San Diego, California

We arrived in San Diego on Sunday just in time to watch the sunset on the beach. Our hotel was in the Pacific Beach area right by the beach. Our region was elevated compared to the beach, so there was a nice paved trail along the top of the cliffs with stairs down to the beach at intervals. The best part about being on the beach was being able to go basically every morning and then again at sunset. Being a baby, Hannah had no opinion about her new surrounds. Matthew, on the other hand, was terrified of the ocean. He did not like having sand in his shoes, so he had to be carried over the sand. And he really did not like the waves. He basically begged to go back up to the boardwalk every time we were at the beach.

Going in November was nice because it was much warmer than Layton, but not super crowded. The downside was that it got dark by 5:30, so we basically spent every evening watching tv in our hotel room. Our room ended up being really nice and was a recent remodel. It only had a shower stall, so poor Matthew got dirtier and dirtier as the week progressed. Finally on Thursday, we convinced him to take a shower with Mark. The Pacific Beach area was really need. Besides some hotels and condos right on the beach, it was mostly residential. Just a little bit down was Crystal Pier, which we got to walk out on. The boardwalk was nice, and always busy. Our first night we were not adventurous and just ate at Denny's. After that, we mostly ate microwavable meals, but we did sample a store named Taco Surf, which did not skimp on the meat. Even better, we went to an ice cream sandwich place where he choose your cookies and ice cream. It was delicious.

On Thursday, we went to the ice cream sandwich place and then on to the beach. Mark wanted to actually swim in the ocean. I sat with Matthew and Hannah on a blanket and watched Mark and Matthew was horrified but the whole ordeal - see picture below. Hannah was having a blast. When Mark got back, he decided to try Matthew one more time. He took him out to the waves lapping on the shore and just set him in the water. He actually enjoyed it, and then remembered he was supposed to be scared and wanted to be picked up. We got him to play in the water for a good twenty minutes, though alternating between having fun and been scared every thirty seconds. Even baby Hannah put her toes in the water to say that she has touched the Pacific Ocean - the water was way to cold to put any of the rest of her in. All in all, it was a great first trip to California for each of us.

Watching our first beach sunset

View from our hotel

View from Crystal Pier

Watching tv in our hotel

Crystal Pier

Eating an ice cream sandwich

Watching Mark go into the water

Mark coming out of the ocean

Mark convincing Matthew to go in the water

Splashing in the water with me

 

Hannah the beach baby

 

Matthew splashing in the waves

Mesa, Arizona

To celebrate Mark completing his thesis, we decided to take a vacation. This was actually the first time it was just our family vacationing since Matthew was born. I've always wanted to visit San Francisco, but after a bit of research I realized that San Diego was a better fit for us. It was cheapest to rent our San Diego hotel from Sunday to Thursday, but Mark had the Friday before that off. The perfect solution: go visit my old roommate Sheredith Haws for the weekend. Thus, on to Mesa, Arizona, we went.

The drive down was long, but the kids did great. Matthew watched Toy Story on my tablet over and over and over again. We arrived at Sheredith's house late in the evening, and had fun catching up with her. She lives in her parents' house while they are serving a mission. It was really fun to see where she grew up in comparison to my hometown. The whole Phoenix valley was one large city. One interesting thing that stuck out about Sheredith's neighborhood was that all the houses where one-story with large basements. Which makes sense given Arizona's brutal summers. It was November and 80 degrees outside.

While Sheredith was at school, we went to a park and let the kids play. Then in the evening, Sheredith took us to the Mesa Temple, which had tons of citrus trees on its grounds. For dinner we went to a restaurant called Organ Stop Pizza. It's a pizza place with a large dining hall where you watch organ performances. They had a large organ with all kinds of crazy attachments - pianos, drums, bells, lights, puppets, a bubble machine. The performance was amazing. And you could request songs, and he could play basically everything. If you are ever in Mesa, it's a must-see.

On Saturday, we went hiking at Usery Mountain Regional Park, part of the Sonoran Desert. Out of all the sections of desert we saw on our vacation - which would be a lot since we drove along the US - Mexico border in southern Arizona - the Sonoran Desert was one of the prettiest. The saguaros cactus were amazing. There were some gigantic ones at the park which most have been ancient. It takes 70 years to grow an arm, and there were some with six arms. After our hike, we watched Les Miserables while the kids napped. We capped it off with cooking marshmallows over a fire, and it was a wonderful trip.

Matthew swinging

Hannah swinging

At the Mesa Temple

At Usery Mountain Regional Park

With a saguaro

Sheredith and I

Matthew

Last Nice Day of Fall

On Friday night, I made a bunch of headbands for Hannah. I really wanted to show them off on facebook, so yesterday I had a photo shoot. Saturday was just a gorgeous day. It was probably the last really nice day of fall. This morning when I woke up, it was snowing! Luckily, Mark got most all the outdoor projects finished, and we were even able to enjoy one last dinner on our deck.

 

This is my favorite photo. Unfortunately, it's blurry.

Halloween

Happy Halloween! When we went to my brother's house the other week, we bought a couple movies for my tablet for Matthew to watch in the car. One of which was Peter Pan. Matthew just loved it. Then it occurred to me that in the box of clothes I had been given recently, there was a Peter Pan costume just Matthew's size. So, I decided if Matthew was Peter Pan, Hannah should be Tinkerbell. I was able to borrow a Peter Pan hat from someone in my ward. She also had a Tinkerbell outfit that was too big, but I was able to use the wings and make my own tutu.

 

The first three photos are actually from Tuesday night. We went to our ward's Trunk or Treat, which was an interesting phenomenon. Matthew was scared of the Trunk-or-Treating portion, so he only got about 5 pieces of candy. Today, I raked the yard - hence the photos. We also took Matthew out trick-or-treating to a few of the neighbors houses. Matthew had never been before, but he caught on really quickly and had lots of fun. When we circled back to our house, he said "More houses?" Luckily, to prevent the fit I knew was coming, we convinced him that we should go to Great-Grandma Pingel's house and surprise her  (Grandpa was at work.) All in all, it was a good Halloween. Now it's time for Christmas!

 



Peter Pan and Tinkerbell

Matthew as Peter Pan

Hannah as Tinkerbell

Miss Hannah looks so much like baby Matthew in this photo.

Matthew jumping in the leaves

With Great-Grandma Pingel

For Grandma and Grandpa

 

Playing blanket peek-a-boo with two babies

6 months old

 

Around 2 o'clock in the afternoon on Saturday, I realized that Hannah turned 6 months old that day. I figured I ought to feed her something. We had a little party when Matthew turned 6 months old, but that's partly because we were at my aunt's house babysitting my cousins. So I searched through the kitchen to see what I already had that I could puree for her, and decided on apples. I made half a cake for Matthew's half-birthday, and it was terrible. This time, I decided to play it safe with brownies. I took her to her check-up on Monday, and she now weights 16 pounds and 3 ounces (57%) and 26 inches in length (59%). She still only rolls over one way - back to stomach - but she loves to sit up. And she has perfected smiling for the camera. Not a cheesy smile like Matthew, but a full on beautiful smile. 

 

Hannah's first bite

 

Tricking her to eat more

Temple Square

Yesterday, I decided to take the kids to Temple Square for the afternoon. Matthew was excited to see the Temple. The gates were even open, so he was able to go and touch the temple. We also visited the North Visitor's Center and the Church History Museum. It ended up being a fun afternoon. Looking at the pictures makes me feel like I should do more little outings with the kids. Then I remember that I had to drag Matthew back to the car, and I realize why we don't.