Grandma's 81st

We went to SoCal this weekend to celebrate my grandma's 81st birthday. The first full day we were there we hit up Santa Monica beach. The kids had a blast. I was so glad, because we were debating on whether or not to squeeze Disneyland into our trip, but this was so much less stressful and expensive. 

Speaking of non-stressful, this girl was content to just sit in a hole and scoop sand into a bucket...for practically the entire time!

Something's fishy.

 The kids were really excited to find loads of sand crabs.

 Manipulating sand is kind of therapeutic.

 ...so is getting buried under it.

 Carousel on the pier

The next day I was super excited for Grandma's party because my cousin Laura was going to be there and that meant my kids would also meet her kids, their second cousins. Technically Rose has already met her cousin Jackson, and as I was looking through old photos I realize they actually had quite a few encounters as babies (Laura and I lived in Utah at the same time). 

Rose obviously had no recollection of this, but she was really looking forward to meeting her cuz.

As soon as he arrived she immediately began offering suggestions for things to do. I think it was a little overwhelming. :)

She's definitely a fan of her younger-yet-bigger cousin.

Jasmine was also so happy to meet her beautiful cousin Julia!

Sevak used his super lung power to inflate a pool.

Cousin lovin'

I think the water really facilitated bonding between Simon and Jackson. :)

Then they all went after "Robot Grandpa" (Laura's dad [Jackson's grandpa])

This little lady was also loving the water!

Can't get any cuter!

Ladies in the kitchen

Daddy at the BBQ--as always

The boys also loved attacking big cousin Blake.

Hip Uncle Karl

Cool cousin Brian

Beautiful Laura and I

This time with the babies

Siblings

Mother and son

Huzzah! Happy birthday, Grandma!

The next morning I found Jasmine just chillin' on the recliner, keeping the Sabbath day holy with a good church book.

She also practiced piano with Aunt Megan

(Us sisters sang "The Lord is My Shepherd" in church.)

The kiddos were looking super cute in their Sunday best.

We were so sad to say goodbye early this morning! The long car ride is especially a bummer on the way back. :) But we stopped at Pea Soup Andersen's to lift our spirits:

 

We also have a nice big bowl of figs on the counter to remind us of Grandma and Grandpa's:

Speaking of freshly harvested produce, once we got home we picked a handful of green beans that had plumped up during our absence:

Rose's sunflower is looking good, too.

Already thinking of the next time we can go down to SoCal!