Bryce Canyon

This trip was organised WAY in advance and when we got home from California I was a little worried that we had too much to do, let alone go camping. However, it became a wonderful distraction after having a heavy week at doctors appointments that it was a great ESCAPE with fun and crazy friends and time to spend on all the children, not just Isaac.

Fortunately, about a month later, Isaac is on new meds and it seems to be doing really well, thus far! I am stoked at his progress.

We went camping with the Baers and the Woodruff family and had a blast. Savannah is starting to hang with the big girls and I am amazed now just how quickly she is growing up!

Our funky accommodation.

Across the road from our camp was shops and we had to have a little peek. I was disappointed once again with the lack of wild bears on the loose.

The whole gang.

Mike, Tyson, Dave and Isaac.

Some like the water COLD.

Each family had a trusty hiking chair for the the baby of the family. A very worthwhile investment.

She puts on the cutest smile, but moments before she was whining that she was 'tired'.

I would love to have known what this little 5 year old was thinking about! The whole world at her finger tips.

Best dad in the world.

I have 10 similar shots of Hyrum posing. We don't need any male models in this household thanks! (He is the next Derek Zoolander)

"Cheese."

Isaac looks adorable!

This hike was just so fun and incredible. We hiked just before dusk. We had eaten an early dinner and it was definitely the way to go.

These little monkeys had to be continually 'encouraged' to keep 'walking'.

Savannah just looooovvvvves Diana.

For cubs, Hyrum had to start his own fire. Wow was this a highlight of his little experience. It is always so much fun when you have a camp fire. As well as marshmallows to toast (or burn, in my case!)

Hyrum was always disappointed when the fire actually got going because it meant that his job was done.

Yes......we had to hold Isaac down, when it came to the fire.

Burnt one for mum please Savannah!

To distract the children on Sunday, we got them to create something for a table decoration.

I wish I could braid like my friends.......looks so cute. Bethany actually looks loved when her hair isn't messy!

Woodruff family.

My two personal trainers. Alex, in the middle kills me at the gym with the weights and Diana is my running freak of a friend who got me into the marathons in the first place and pushes me to another extreme. Love to hate it!

Looking for that wild bear!!! However, I find out later that bears don't like noise. When you are hiking with 8 rather noisy children I don't think it is going to happen for some reason.

Another hike. Diana has a cheeky grin becase she is teaching my children some rather interesting songs!!!

Where did Beth go???

Hyrum was up top here trying to dance like Michael Jackson in Thriller. A little scary to watch in every sense. I seem to recall him breaking his arm once when he was climbing up to show off.

Goodbye California

I am just going to combine all the rest of the Califrornia photos and put them into one blog. This wedding was the weekend before we left and it was friends from the MBA program who got married. We had such fun meeting up with friends here after everyone had been in different locations for the Summer's internships.

This was our second date in 4 moths and it was rather anticipated!!!! So much bonding time with the kids over the Summer, it was nice to escape for the evening.

Okay, this is a funny one just for our family. This was right next to our apartments. We went once for family night but it was just something we would pass so many times each day, we thought it would be a funny thing to remember later on.

This was the children's museum we went to at least once a week. ALL the children loved it.

The tech museum.

At the tech museum the children loved typing in there name and the machine would get the blocks and spell it out for them.

The beautiful, long California nights meant picnics and tennis. Where we lived there were free tennis courts everywhere!! We don't have any real good photos of these events but there was some good rivalry going on.

The other date. It was my first concert ever and we went and saw Coldplay. It was very FUN and I am glad Dave was with me for my first concert. I felt 16 all over again.

Another picnc.

Always posing!

We had an MBA picnic for those who were in the San Francisco area during the summer. Lots of fun.

Some of us gathered for a photo. The beautiful couple on the left, Becky and Troy babysat for us for the concert.

At the beginning of the Summer I did a few great day trips with Megan and the children. We had them over for dinner one night before the baby came. She had a little boy a few months ago called Cal.

Living in California for 3 months was a fantastic experience! It took a little readjusting but we managed. Living in a 2 bedroom apartment was INTERESTING to say the least. I did have a few moments of insanity. Like at bedtime I had turned into grumpy mum. One child was trying to sleep in the kids bedroom, one was on our bed "trying " to go to bed and 2 were in our tiny living room and I just wanted some SPACE and there was no where to go!!!! (Those nights Dave would send me off running in hope I came back a happy person. A good trick he has learnt!) All the incredible adventures we went on made up for it.

The chldren became very creative when they didn't have a backyard. We had 2 balconys a few feet apart and one time the first few days we were there, wating for the furniture and TV to arrive, Savannah and Hyrum were testing them out and "seeing: if they could get from one balcony to the other, spiderman style. (Fortunately we are on the first floor, and it was a safe falling distance!!!) but I heard this casual but concerned yell from Savannah who had somehow become stuck in the process of getting from a to b. I had to laugh at the fantastic way they were trying to entertain themselves!! Isaac and Bethany were cheering from the balcony and I was just happy that they were out of my way so I could organise things. Savannah was a little offended when I was laughing. I am happy to say that they did not attempt this again. One balcony was designated "kids only" and they got some little plants to grow, special sticks and rocks, (which were 'apparently' rare and worth a lot of money!!!) and other things that they had collected on our trips like nuts that the squirrels ate and special flowers to attract butterflies. Love it! One of the things me and the kids miss the most was the lazy days at the pool! Goodbye California! In the next few months we shall see where life leads us next!

Half Moon Bay

Halfmoon Bay was great! So nice to finally get to a beach after so long! The water was cold (about 14C). I was planning on staying out of the water, but Dave continued to taunt me by calling me a 'coward or sook'. I think he knew full well that this would result in me needing to prove that I am not and so I succumbed to the pressure. Although Dave and I went under the water, none of us really 'swam'. More like dip our feet in. It was cute to see Isaac running away from the waves. The children, Dave and I did mention how we missed our beautiful Perth beaches. Funny little things make you a little homesick and the beach always does this to us. We loved having the sand between our toes. We are just not used to the "black" sand sticking to our bodies and making a real mess!