Santa Monica

After my sister left, we had a couple days just with my parents. 

So, we went to Santa Monica for dinner one evening.

 When mom and dad moved to CA (from NY), we stayed in a hotel right off this pier. 

I was 10 months old, just like Geneva!

 The girls were fascinated with this yucky snakes.

This guy had a bunch of HUGE pythons for people to take pictures with. So weird.

 Sisters that are best friends!

We walked along Third Street and window shopped.

After a while we found a great spot for coffee and ice cream. Papa just snuggled Geneva :0

 Mimi read bed time stories.

The next day we went to Griffith Park.

 

The girls love riding horses there.

 And the carousel!

   Papa got tackled.

 And we had a picnic!

Santa Barbara

One day Jesse, my sister, the 4 older cousins, and I drove to Santa Barbara. 

My mom and dad were kind enough to stay with Geneva (she had a fever that day).

 Cuties. Thanks Aunt Dottie for Maddie's new outfit- she loves it!

Tacos...yum.

Not everyone liked tacos, so muffins and bagels came in handy.

Melissa and her girls.

 Waiting for the train...

 There were so many different water sports taking place in the harbor!

 After walking around most of the day, we went to Padaros for dinner. 

 It's a great place to eat outside and the kids can play in a huge sandbox.

 The next day my sweet friend Kellie came over and met Geneva. 

We've been friends since we were in High School!

  We were sad to see Melissa, Charis, and Emma leave; so the girls tried to all fit in the trunk!

Pool and Friends...

Some days we just enjoyed staying around the pool. 

It's such a wonderful plus that Papa and Mimi have a pool right in their yard!

Rachel and Lucy came over one day to play. It was Lucy's first time in the pool!

 Abby and Maddie jumped right back to being buddies!

 Geneva loves the pool!

So fun!

 

Mermaid games.

Savannah started to learn how to swim!

Night swims with glow in the dark bands were pretty cool.      

 One day we did a bunch of projects, like tie-dye shirts.

 Charis was such a big help with Geneva. 

  Tie-dye cupcakes!

Yum.

Painting

  

Menchies!

Got to love the palm trees and sun set, but even more- the great family!

More Abby and Maddie time.

Here are all the cousins sporting their new t-shirts!

One morning Papa and Mimi took the kids to see the circus! 

The girls came back with such great stories. 

  

Beach Time

Possibly my favorite thing to do in CA is going to the beach. I just love the fresh air, warm sand, and God's beauty in creating the ocean. I'm always reminded of God's faithfulness and love when I look at the ocean. It's deeper, wider, and more powerful than we can imagine. It never stops, even when we're not looking. And it doesn't depend upon us to start, stop, change directions, or just keep coming in. God is so good to give us pictures of Himself in creation that we can see.

 My sister came up with this genius idea for Geneva. One fitted sheet and bags at the corners... means no eating sand for this baby!

Beach bum.

 Should we go in?  

 While Papa rode the waves, Maddie cried because she was afraid he'd get hurt. What a soft heart!

 Time to build a sand castle.

 Play time.

My mom and her girls.

 Charis, Jesse, Geneva, and I took a little hike up Kanan Dune. 

 The view was beautiful!

 Look how clear the water is!