Spotlight on Peanut

Peanut has been back in school the past couple of weeks, busy with classes and swim practice. He doesn't seem to have much homework this semester, at least so far, which is great since he's been busy with a new book series that a friend recommended, and D & D. His D & D group started meeting again and he's loving it. They've been using the new one-shots that he got for Christmas and seem to be geting the hang of how it all works.

He still has a little time for exploring with me, too. 

We went to the Mushroom Madness event at Sycamore Grove the other day.

Found some fun mushrooms,

And really enjoyed seeing everyone else's finds, too.

They had microscopes and experts and identification books on hand to look at everything that people brought back after the couple of hours of hunting in the park.

We saw a few new ones, and learned a little about some of the common mushrooms found locally. It felt like we were homeschooling again for an afternoon. I'm so glad that he's doing well in school, but I'm also glad when we can sneak in some outdoor learning, too.

A Little More Utah

Between the family lunch and wedding reception, we snuck over to my cousin's house for a couple hours to catch up and see my aunt and uncle as well.

It had been way too long !

My dad's twin sister is one of only two of his siblings left. 

We had a great visit with all of them.

After the wedding, we still had two days to spend with family up in Utah. 

We went to a park to meet up with my brother and his kids.

Played a little pickleball. It was a first for Daddy-o and I, and unfortunately, didn't end well for Daddy-o. He was trying to take it easy since his ankle is still not 100%, but must have been favoring his left leg because he ended up pulling or snapping something in his right leg. He heard a loud sound and felt instant pain. He was gobbling pretty badly for a couple days, but can still walk, even if he can't drive.

We spent New Year's Eve at Uncle Jeff's place, 

playing card games, Jackbox games, 

watching fireworks in the backyard, and eating way too many treats and snacks. It was so fun.

And then, we went over to Cam's house for New Year's Day--had brunch, and played more games, and exchanged Christmas presents.

We love all the time with cousins.

We love seeing these kids!

And even got to talk to Bug while we were there, so he got to see everyone, too.

Even though there is a pretty big age span between all of these cousins, they have so much fun together.

And we got to do another Christmas!

This cute girl loves opening gift bags! And she has the best facial expressions when she sees what's in the bag.

We got the kids some fun gifts, but maybe the most fun thing was leaving behind almost 100 tiny plastic ducks, hidden all over their house. Just before we left, they started finding them, and then, when they realized what we had done, the kids went crazy looking for them. I think they will be finding those things for a very long time, haha.

Friday morning, it was time to drive home. We got lucky with the weather--mostly blue skies with only a little rain in the beginning and end, but no snow, despite the storms on both sides of us. It's a long drive, but Bean and I did it (so glad she was with us! I hate doing that drive alone.) 

Thankful for Beach Week

We got so lucky with the weather this week. Last week was rainy and cold in Southern California, but we had mostly blue skies and temperatures from 65-75 every day.

I took several early morning beach walks which are my personal favorite.

It's magical being out there before the crowds. 

There are always surfers and some dog walkers, but the beach is fairly quite for the first couple of hours and it's a great time to watch the shore birds and just enjoy being out.

It was weird seeing the pier destruction. There used to be a restuarant at the end but there was a fire earlier this year.

And then, most days, we were at the beach for several hours.

Playing lots of Mölkky which is such a fun game. It's my new favorite thing to do at the beach.

Peanut did a lot of sand sculpting.

He built some partially excavated Aztec ruins for their sandcastle contest.

I'm so glad he has gotten to know L better this past year. They spent a lot of time together all week.

We had a really big group this year--seldom that all of us were in the same place at the same time, but with up to 45 people total (8 families), depending on the day, there was usually someone around doing what you want to do.

Bean did a lot of surfing.

She's gotten pretty good. It was fun to watch her out there.

And even when we were just sitting around, it was pretty incredible. I ended up coming down with a cold by Tuesday, so sitting didn't sound so bad.

I did a fair amount of reading, poolside, at the beach, and in bed (although I didn't come close to finishing all the books I brought with me.)

I think I could spend a LOT of days on the beach before I'd get tired of it.

Bean and Peanut went kayaking in the harbor with a bunch of people from our group one afternoon.

And we caught so many sunsets.

One night we stayed on the beach until it set.

There were a few of us that were just having too much fun.

It was a lovely afternoon.

With some cool sand sculptures.

But most evenings, we were in the hot tub by late afternoon and I had to run down from to the beach for a few minutes to catch it.

It was worth it. It's so fun staying in a property right on the water.

And the tropical vibes make you feel like you're in Hawaii.

And then, after dinner, everyone met up in the game room for foosball, pool, and board games. 

Daddy-o loved all the foosball and had some good runs with a couple different partners. I tried one night, but still feel like I have NO idea what I'm doing. But I did play a lot of pool and even beat a couple of the teens who were sure they could take me (including Bean, who has gotten a lot better and depending on the game, was able to beat me, too. But after telling us how much practice she's had and how much better she is (and she's right!), she told me, "I forgot that you're good at this." Haha. I'm not consistently good, but I have my moments.) Both Daddy-o and I are looking forward to his game room in our barn that we will eventually be able to build.

The group we go down with changes a little each year depending on who is available, but it's always fun. With so many different people, it's easy to have a lot going on and people can find something fun to do at any given time. And this property with a large commons room and all the great outdoor spaces is perfect to handle so many families. We're thankful to have these people in our lives--friends who are like family are a fun thing to have.