A Californian sunrise

Before.....

After. (View across the San Francisco bay)

The other ugly view we had to put up with.

We decided to have a beautiful sunrise picnic for a late mother's day. Dave was away on mother's day and we postponed it. A few mother's days ago I decided to make a new tradition and plan something fun for the kids myself that we will both remember. Hopefully my gift to them is a fun memory of me, being a good mum at least one day of the year. While Dave makes yummy food for us and does the every day chores for me.... I get to spend time on being a mum and having fun with my children. I have the idea and Dave helps it happen for me.

At 4:50am the alarm goes off and I did not hear it. Usually I hear every noise but Isaac had been up in the night. Which woke up Beth, who woke up Savannah!! (The joys of 4 children sharing a bedroom together). So by the time I got into a deep sleep again it was early morning. I felt guilty as I heard Dave making noises in the kitchen getting my yummy mothers day ham and cheese crossaints ready in the oven. Who's dumb idea was this, I was thinking! However, knowing Dave was already in the kitchen and the kids already prepared in their day clothes that they had been sleeping in and excited to be getting up REALLY early. I rolled out of bed....for them.

Of course, once your up and at em', it isn't ever as bad. Their happy, eager faces made everything worth while!

The man who made it happen! The champ got the groceries for it the night before, and prepared the picnic.
Thanks honey, xoxoxo.

They even got to see some early bird rabbits...so exciting!

Oh.....the pure joy of chocolate milk! YUM YUM. These two just marched around with cups full of chocolate milk, oblivious to the world and then enjoyed a bit of a sugar high.

I guess I forgot to mention another main reason why they were on a sugar high was the fact that their was Lucky Charm cereal. Sadly, being my special occasion it was my choice :-)

On the way home, since it was still nice and early and little traffic, we stopped off and had a look at Stanford university. It was very interesting to see all the old buildings. The children were also happy because there were all these squirrels out and about and they were having a counting contest. (Whatever keeps them happy!)

Santa Cruz

Santa Cruz was full of color and life. So much so....we saw police and security all frantic and a guy hand-cuffed and man handled as we walked past. Hyrum thought it was awesssommmme! It was an old style boardwalk, you kind of felt like you were back at the royal show, 60's style. Full of character.

Looks like a hot day but it was chilly out!

The jetty was just as interesting, as we discovered all these sealions laying around underneath and swimming in the water. At first....we were a little clueless and thought they were dolphins. Our camera ran out of batteries but there were also many little sealion cubs. We were all fascinated.

The children were a little grumpy.....lets not sugar coat this. It was cold again and we came unprepared. By the time we left it was getting nice and warm though. (Everywhere around the coast here warms up around mid-day when the fog clears)

Okay....I have not seen a pelican this color before. Didn't realise they came in different colours!

Hyrum was terrifed and electrified at the same time with this fish. The boy next to him was yelling "help, help, help" because his fish was about to flop back into the water and Hyrum thought he would come to the rescue, in a very squirmish, fascinated and reluctant way. He talked about it for ages after.

This does not give you a good example of all the fun we had with the stinky sealions. Even Isaac was making sealion noises all the way back to the car.

Independance day

What a great week we had at the Gharring's house. They are very kind and hospitable. I left our place at 8:00am and arrived at the Gharrings at around 3:15pm without Dave and had a little proud moment. I did it. We only nearly crashed 3 times when I turned around to distract screaming Isaac, sort out a sibling fight, or throw a bribe (candy) to the kids. Didn't like those moments when you feel like the meat in a hamburger, squished between two towering trucks. Only 2 stops, 2 candy bags, 3 oreo packets, 2 pringle containers, many muesli bars and fruit snack packets, and of course McDonalds....to entertain them. YUCK.

The first few days were nice and relaxing. Pool trips, Del taco, duck ponds, playing outside and playing outside. I forgot how nice it is to actually have a yard!!!!! Ohhhhh the joy of letting the kids play out the back. For the last year we have not had our own and it was so nice to just let them play and not worry about them. The simple pleasures you take for granted.

BLUEBERRY PICKING

The day we went blueberry picking was Savannah's birthday. She got to decide what to do and this was her choice because she could be with everyone. Well, we were all glad she chose this yummy activity! She was rather spoilt and Aunty Rachel let her chose what she wanted for breakfast too and it was bacon and eggs. Mmmmmm.

After blueberry picking, Abby, Savannah and I went to a movie and got some treats. One spoilt 10 year old and now I have a child in double digits. A rather unusual feeling.

