Valentines Day 2014

Last night out of the blue, Eden said: "Mom, when I grow up, and I'm a Mommy, I'm gonna go on a boat ride every day.". This was in the wake of our latest boat ride up to Newport last week. We had plans to fish, whale watch, and SUP/play in the harbor but it was such an incredibly beautiful day that Jon surprised all of us by driving the boat up to Newport. In Newport we enjoyed some special drinks and a slice of cheesecake. It was the best "Valentines Day" that I can ever recall. And I can't help but fondly remember last years Valentines Day....we had just returned from an incredible trip to Baja (early that am) and we spent the day walking around the harbor and pestering the management at the dry dock to slip the owner of this boat our number. And that is when it all began...our quest to acquire the EZtraveler. Now, a year later, it feels so good to be going on these little adventures, and so entirely worth the wait.

Just look at Eden's happy face! She really is in heaven on the boat! And who is that guy next to her?? Where did my baby go? ):

First Catch!

Eden's Happy Dance over the first catch on the boat.

The kids were super into holding the fish.

The kids and I laying down in the cabin on the ride up to Newport

Just being in that Newport Harbor made me feel super rich by osmosis.

We were not sure what was going on with this guy. There are so many potential captions here....

Jon's dream boat dwarfing our dreamboat (:

My dream boat (:

Family Portrait

Eden holding that fish one more time...

Zi fell fast asleep in the cabin on the way home.

Eden loves to help Jon clean the boat

Afterward Jon took us to a fancy sushi dinner at Mahe. The kids got their first taste of "Octopus" and surprisingly loved it!

Eden & Laila

Eden has a friend named Laila at school - she is the sweetest girl and Eden just adores her. Eden has begged me the entire year to have a playdate with Laila and for some reason it took me until recently to finally make it happen. This is Eden and Laila on their second playdate. The whole thing is pretty special to me. This is the first friend that Eden has truly chosen for herself. It is neat to get to know this friend of hers and to see them play and interact in their adorable four year old ways. 

One thing I found interesting was the way Eden was so into doing her SUP. It was almost as if she was showing off for Laila? But this is super unusual for Eden because most the time if her friends are around she want nothing to do with her board or surfing.

Searching for treasures...

 This playdate happened to be the same day as the kids' Valentines party at school so they were all stoked to munch on their heart shaped suckers in the trailer together.

Skater Groms

I was telling my mom earlier today that I may never get Zion to go to the beach with me again. He has become completely enamored by skating ever since we took him to the skate park. Earlier today he was actually throwing his skateboard in the air trying to make it spin like he has watched the big kids do - I really wish I would have gotten a video of it.

It's funny that his skate stance is the same as his surf stance, I'm bummed I didn't get a pic of him from the front.

I love this pic of Eden dancing on the driveway in her pretty dress.

Eden is actually getting the hang of skateboarding a bit. Pushing off with her foot and everything.

This is just a random pic from the same day. Jon likes to pick Eden up from school on this bike. This was the first time we have ever thrown Zi on there and he was thrilled!

San Clemente Skate Park

We took Zi to the skate park on a whim last week. He loves to charge hills on his scooter so we figured he would be into it. It's hard to get the timing right at the skate park. It's definitely not a place that he can charge on a crowded day. The first day we went was actually a bit crowded but we had Jon with us so we felt invincible. 

These pics are from Zi and I's third time back at the park and Eden's first. We were super lucky because we were there with just two other guys who happened to be super cool and skate super well. It was amazing to watch plus they were cool with Eden and Zion doing their thing.

How is Zion here? Surveying the park like he owns it. I feel like I can see the age of his soul in this pic.

Eden was not as into the skate park as Zion was. To her credit she just received this big girl scooter a few days prior so she is not entirely acclimated to it yet. She had a few wipeouts which bummed her out but she still had fun and I was marveling at her style even in her hesitation.

Treasure Hunting at SanO

These are some pics from a spur of the moment afternoon treasure hunt down at SanO. It was pretty cold, and the kids were pretty over it, but we decided to turn over one last rock before leaving and we were rewarded with a plethora of sea life. Maybe I'm cheesy, but I think is was kind of a good reminder that it is always worth it to turn over one last rock. 

Zion's beautiful baby sea slug which he clutched the entire time and which eventually turned his hand entirely yellow to Eden's great dismay.

The kids were captivated by digging for clams. There were some pretty neat ones, and it seemed Jon was digging all the way to China to finally take hold of them.

 The Last Rock

Octopus, Starfish, Sea Stars, Baby Sea Urchins