Big Bear Fun With Grammie and Papa!

Only in Cali can you go to the Laguna Tide Pools and play in the surf and sand one day, and Big Bear and play in the ice and snow the next!

So of course, we couldn't resist on our last three day weekend taking the kids up to see Grammie Sue and Papa Jim at Big Bear. The trip up there was adventurous, but I won't even go there...let's start off on a pleasant note shall we. :)

Let's fast forward to the part where we walk in the door at Big Bear. Caiden was SOO excited to go sledding, so we quickly got ourselves dressed and out the door we went. First we went to play in the snow off to the side of the house. Caiden desperately tried to make snow angels, but the snow was not exactly what you would call soft and fluffy.

Kiya doesn't seem to mind her snow gear...she is even smiling!

Kiya, Papa and Caiden
Kiya with her gloves that are a tad too big

This was my attempt to take a picture of Kiya and I...clearly I missed, but I kind of like the pictureGrammie and Caiden on the deck
Poor Caiden kept trying to make snow angels...but the snow was hard

Oh,well, At least he tried.

Dave couldn't resist starting a snowball fight. Caiden joined in the fun too.

Caiden gathers his ammo
And launches!
Of course, Dave throws it right back!

This was the first time that Kiya was in any kind of snow gear and interestingly enough she didn't mind it at all. :)
Kiya and I out of harms way (aka the snowball fight)

Of course after Grammie took Kiya to show her this tree, I got hit with a snowball

Papa and Kiya chill and watch us sled
Kiya wasn't quite sure what to make of the snow

Kiya sitting in the snow

Not sure if she was thrilled with the snow, but it didn't seem to put a damper on her spirits. Well, that is until we thought she might like to go sledding with the rest of us. Yea...not so much.

Kiya sledding with Dave
See her little head peeking over

As you can tell she didn't like it very much

And this was the look I got when I went to pick her up

The rest of us had fun though, and Papa Jim even took Caiden to the ski slopes to see what skiing is all about.
Caiden and Grammie sled
And pose for a picture at the end
Dave and Caiden
Not so posed ending :)

I'm not sure what Jim and Dave were doing

Papa Jim couldn't resist taking a spin with Caiden, so he did a baby transfer :)

And went sledding with his grandson!
Of course I had to get in the act too

Walking back to the Jeep after seeing the skiers

Thank you so much for letting us come play with you for the day. We had a lot of fun. :)

Laguna Beach Tide Pools

So for all of you that live on the East coast, eat your hearts out. Yes, this is the middle of winter, and we are at the beach - the Laguna Beach Tide Pools to be exact.

While, being the worry wart that I am, I layered the kids and brought extra clothes. This was clearly not necessary as we proceeded to strip the layers off as the day went on. It was actually quite a comfortable day (had we worn shorts), but seeing as we were dressed for cold weather (cold being a relative term) it was a little on the hot side.


Again, Northeasterners and Midwesterners...EAT YOUR HEARTS OUT. While you had snow storm after snow storm, we were picking through tide pools at the local beach in short sleeve shirts! :) Here are some pictures from our adventures.

Here is Dave showing Caiden the carcass of something...I think it was a lobster

First we walked around where the tide pools are...of course my sense of balance is...well...crap, so I refused to carry Kiya. I figured, if I'm going down, I'm not taking my daughter with me. Of course I didn't think it out to clearly and wore these slip on shoes with heels that are not exactly appropriate for hiking down rocks. It's a miracle I survived without a broken ankle.

Caiden really got into it this year....he wasn't afraid to get his hands dirty

Here Dave and Caiden look for sea creatures while Kiya holds on for dear life

This was the look that Kiya had pretty much the whole time until she we took her off Dave's back

So we looked in the tide pools, which became difficult as Dave would bend over to show Caiden and Kiya things, and of course Kiya was on his back. That didn't work too well, so off Kiya came, and yep...she came to me.

Kiya is NOT shy, like her brother. Kiya was not afraid to reach out and touch something...

Kiya and I...self portraits of course

So at this point, I am stranded in a location, for fear of taking out my daughter and me. For those of you who aren't aware. I am a walking disaster. I am the perfect example of Murphy's law...no joke. When Caiden was younger and I was climbing up rocks at a beach with him, I ate it and ate it HARD....(and I was wearing the right shoes). Thank God I protected his head, but my body was not so fortunate. It was so bad that passersby came to help. On the bright side, they did comment about how it was amazing that I protected Caiden. (Yea me! ) :p

Dave holding a dead lobster
Sea Anemone
Sea Slug...Kiya proceeded to touch this too. I think she thought it was food :P

Anyway, I digress. So basically I was stuck at one location until Dave decided to come back and help, so that is why I have so many pictures of Kiya. Did I mention that while sitting there, I lost my balance and dumped my camera into the tide pools? Oh, I didn't...well since it's working...let's just say IT NEVER HAPPENED. :P

Finally, we decided to go further down the beach (where it was flat). Kiya and I played in the sand, while Dave and Caiden went searching for sea creatures. One year, Dave found an Octopus, so he was on the hunt. Of course, that year, I was with him, so...yep, you guessed it...no Octopus for Dave :P

As Kiya and I were playing, this rather nice, but hippish lady came up and offered to take our picture. I quickly agreed since I always have these crazy pictures that I try to take myself.

Dave and Caiden on their quest for sea creatures
Kiya and I - notice the death grip on my necklace...yep this is why I needed chains for Christmas :)
Kiya and I (clearly I didn't know the lady was taking the picture right then)

Nor did I know she took this one
This one we were prepared for :)
Kiya on the beach...I wonder what she is thinking?
Kiya really liked the feel of the sand.
But the sand was old news when she found these rocks. She LOVED them!!

See how excited she is!

When Dave and Caiden returned, I decided to try and take a picture of the kids. I thought it would be really cute to have a beach picture of them together. Of course, Caiden wasn't really into the picture taking mood, so you can guess how well that went. I still tried though :p I'm not one to give up :)
Kiya showing me her rocks, Caiden was not in the mood to look at the camera

Kiya trying to get Caiden's attention, but frankly he refused to look at the camera
Kiya cheers for joy, Caiden looks up :)
And now we are back to ignoring the camera. I have NO idea what Kiya is doing here.

There was also this really cool little cave like tunnel that Dave and Caiden found. So what is a boy to do when presented with a cave like tunnel? Well, crawl through it of course. And so he did...over and over again. :)
Cool tunnel Caiden and Dave found
Caiden really enjoyed going through it

All and all, we had a really good time. And I won't even mention the part when I drop my sunglasses in with the seals and scratched them...yep true story, but for another time. :)