4th of July

We started celebrating the 4th early on Sunday when we got out the sparklers for the kids. It was the first time they had played with them, and they loved it.

Then Wednesday we went down to San Diego for a few days. We stopped at the Mormon Battalion historical site first. The boys loved it. They especially loved panning for gold.

 There was a tower with binoculars that you could look out too. Ethan took this picture of us at the top. 

After we were done there we drove over to our hotel and realized that it was only a few blocks away. We were right next to old town, so after we settled in, we walked from our hotel to check stuff out. There was a lot of fun little shops to look through, but the boys weren't too interested. Instead they wanted to climb everything in sight! It cracked me up to watch them "help" each other up these big beams!

Then they found a great tree to climb.

After getting some dinner, we walked around some more shops and got a tip of where we could see some fireworks. So we hiked up a nearby hill and were lined up to see the fireworks at Seaworld when we heard loud booms to our left that lit up the sky. We instantly though there was a much better show that we were missing, so we headed that direction. By the time we got to where we could see what was going on, all that was left was smoke. All the fireworks from the bay went off all at the same time. Big mistake! Luckily we could still see the other fireworks from our new location.

The next day we went to the beach. It had been a while since we had been, so the boys were so excited! Even though it was cold the boys were in heaven. I had got them some new beach tools for digging, and they spent the first hour digging up the whole beach while Dad went out and tested out the new boogie board.

Porter found an enormous pile of seaweed. He really wanted to throw it at somebody, but it was so heavy that he could barely drag it.

Ethan wanted to be buried in the sand like a "mermaid man". LOL. He was happy...

 ...until Dad got him with some seaweed!

After we were done with Ethan, Porter wanted a turn. He had been rolling in the sand all day, and it was caked on his chest. It made him look like he had chest hair. Rob and I couldn't stop laughing!

Rob got the boys on the boogie board and they loved it until they got tumbled in a wave and were done.

 Ethan loved jumping the waves with Rob. They were so cute out there together.

 Lincoln didn't care for getting in the water. He spent most of the day hanging out with me watching his big brothers.

Bryson spent the day sleeping in a little tent we bought for him. I'm so glad we brought it. With the wind and cold, he would have been miserable without it!

After we were done at the beach, we went back to the hotel and swam in the pool some more, and then settled in for the night.

Friday we stopped at the San Diego temple on our way home. A sweet little man on his way in offered to take our picture for us. I love how it turned out.

I love quick little getaways to recharge!