A Rincon Thanksgiving

Almost caught up, kind of.  I give you: Thanksgiving week.

Friday we headed up to Rincon as soon as I picked up the boys from school.  We (Brian) had secured a spot on Thursday morning so we couldn't wait to get up there friday and let vacation week begin. 

Glow sticks by the fire with my boys.  No place I'd rather be.

Our first morning we wasted no time getting down to the beach.  I think all the boys went down before breakfast while I cooked.

Saturday was our last soccer game so we had to drive back mid day for that, but we had the morning and all afternoon to enjoy perfect beach weather.

Watching our first sunset of the week together - my absolute favorite!

Sometimes the smiles these boys give me make me think we need some smiling lessons. Ha.

I just can't do these sunsets justice.

I wish I could describe how amazing the weather and surf were the early part of the week.  Warm but not hot, the ocean temp was mild, no wetsuit needed.  And the waves were barely visible, smooth as glass.  Which if you are a novice paddle boarder like me are the best conditions you could wish for.  Let's just say I usually can't even launch myself and need Brian's help - Saturday through Tuesday I got to go out 2-3 times per day, could launch myself and felt like I was out there for hours!

At one point a dolphin came up so close to my board I could have touched it.  It actually scared the crap out of me since I didn't see it coming, but once I got used to them I enjoyed paddling next to pods of dolphins everyday.  Honestly thinking back on it its like a dream now.

Successful launch ; )  Do you see how flat it is?  I have never seen it like this, it was like a present just for me!

We were so thankful for the nice weather because we cannot keep these boys out of the ocean.

One of Brian's paddle board outings, even he enjoyed going out several times each day.

One day we headed up to Carpinteria to shop and walk around and of course treat ourselves to coffee and acai bowls at Lucky Llama Coffee (FAVE!).  While we were there we stopped at the used book store where you can buy children's book by the inch - they charge 1$ per inch; we stocked up on five or six new books for the remainder of our trip including an old Where's Waldo - it was a huge hit.  

Waldo + wine = winning combo

We had some friends visit on a few different days which always makes a day at the beach even better.

Angelina, Lincoln, Scott and Owen hitting the waves.

Owen, Scott and Bennett soaking up the sun like a bunch of teenagers (they had been in the ocean for hours and were freezing...best way to warm up!)

This picture cracks me up!

Getting buried is a favorite pass time.

They look like Mt. Rushmore heads in this one. Ha.

Later the boys decided it was time for a surf lesson...on the giant paddle board of course

They took turns standing with Daddy in the tiny surf.

It was just one of those moments...ya know?!

No hands

That face!  My heart!!!

Scott's turn...love the jump

The days ran almost all ran together.  Coffee, breakfast, beach runs, paddle boarding, surf lessons, sand castles, sunsets, books, card games, dinner, wine....there just isn't a better way to spend the week if you ask me.

I picked up a game called 'Swish' last year.  It was a little much for us then but this trip Scott got really into it.  Fun and educational, I'd call that a win.  We played it many evenings.

Wednesday we headed out to the dessert to have Thanksgiving with Grandma, Gpa, Aunt Lynne and Uncle Taber.  We were excited to have more perfect weather and to be staying in a complex with a pool.  My little swimmers couldn't wait to get in (they started pestering us to second we parked the car!)

We had a wonderful couple of days with good food and good company!

Campbell party of 4

Late on Thursday Brian and I headed back to the beach for the weekend while the boys stayed on and had a weekend with the grandparents and great aunt and uncle!  We had such a great time knowing they were having fun, thanks Grandma and Gpa.

The second weekend was a little cooler but it worked out perfectly since it was just the two of us.  We went for long beach walks, watched the sunset and even made it into town for a little Christmas shopping.

Since it was Brian's birthday weekend we had big plans to go out to dinner one night, but when it came down to it we decided we'd rather eat something simple and enjoy one last sunset beach walk.  It was pretty perfect.

Fire on our last night

It was truly the best vacation week we have had in a long time!  I think we all left feeling refreshed and relaxed, nothing better to head into December well rested!

Until next time Rincon...

Friendship feast

The week leading up to Thanksgiving was full of Harvest fun at the kids' schools (I'm writing this a few weeks later so I can say that now.  During that week I'm pretty sure it felt like Thanksgiving hell).

The kindergarteners worked hard all week making a friendship feast for the parents.  They learned a song and made native american outfits and chopped and cooked up some stone soup and bread, complete with homemade butter (seen in the first picture, 19 kindergarteners shaking bottles of cream and marbles - fun, and somewhere in you tube land there is a video of me making butter while doing a little dance, thanks fellow kinder parents! haha).

Singing their song

Cutest ever in his native costume

Friday the whole school had a harvest festival where they all participated in group activities together (the littles matched up with their big buddies from upper grades).  We did a cardboard challenge, learned about recycling and did a drum circle.

