newport beach | part 1.

newport beach 2013.

great ready folks because here comes a lot of pictures.  i am really trying to finish up our summer trips  and now that i have started a new semester of nursing school (and just ran a marathon) my delayed posts are even more delayed. ahhhhhhhh.

five days after we returned home from our long road trip, we were off again to our annual summer trip to the beach with family.  i had just enough time to do our laundry and repack our suitcases filled with swimsuits and sweaters.  that's the beauty of the beach....swimsuits by day, sweaters by night.  the most perfect weather.

these pictures are mostly from our first two days at newport beach.  as usual, we had lots of beach time and lots of bike rides.  we can never bike too much when we are at the beach whether it's to the newport pier or further on down the boardwalk to balboa island.  we can't get enough of those balboa bars and frozen bananas or our new favorite candy shop, balboa candy.  my children were literally like kids in candy store.

it was so good to be back at the beach and especially getting in some family time with the grandparents and cousins. (stay tuned, there's more!)

ice skating for ava's birthday.

every other year our kids have a family birthday party (where no friends are invited) and this year was ava's family birthday.  when we asked her what she wanted to do on her special day she said she wanted to go ice skating.  it was an interesting request considering she has never been ice skating and neither had jason and i within the last 15-20 years.  but, yeah, why not?  let's do it.

so, we showed up in our warmer attire (even though it was 100 degrees outside) and we got our skates on and made a run for it to the ice.  i don't think jason or i had really thought much about this whole thing until we were actually in the moment.  none of our kids could skate and there are four of them and two of us.  i had kids on each hand and one grabbing me from behind.  jonah had to be carried most of the time and i was starting to realize my back was going to be sore following this little activity.  but, seriously, it was hilarious.  the kids were slipping all over the place and falling down on their butts, knees, backs, stomachs... it was quite a show.  they had absolutely no control of their little bodies no matter how hard they tried.

in the beginning, there were lots and lots of falls and holding on to the side but each time we went around they got a little better and little more daring.  by the end, jack was skating all over and ava could finally make it around without falling or holding onto anything.  even eden could do it almost on her own.  i would say huge progress in a short amount of time.  i was really proud of my kids.  they never complained or cried and by the looks and sounds from some of their falls, i think i would've been crying.  they never gave up.  it was a great day at the ice skating rink and i think we will be going back again very soon.