Sunnys skies and happy faces!

Uncle Greg and "Uncle Brian" (Greg's good friend) drove out from Arizona last weekend for a quick visit. We had a great time and filled up our days with some fun outdoor activities...first a nice hike by Lake Hodges down to Felicita Creek...


Lots of beautiful wild flowers are blooming everywhere right now...




Mr Algae man himself...

This little critter poked his head up right behind me and collected about 10 pieces of green leaves in his hole before covering up his little house. This little guy has some serious teeth...he was sort of like a miniature beaver.

We all gathered at our place for the UCONN basketball game....



Jaedyn learned the phrase "GO HUSKIES!" pretty quickly...



UCONN won...wooo hooo!

We headed to one of our favorite pizza places and breweries......Pizza Port



And a pit stop to Solana Beach...









Thanks for visiting Greg and Brian...we can't wait for you to come out again. :)

Steaming Hot = Trip to La Jolla Cove

My parents and I took the kids and headed to the Children's beach at La Jolla Cove last week. We had a heat wave here for a couple of days so we took advantage of the toastie weather and landed our tootsies in that warm silky sand.

Yes, that's my Dad running like a kid from the waves.





I'm pretty sure my Dad was ready to pitch a tent right out on that rock. He was loving it.

Jack's Pond....a cute little find.

We went and staked out a new little spot to play and explore last week. It's a cute little place called Jack's Pond. There's a hiking trail which leads to the pond and then continues down a dirt path to a small river. There's also a cute building that looks like a barn with a playground nearby. Spring is in the air here which means my macro lens is also alive and well. :0)

The Kingdom Challenge

A few months ago our Church was given a large sum of money by an anonymous donor. Each of the home groups in the Church were then sent out with the challenge to take that money and use it to bless something or someone in our local community. Our home group chose a place called The Serenity House in Escondido, California. http://ncsh.org/about-us
After speaking with the director we landed ourselves in the Child Development Center branch of the facility. We took the money and purchased some much needed riding toys, a little playhouse, built a sandbox, and built a standing planter so the kids can plant their own garden. The pictures below are all the before shots...more to come in a few weeks when we return for more work. :)


Expert digger...Dana at your service.

Expert communications person and coordinator...Allison

Expert sawer....Rob

More expert sawers....Greg and Chad

Expert weeders....Dana and Nikki


The first war wound...


Fresh out of the oven, Emma...sleeping on the job!

Expert baby holder and house holder...Elizabeth