San Clemente California

During the week of July 24th, we packed up our boys and headed for the west coast. To make the trip bearable, we stopped off in St. George for an evening at Grandma and Grandpa Gilliland's home. Early Saturday morning, we left in a caravan with all of my other siblings and their families, and after a stop in Barstow for lunch at the train station McDonald's, we arrived to our campsite mid-afternoon.

Once we made camp, it was off to the beach! Brevin and Spencer loved running up and down the shore, trying to escape from the tide. They would only venture out into the water when accompanied by Mom or Dad. Garrett did what he does best--slept the day away--but we did manage to put his feet in the ocean for the first time in his life. I'm not terribly sure what he thought about that. Jason and I tried out the boogie board, and I discovered that my teenage nephews (Braxton and Dallin) made skim-boarding look a whole lot easier than it really was. We also learned a painful lesson in inadequate sunblock coverage mixed with three days of nonstop sun exposure. But even nasty sunburns could not diminish our fun!

Back at camp, the children were well entertained with all of their cousins. Between games of badminton, tree climbing, and forming a stuffed animal club (complete with three clubhouses), the boys could do nothing but have a great time. As for the parents, we got to visit, be entertained by the children's antics, and eat wonderfully prepared meals (thanks to the meal planning and organizational efforts of my sister, Cheryl).

We had an awesome time and we have the pictures (and peeling sunburns) to prove it! You can see additional pictures here.

This post authored by Amber