The Princess Festival

This year we were lucky enough to get to attend the Princess Festival at Thanksgiving Point again.  Heather won tickets!  So Ari and I went with her and her girls and their cousin Mae.  The girls loved it, of course, and it was just so fun to see them dressed up with so many other little princesses.

 Listening to a princess story.

 Getting autographs.

 Waiting for the magic show.

 The craft was her favorite part - making a crown and "swizzle stick."

 Beautiful girls!

Cousin craziness

Sara and Ben are always such wonderful hosts when we visit!  As much fun as we had running around, we really enjoyed our time just hanging out talking or watching TV and letting the kids play.  Ben was so cute playing with Owen (or "Little Man" as he called him).  These blocks were a big hit!

With the big kids, too.

We had a movie night and watched "The Wizard of Oz" one night. 

Putting on the puppet show.

Playing at the park near their house.

The kids were so sad to have to say goodbye to their cousins.  Bryan and Madison were practically inseparable all week long!  They loved playing the ipod together or "Truth or Dare" or different sim games. :)  All the kids got along together really well, so it worked out great.  We're so glad we got to spend time with them and can't wait to visit again soon!

CA Day 8 - Big Basin and one last day at the beach

We really wanted to see some redwoods on our trip and we chose to go Big Basin national park in the Santa Cruz mountains.  

David has always loved trees, so he was especially impressed by the majestic redwoods.  He could have stayed there and explored for days, but we only had a few hours.  We took a ton of pictures to try and capture the beauty of it all, but I don't think that was possible.  You have to see the trees in person to really appreciate how amazing they are!

Bryan's small discovery.

It was crazy to me that we could be deep in the forest and then 30 minutes later be on the beach.  That's why I love California so much!  You get the best of so many worlds.  This time we went to Seabright beach in Santa Cruz.  It was wonderful, as always.  I so wish we lived closer to a beach...

 

All good things must come to an end... Until next year, we hope!