It was really fun, but by noon our kinder were spent so we ditched the feast and headed to whole foods for some popsicles with our friends.  A much better choice for us that day!

Their friendship cracks me up:

After whole foods we picked up Owen from picnic pals and walked into this:

Best seat in the house - Love our Ms. Jennifer!!!

It was a great way to end our friday and start our vacation week!!!

End of soccer party...

To say we had a great soccer season would be a huge understatement.  It was phenomenal.  We have tried other activities in the past that have all been hit or miss.  Scott really wanted something more competitive ("I want to be on a real team and verse another team.").  Sometimes he can be a little timid and a lot of the time he really doesn't like attention.  He can also be unsure when the expectations of him aren't crystal clear.  All this made me a bit nervous about committing to a team for a whole "season".  

Thankfully we had some amazing coaches who really helped each of the boys shine.  Scott took direction well and learned so much from each of them.  He nearly burst with pride when they pointed out to his teammates how good his throw ins were and he was frequently chosen for this job.  He learned to be more aggressive when needed and really started to hustle in games instead of run at the back of the pack.

Most importantly he looked forward to soccer each week and had so much fun!  Although its nice to have our Saturdays back, I'm a little sad that its over.

After the second to last game (the last was the weekend before Thanksgiving and everyone was headed out of town) we had a little soccer party at a local pizza place.  The boys got to play and hang out and eat pizza and then the coaches gave them each a trophy and said something nice about each of them.

The coaches said Scott was our most improved player and they appreciated his inquisitiveness and willingness to learn.  He accepted his trophy proudly in front of all his friends and their parents (kind of a big deal for him to have that many people looking at him).  It will go down as one of those proud parenting moments - there is nothing like seeing your kid proud of themselves!!!

Such a proud guy:

Here's to many more adventures in sports!

A visit from some special friends...

Back in November our friends came to visit from France (although its hard to keep up with them since they seemed to have lived all over Europe in the last few years).  We had never met their kids so it was extra special and fun that the kids all got to meet and play together.  They had an absolute ball!

Owen still just loves him a baby so he was smitten with baby Elsa - I was too ; )

Silly boys

Scooter gang headed for the park

The dads.  Friends since the college days.  Wish we all got to see each other more often - and next time this little reunion needs to be with the Johnsons not separately, right Leilani?!?

Chumash field trip

Before Thanksgiving Scott's kindergarten class went on a pretty awesome field trip to Malibu Creek State Park.  We spent the day with "tracker Rob" and learned all about the native chumash people.

We started the morning with a smudging ceremony and some songs with clapper sticks.

The kids learned a game that used to be played where you throw rocks or nuts like dice.  There is a song that goes with it that Scott taught Owen and the two of them haven't stopped singing since.

We ground acorns to make flour and sampled some native foods: yucca, cactus, chia, elderberry, pine nuts and horehound.

They also got to go hunting and make seashell necklaces.

The kids ground down rocks to make paint and then painted their faces.

Tracker Rob told some great animal stories and finally the kids all got to make their own clapper sticks.

It was definitely one of the coolest field trips I've ever been on.  Scott still talks about this day.  So happy that our school is able to do such interesting field trips!

Mimi's Birthday

Nearly a month ago Mimi turned 60.  We celebrated with a  little family get together at our house!

Owen picked out some cinderella and minnie mouse plates and of course we decided on some silly string for a family silly string fight.

Don't know if you can see Owen's face in the background but he was NOT a fan of the silly stringing.

Mimi with all the grand babes.

It was a fun night and a great way to celebrate Mimi!!!

More friends

Started this post ages ago, just another fun phone dump of the boys with their pals. 

Owen taking Kenz for a spin in his race car:

Owen and Ryder doing the looking for dracula song at circle time at school.

Buddies in the morning.  This whole crew used to be on time/lateish to school last year, well now we all drop off the older siblings at kindergarten and carpool over to preschool.  We have our own little breakfast club since we all usually arrive 20-30 minutes early!

Love lazy afternoons hanging out at preschool with our friends and sharing snacks.

A recent visit to gull wings museum with Parker and Eden

Blasting off into outer space:

Owen and Kenzie in the clay room:

I think I have one clay project from Scott, it was like pulling teeth to get them to go last year.  But this year it has become one of Owen's favorite things to do

The cutest friends

Carpools galore.  We are so lucky to go to school with so many friends.  There is always someone to drive kids and pick up or drop off, many times at the last minute via group text "hey, who can bring my kid home today?" Someone always can!

This particular day I took these three to kill some time at whole foods, complete with a popsicle treat!

And its always nice taking the bigs to pick up the littles at preschool, its like coming home

Littles at preschool:

The magical Jen Mundy reading stories to picnic pallers:

And just because he's the silliest: