Baja Love

We got back from Baja a couple of nights ago. Each time we go it is a new experience, and each time is better than the last. Traveling to Baja with the kids is always very difficult decision for us. Jon has been going for 16 or 17 years and I suppose I have been going with him for about 10 years. It has always been one of our favorite places in the world, a place of rugged beauty and remoteness that we love sharing with our kids. But each year when it comes time to go it is a very difficult and stressful decision to make, many people question our judgement in bringing our kids down there. So far every time we have gone we have made sure we have someone driving with us, it just seems safer to have at least one other car with you down there. This time we couldn't find anyone to go and we ended up going down solo which made us a bit nervous. Long story short, each time we go down there it seems like it is the best thing we ever did for our kids. They come alive down there in a way that is indescribable. Perhaps it is the disconnection from gadgets and other distractions, whatever it is, it is irreplaceable. Already we are all mourning the fact that we are home and longing for our next adventure in Baja. 

The Drive

The kids were HEROS on the 13 hr drive down and the 16 hr drive home. They blew me away with their patience.

Eden drew some amazing pics for various people, mostly Jon's friends, mostly Chris and Greg.

Zi was into his books on the drive

At Camp

Baja (as we know it) is often a windy and cold place especially during these winter months. For the last 4 years or so we have scored with unbelievably beautiful weather, but this year the weather was back to the Baja that I first grew to love. The puffy wearing, bundle up and endure the elements kind of Baja. We were lucky to avoid rain but the wind and the cold grew tiresome for me. The kids however cruised through it as if nothing was different. I could not believe there fortitude in the elements. By Monday, which was day 6 for us, I was ready to call it a trip. I was cold and feeling quite dirty. When we asked Eden if she was ready to go home she said: "No I want to stay till October", then she said she wanted to stay at least two more nights, which of course we couldn't refuse. Now that we are home she keeps asking when we can go back and we keep asking ourselves why we left so soon.

 

The constant wind made for epic kite flying days. Both the kids became expert kite flyers by the end.

During the trip, you could count on Zion to be either pushing his truck around or sitting on or near his boogie board begging for a ride; in the dunes or the water, it didn't matter to him, as long as someone would tow him around.

Zion was constantly covered in sand as was everything he ate.

One of Eden's favorite things to do on the trip was fish in the tide pools with her makeshift fishing pole. 

  

One of my favorite things to do in Baja is explore. The beaches and dunes are so vast and empty. Exploring them with the kids was priceless.

Wind waves in the sand

Zi LOVED sliding down the dunes

Eden loved this picnic on the boat, Eden is pretty obsessed with boats and fishing.

My mangy crew (:

Diablo

Toward the end of the trip, the wind was destroying the wave that we were camped at, so each day we would head up to a place called Diablo. Diablo might be one of the most beautiful places in the world. It is so wild and full of life for some reason. We have seen a baby whale in the line up and humbolt squid on the beach. The kids were in awe of the expansive tide pools and that is where they begged to go back to day after day. But the wind is rough because it is situated on an exposed point, the dunes do not protect camp like they do at Cordone. Therefore we would hang out, play and eat in the truck until the tide was low enough to play in the pools. 

Eden taking pictures of her hermit crabs.

Eden's bucket of captured hermit crabs.

Zion Surfing: He is a crazy baby, he cries and throws fits until Jon takes him out, I have never seen anything like it.

Eden Surfing: it was a bit cold for Eden to surf but she caught a couple of waves. It's hard to tell but the picture below shows the bay. Both the kids rode waves all the way to the beach across the bay. We timed it and it was something like a minute and a half.

All tuckered out

Evenings

Camp was beautiful at night. Each night Jon would read to Eden by the fire while I put Zion to bed in the trailer. Toward the end she would fall asleep during the story almost every night. 

The Road Home

We left camp at 4:30am. The dirt road to camp was endless this year. It took us two hours to go 20 something miles, but it sure is beautiful, especially as the sun rises, and to be honest I wouldn't really want it any other way.

Ballerina Girl

Eden started dance class this year and it is one of the best things that has ever happened for her. She really looks forward to going and through it she seems to have gotten out of the little rut she was in. She is back to her happy confident self which is such a relief for Jon and I. Another benefit of dance class is that Zi and I get an hour to ourselves. It has become a very special time for he and I to spend some quiet time together just he and I. 

