Mission Beach

I am recommitting to blogging and since I am so behind with my posts, my next several entries are going to be a little out of order.

First of all, I should give an update on how our family is doing here in Arizona. We are still living with my parents and will probably for a while. Jeff got a job at a local chiropractor's office that he hasn't been too enthusiastic about, but again our family has been blessed and he got an offer to work in a clinic that focuses specifically on his field of chiropractics. This new job will provide him with amazing opportunities to learn and grow before we open our own clinic. He starts working there next week and is ecstatic.

So, on to the actual topic of this post. Last week my parents rented a beach house at Mission Beach in San Diego for a Nielsen family reunion. The house was literally right on the beach about 75 yards from the ocean. The entire family was there including my sister Jerilyn's 3 boys. It was great to get everyone together and exciting to take Lexi to the beach for the first time. She loved playing in the sand and had no fear of the ocean.

This is a picture of us on the trip down. We had the car packed so full we were busting at the seams. It was a little crazy for the first few days because both Jeff and my brother Eric had to work and so didn't come until later in the week. It was definitely rough being a single parent for those 5 days. (Notice Jackson and Savannah in the very back seat).

Jack loved hanging out in his pop-up tent. He even napped in it. Of course the second I would get him to sleep, Lexi would decide that she wanted to go back to the house.

Lexi flying the very popular $3.00 Spongebob kite.

On the second day Lexi woke up with a sore ankle and refused to walk at all. Instead, she spent the whole day crawling everywhere. It was pretty funny. The next morning she was fine. Weird. Maybe she just wanted the attention.
London was our little sand princess. She spent more time on the beach than anyone else. She never wanted to come in. She was happy to play in the sand all day.

Matthew smiling (or growling) for the camera
My dad is the king of sand castles and this is the one he created this year (will the help of the grandkids of course).
Lexi was one of the few kids (or adults) who actually got in the water. She's a fishy like her mommy.
Lexi and London really enjoyed playing together. They are only a couple months apart in age so it was great to get them together to bond.

At the aquarium. Notice that I'm missing from the picture. That's because I stayed home and slept all morning.