The family fest wrap up: DAY #1

In my last post I promised I would not give you all the play by play of everything we were doing during my family's visit.  And I didn't.  So get ready for it now!  And in my last post I wrote that everyone who would care about our activities was already here--but then my brother-in-law Chris, who could not come along with his wife and daughters on the adventure, told me via a phone call with his wife that he might be a lurker but he was not "no one."  My apologies Chris--this series is dedicated to you!  ; )

(While you read the posts, have a mug of something refreshing and some of the fair-trade dark chocolate and quinoa bar I sent back with Rebecca for you, and have the full blessed blog experience. : )

(Oh, and anyone who wondered, my little sister Allison does not regularly read my blog.  No biggie--some people are blog readers and some people aren't, and Allison and I do facebook to share photos and keep in touch.  Bu I did not at all mean to leave her or other occassional family visitors out either!  Any family who was not here with us but who is reading this now--we would have loved to have you, you are most welcome to visit anytime, I am sure your name came up in the discussion at some point and we said very nice things about you.)

Ok, did that cover everybody?  Great!  Now for the recap. . .

DAY 1--the cousins and grands arrive

Mom and Dad and Emily and Sarah arrived in the afternoon.  Perfect timing to drive over to the beach for a little while, while mom and dad settled in the motorhome, and give the cousins their first taste of CA beaches.

The water is a wee little bit colder in the Pacific than in the Gulf of Mexico, right Emily?  Sarah was amazingly fond of the water, and my girls all had a blast splashing. 

Of course, since it was supposed to be a quick run to the beach just to dip our toes in, I did not get the girls changed into their swimsuits. 

Wrong call, mommy.  Sigh. 

But oh, the cousin fun!

Smiley gives his approval.  Cousins are great!