On Saturday July 24 Kefford, Avynlea, Rylee and I packed up the Traverse and headed down to California. Traveling with two kids in our 7 seater was so much easier then traveling with 4 kids in our 8 seater. Everyone had more room and we also had more room for our camping stuff. We missed having Ryker and Kenedy with us once we got to California but not having the extra two bodies for the drive was kind of nice. Joshua and his family were already there when we arrived and it was a treat to be able to spend more time with his family as well as Andrew who rode down with them. Leona even let Kefford hold her for a little bit before she realized what was going on and needed to be put down.
July 25: Leona was more content to be on her own crawling around and was not too happy about being picked up by anyone other than her parents. Rylee got lucky and was able to hold her because she had Leona's bottle and who isn't going to let someone hold them if they are willing to feed you.
Our family was able to watch our Ward sacrament meeting via zoom. We went into our bedroom to watch it and were joined by Amos and Frederick. During the sacrament portion our Ward mutes the zoom and so Kefford took that time to talk to the kids about the importance of the sacrament. It was fun to have Amos and Fred in the room with us, they were pretty reverent and almost made it through the entire meeting.
After church and while Heather and Mom were watching their meeting via zoom, the four of us and Joshua's family as well as Andrew, Erin and Jaylynn walked down the street to the park. We all had fun exploring but I especially loved watching Rylee and Avynlea on the mommy and me swing.
Kenedy had her last Sunday in Texas and she sent me this picture she got of her and some of her church buddies with the missionaries.
On Monday July 26th Kefford and I went to pick up the RV we rented for us and Mom and Heather to use while camping at the beach. As soon as we got back to Mom's house we loaded it up with all of our stuff and Rylee headed out in it with Kefford and I to go to the beach. Mom, Heather and Avynlea rode down in Mom's car. The three of us in the RV stopped at Wal-Mart to get groceries for the week, I took a picture of the tub I packed with some food from home so I could remember what we had and not buy extra. Once we got the groceries we then spent some time trying to find a gas station that had an RV propane fill up. That took much longer then you would think and it was pretty hard to find one. We finally found one that was close to the beach site we were going to and once we got the propane filled up we finally arrived at our beach destination.
It was nice to have an RV to relax in and we spent a lot of time at the table playing card games and having fun. Mom and Heather shared the couch bed, Avynlea slept on the bed that turns into a table and Kefford and I had the bed in the back. Rylee wanted to share a tent with Jaylynn and she set it up and had it to herself for a couple of nights until Jaylynn arrived with her family on Wednesday. Rylee quite enjoyed the space to herself and was living her best life those few days.
Every night a different family does dinner for everyone and we asked if we could have that first night, I wanted to get our turn over with and not have to worry about it for the rest of the week. We did a baked potato bar with the potatoes cooked over the campfire and they were delicious. For our dessert we bought ice cream sandwiches which was a yummy treat and enjoyed by everyone.
Rylee and Fred
Amos, Atticus and Fred
Ryker was pretty bummed to be missing our beach trip and being with everyone so he had me FaceTime him after dinner on our first night so he could see everyone. He and Avynlea had fun playing with the filters on the FaceTime app and then Rylee and Atticus had to get involved in all the fun.
After dinner Rylee took Fred and Atticus on a walk to the lookout, she is such a good big cousin and loves her little cousins so much.
July 27: Tuesday was the first day we got to actually go down to the beach. We arrived early afternoon on Monday but I told my girls they couldn't go down. They had to stay up with us and get our campsite set up as well as help prepare dinner. This was another reason I wanted to do dinner on the day we arrived. We didn't have to worry about coming up from the beach early and miss out on any fun we were having. We just stayed up at our site and got things ready and then everyone came to us to eat and hangout.
Rylee went Boogie Boarding
Avynlea and Kefford
Kefford took it upon himself to bury the littles in sand. They all liked it and all were patient and let him do his thing.
Atticus
Fred
Amos
I enjoyed time with my sisters while down at the beach. Mom stayed up at the campsite the entire week because she couldn't manage the stairs with her bad hip and Heather had surgery on her face and wanted to stay out of the sun as much as she could so she only came down one day. I missed them but am glad that I have so many other sisters to be able to hang out with and have fun with.
Elizabeth, Emily, Ashleigh and Mallory
Kefford and Elizabeth
That evening we had dinner at the other campsite, the one that Joshua, Andrew, Emily and Ashleighs families were staying at. Heather read a book to the kids while Kefford and Avynlea did their own entertaining.
Fred is just too cute and so easy to love.
Later that evening Avynlea and Ben took Amos and went to the lookout to watch the sunset.
I just love the close bonds that my kids have with their cousins big and little.
