just trying to get up wind from it. He was being very brave, believe me.Rain boots are a great idea for walking around the tide pools unless you slip just as the tide is coming in. Imagine that, 2 kids dumping water out of their boots moments after getting to the rocks.

So what do you do when your boots are full of water and sand? Use them for handy dandy carriers for your shell collections.

Clay's New Sport

Clay thought he was quite the pro at ping pong. He called it ting tong for some reason and we just laughed. Sorry Clay. It was cute. Hopefully Clay won't have some test in the future with a ping pong question because we didn't even try to correct him. We'll be extremely sorry if it keeps him out of Harvard some day or worse, off the Olympic ting tong team.

Big Trees of Santa Cruz

Clay was doing his best at striking modeling poses. He kept asking for his picture to be taken and decided where to stand and how to pose. He also directed us as well.
Yep! Those were some mighty big trees!

Capitola

We made a quick stop in Capitola.

Clay's perfect stick. Why is it perfect? It's BIG!

Clay's amazing strength.

We found these heads just laying on the sandy beach with no bodies.

Whoops!

Santa Cruz Train

We splurged and took the train through the big trees of Santa Cruz to the Boardwalk. Just being on the train was worth it.

Best Buddies

Our 3 Kids

This was a rare moment when all 3 were still and calm. It didn't last long.

Father's Day 2009

Em went all out this year for Dad. She painted, glued, beaded and crafted her love for him. Clay did too but he wasn't willing to admit it by standing still for a picture. Emmie is proud and Scott looks lovely.

Emmie also made some hearts at church and gave Scott a heart attack. She taped them neatly on the wall next to his bed. She asked him, "Did you have a heart attack when you walked in your room?"

Swim Lessons 2009

Emmie and Clay were Junior Polliwogs this year. That meant they had to take lessons in the big pool. 3 1/2 feet, crazy deep! Clay was the only kid who couldn't quite reach the bottom. The kids were occasionally terrified and once in a while thrilled to death. They said it was the worst two weeks of their lives. I'm the meanest mother in the world to force them to take swim lessons. A week after this they were doing cannon balls into the big pool terrifying me!