Walla Love

There is something so irreplaceable about the bond between cousins, and we are so incredibly fortunate to live so close to this crew. Tara is by far Eden's best friend and perhaps her favorite person in the world {aside from Nanny, but perhaps Nanny is not as much a favorite as she is a fascination...}.  I am already envisioning the day that Tara goes off to college, hopefully {prayerfully} Eden will still love us enough at that point not to run away with her. As it is she can not live without her, and if she had it her way Tara would live with us.

Today was a rainy day so we got a special visit from Mimmi and the boys. It is so fun that they can just drop by in between naps on a whim. The kids had fun making messes and raising a ruckus, but I'm pretty sure each of them would confirm that the best part about their play date was having Mimmi read to them. Mimmi has a lot of babies to love, and she works really hard to make room for each of them, which is something that they appreciate more than she knows.

This Is How We Do Winter

Across the nation, and the world I suppose, most people associate winter with snow. When winter comes, the snow gear comes out and the snow-filled fun begins. For us winter means wetsuits at the beach. It's that simple. Nothing fancy, just another day at the beach. Because even though its 50 degrees out, and the water is frigid at best, these two kids of ours just can't get enough. 

 

Grammy & Grampy Come to Play

We had such a nice visit with Grammy & Grampy yesterday. They came and took us to the Fisherman's for lunch, it was a cold windy winter day, we {I} thought it would be empty, turns out everyone else had our same idea, and we ended up having to wait quite some time before getting a table. I thought for sure that the kids would struggle big time through lunch but they ended up doing just fine. And when I asked Eden what her favorite part of the day was, she said it was going to lunch with Grammy & Grampy. Thank you guys so much for the delicious treats and thank you so much for making the trek down to come and see us! 

Here Grampy is reading Zion his favorite book {thank you G'Pa Lew}. Zion drags this book all around the house with him..sometimes yelling "MaaMa! Please!" over and over again.

Zion & The Petting Zoo

Anyone that was around Zion for the first 9 months of his life would know that he was once incredibly afraid of all animals. Whenever a dog would come near he would tremble and cry in abject fear. It was quite concerning for us as we are such big animal lovers. But in the last 7 months he has come full circle. Now he is completely enamored by all animals. He still has some hesitation, naturally, but now he absolutely loves them! Here he is with a goat at our local petting zoo. It kills me how Zion and this goat are just the same size. This goat was so sweet and patient with Zion, I wish we could have taken him home.

Zion going in for a hug and a kiss

On another note, I wanted to write down a story about Eden that I never want to forget. I'm sure it is hard to tell from the pictures, but Zion in playing here on a porch of a dollhouse. The kids love playing in this doll house while visiting the petting zoo. Inside there is a window to look out of, and being that it is just their size they find it really fun. But this house's primary purpose is actually for the sheep. It actually serves as a place for the sheep to just chill out in, and likely escape from all of the pestering tots. Well, Zion was playing inside this house the other day, looking out the window and having a wonderful time when one of the sheep decided it was time for a little siesta in its house. Eden and another boy slightly older than her tried to block the sheep from entering. They both kept trying to tell the sheep that there was a baby inside and that it could not go in at the moment. But the sheep, being bigger than both the kids combined, would not hear anything of it. It just kept {gently} trying to nudge its way past them. Finally Eden seemed to feel that the situation was becoming dire so she ran inside and stood with her brother. She tried to tell Zion that he needed to get a out cause a sheep was coming in, but Zion can be stubborn and he would not listen at all. I was watching all this from an arms length away and finally decided I better lend her a hand. As soon as I put my face up to the window Eden lost it. She just broke down in tears and sobs. She was so worried about her brothers safety and her own but she was trying to be so brave for him, just thinking about it makes me want to cry. She is my little rescuer just like her daddy.

Seaworld

My parents were incredibly generous to give us season passes to Seaworld for Christmas this year. I have no words to describe the magic of Seaworld, and somehow I feel like it must only be so magical for my little family, but deep down I know it is equally magical for everyone....right??? The kids were captivated right from the start. We probably could have sat and watched Shamu swim around all day. But we ended up going on to see two shows back to back, the sharks, the turtles, manta rays, and the arctic animals. It was quite a day. A day of endless smiles, smiles that make your cheeks hurt. Can't wait to go back!

During the dolphin show the kids ended up moving to the bleachers in front of Jon and I. Too big for us already? Really??

We ran into some friends from San Clemente! So fun!

Post big day slump, it was definitely time to call it a day at this point.