4th of July

We have been lucky enough to go to Imperial Beach, CA for the 4th of July for 6 or 7 years now. We went for a couple of years with Andy and Suzette, then we turned it into a McBride Family Reunion and we have all gone for several years. We all love it and can't imagine not doing it. We go to Coronado Island on the 4th and play and eat until they shoot fireworks over the bay.

These are the condos where we stay in Imperial Beach. It is the last little city below San Diego - right before you get to Mexico. It is the perfect place. Right on the beach - and it has a swimming pool and hot tub!

The cousins posing on the golf course before the fireworks

We drove up to Newport and took the kids to Crab Cooker. Brad's family used to go there when he was little and he introduced it to me when we got married. It has always been one of our favorites. This is Ryan enjoying a little clam chowder with bread.

We went over to the Newport Temple when we were done. We got to go through it before it was dedicated. It is so beautiful.

The tradition of getting buried in the sand!

Suzette was nice enough to watch Ryan one morning while we took the older kids to the San Diego to do baptisms. Since Danny just turned 12 in March it was his first time. It was neat to do it as a family.

Every year Brad and Sue build elaborate sand castles or animals. This year it was this cute octopus!

I love this picture of Brad and Ryan!

Danny

Ryan really got into boogie boarding this year. He loved it!

Waiting to get into the Spaghetti Factory in San Diego

The whole week at the beach there was a lot of rip tide. On our last day there, the life guards had to rescue a big group of about 30 people - and our oldest 3 and Diana were among them. They weren't about to drown or anything, but the rip tide pulled them out past the waves and it was really hard to get in. The whole thing was pretty dramatic! It was really nice to have a family vacation before Taylor leaves in September. It's such a great tradition!

We Got Some "Autumn" for "Fall Break"

Last week was Fall Break.  Andy and Suzette were kind enough to let us use their condo in Park City, so we decided to drive up on Wednesday and come back Sunday.  Alex had already been invited to go with Taft's family to Rocky Point so we reluctantly went without him.  We were excited to see Emily and spend some time in some cooler temperatures.  

The first thing we did was pick up Emily and go to eat at the Brick Oven.  Brad and I hadn't been there since our early married days.  Then we went to the Bean Museum at BYU.  We had a fun time looking at all the animals.  

When we got back from our trip, I plugged my camera in and all my pictures were erased.  I don't know what in the heck happened, but I was just absolutely sick about it.  My good husband stepped in to save the day.  We bought a computer program that was able to save all these wonderful pics and more.  Thank you so much honey!  You are a lifesaver!

We dropped Taylor off at BYU with Emily to spend some time and on the way back to Park City we stopped at Thanksgiving Point at a Fall festival called Cornbelly's.  Danny and Ryan had such a great time.  We stayed for a long time.  We went through a corn maze that was in the shape of David Archuleta and then the boys played on the other stuff til they were good and tired.

We decided to play for awhile at Sugarhouse Park in Salt Lake while we waited for Emily and Taylor to meet up with us.  Taylor spent a night with Emily and went to school with her.

There was duck poop everywhere by the pond, so Ryan is scraping out Danny's shoes.

On Saturday, our last day, we decided to drive through the Fall landscape.  We were a little late in the year, but it was still beautiful.  We ate at Dairy Keene in Heber for the 2nd time - the fam loves it!  Then we drove up to Cascade Springs.  It has a special place in our heart because that is where Brad tried to propose to me, but it was closed up for the Winter.  It is beautiful there and it was a perfect day.

Isn't this a great picture?

We were sure missing Alex.  It always feels better 

when the whole family is together

What a great end to a great trip!