These two were hilarious, I am glad we didn't stay all day or they would have burnt a whole in our pockets with all the Blueberries they picked. They really went for it. It was funny to see that in Trent and Hyrum's buckets were huge, juicy blueberries whereas with these two cheeky monkeys....anything would do!

Oceanside Beach

My first experience of a Southern California beach was great. Everytime we have come near the coastline in any area of California, it has been hazy until the afternoon and the day we went to the beach was a little cold, the water too. I must admit to having a 'I miss Australian beaches' moment but I was definitely enjoying the whole new experience. I love exploring all the different places we have been and find it fascinating. Not being a local at all, I was surprised at how the black sand sticks and gets everything grubby. I was also amazed at how close the road is to the beach, you didn't need to walk far at all to get to the water. Seeing a lot of pebbles on the sand was also interesting. Rachel was saying that they usually clear them off, but they didn't have a budget to do so this year.

CRAZY CAMP OUT.....

Rachel and Chad have a tradition for the 4th of July where they invite a lot over friends over for a campout in their backyard. So along with about 80 other people, we were able to have dinner, eat S'mores, watch a movie outside and enjoy the evening.

The fire pit. Oh.....how children love playing with fire. I love burnt marshmallows, so I got quite a few. Savannah, Hyrum and Beth slept outside and stayed up very late and had a blast with their cousins and the other friends that were over.

The morning after and everyone is still smiling. We went to iHOP (International House of Pancakes) with two lots of Gharrings and enjoyed a very yummy breakfast. Then everyone went home to sleep after having late nights and to get ready for another late one with the Independance Day festivities.

Gharrings BBQ and Independance fireworks.

Okay.......so I did a very corny thing and the Liddicoats all got matching tops at Old navy for $2.50 each. Hyrum, Isaac and Beth all had on new outfitts on from Gap, Old navy, Oshkosh and Childrens place for under $9.00 each. Gotta love outlet shopping!!! (Another fun thing me and Rachel did with Isaac, while the older children stayed home. Somehow Beth fitted in that category??)

Although Dave went along with wearing his shirt, he could not part with his Eagles hat.

We all loved watching the fireworks. Abby's gorgeous glasses were a hit. Everyone wanted to try them and I am surprised we were able to get them away from Isaac.

San Francisco Zoo

One of my favorite outings with the children is going to the zoo!! A few weeks back, the kids and I took the 1 hour trip to the San Francisco Zoo. This was my first big trip driving by myself. Just me and the kiddo's (oh, and Sheila of course...my GPS). I am the worst at directions and getting anywhere. Thanks to Sheila, I am feeling a lot more confident and have been able to venture off with Savannah, Hyrum, Beth and Isaac and really make the most of beautiful California, while Dave slaves away at his desk.

I keep forgetting how much colder San Francisco is. It was a sunny day when we left home but as soon as we got out of the car in San Fran I nearly died. The first thing I noticed that other people around us were wearing jackets. It was freezing cold, cloudy and windy. The children were complaining simultaneously and I thought....oh dear, this is going to be a long day. However, we all had such fun and although we were all cold, walking everywhere helped as well as lots of great animals that distract us.


This area, was the childrens petting section of the zoo. The children could touch all the animals. Above is a very cute hedgehog. Below was an armidillo, which was just facinating and possibly one of our favorites too. We had never seen a live one and the guy let it run around (and boy do they move quickly) they are furry with a hard shell. Beth squealed in delight when it was running everywhere, then it curled up into a ball when Isaac had his turn of screaming.

I love this one of Isaac because it sums up our whole day with him. He is about to attempt to climb in with Tommy the tortoise. He attempted many cages and exhibits with no luck. Even when the children were carefully touching a snake in the petting area, Isaac was so excited, he got both hands around the snakes belly and squeezed tight. Oh, the joys of a clueless toddler!

This is another, sums it up picture. Isaac will not walk because Savannah and Hyrum (even Beth) carry him everywhere. Savannah is showing him the giraffes (and all the other animals for that matter.) Isaac has tantrums because he has to walk. Grrrrrrr.

A picture says a thousand words. Well, they can also be very deceiving. Hyrum looks so angelic and somehow calm in this picture...if only that were the truth.

Beths favortie animal stop. Why? Becuase they are pink of course!

This is how I felt at the end of our big day at the zoo. The children did a pretty good job, but by the end of it they were grumpy and wanted food, were tired and needed to go to the loo.