Our Life: California

This year for Thanksgiving we decided to head out west to California to visit with Nick's side of the family. It was the first time in a few years that we didn't have to cook a turkey and that was awesome! It was nice to visit and catch up with everyone and spend some time with Nick's grandparents, they are so special to us. We mostly just hung out at the house but one day we did get to go to the Santa Monica Pier. The kids loved the big Ferris wheel, even Josh!

As you can see, Grandma Pat likes to go all out with buying stuff for the kids to play with while we are in town. They definitely had enough to keep them busy for the week.

One of first nights there we had s'mores. Maya was all about it and remembered doing it this past summer, but Josh was such a wimp about getting messy. He said he didn't want to cook his marshmallows.

Grandma Pat and Maya

Nick made some awesome creations with the K'nex he had as a kid. Here is Josh with the "munster" truck that daddy made. Maya got a butterfly but I didn't snap a picture of that one or the bulldozer that he made. They were so cool! Yes, my husband has many talents.

Maya and Josh with Aunt Jenna. The kids were both excited to see her and play.

This picture makes my heart so happy! I love the look on Papa's face. He loves our kids so much, and they love him.

Maya absolutely adores exploring on the beach. It is always a highlight of our trips to California. She found a bag of seashells, poked starfish and anemones, and ran all over the place looking for treasures. We were lucky enough to go on a day that was low tide so we could see all of the creatures that are normally covered with water.

Nick and I were worried that Josh would freak out about the sand on his feet again like he did last year, but he loved it! Funny what a year can do to change a kid.

After our day at the beach we all got dressed up and headed out to dinner in Malibu. I was really nervous about how the kids would behave after a long day, especially Josh because he didn't nap that day. We went to one of Gramma and Papa's favorite Italian restaurants called Guido's. They set us up in a private room because we had a good sized group, which was nice but it was also where they stored all of the wine bottles for the restaurant. I was a little anxious that my kids would destroy the place, but they did awesome! I was very impressed with them. It was a long dinner service but they didn't complain one time. Glad they did so well and we could enjoy ourselves!

Gramma Dotty and Maya - two sweet ladies

The next couple of days we spent time at Nick's dad's house. The kids played with the bubbles, did cartwheels and cheer leading on the grass, and just hung out.

Then it was out to Malibu one last time to see Gramma and Papa before heading back to Michigan.

Maya had too much fun with the binoculars!

The view from G & P's back deck! Amazing. I would love to wake up to this every morning.

The binocular pictures were just too cute.

Playing cars with Papa Tony

It was hard to say goodbye, as usual. I'm so thankful for email, phones, etc. to keep in touch. I hope one day we can move closer to all of these family members who mean so much to us.

Next we went to the Pier to go on a few rides.

I love this sweet face! I have to admit, my kids are awesome travelers. They both did great on the plane, and slept through the night every single night. They are the best!!