Beach Camping in San Clemente

May 1, 2017 by

I thought our first time camping with the twins (camping debacle of 2015) would also be our last, but either due to my memory fading, or sheer insanity, we decided to give it another shot during the girls’ Spring Break.

We should have waited until the last minute to tell the girls about our plans to go beach camping in San Clemente, because it’s all they would talk about for a week (an eternity, in their minds). Apparently, the only things they associate with camping are s’mores and campfires because those were the main topics we heard them discussing with each other before our excursion.

We decided to take it slow and reserved just one night at these cute vintage trailers in San Clemente. We had all the fun of being outdoors, by the beach, with a campfire, and watching the stars, while being able to have a convenient place to play, cook and sleep inside the trailer.

All in all, we had a fabulous time (I can say that because Meredith and I left after dinner to sleep at home and, consequently, thought camping was amazing!)

Greetings from the 1950s!

Amelia lounging.

I just loved these adorable trailers!

Someone had to be on Meredith duty 24/7– she loved to wander near the road, next to the fire, inside other people’s campsites and had the time of her life in the dirt! Chasing her around and keeping her from getting burned was definitely the most exhausting part of our camping trip.

The trailer was stocked with board games (not that the girls knew how to play Monopoly or Scrabble, but they pretended like they did!) and had basic kitchen staples and bedding. It was nice not to have to worry about packing some of those essentials. We basically packed clothes, food and showed up, no assembly required, which made the whole experience that much easier.

The girls alternated between climbing trees, playing games, and complaining they were bored. When it was time to go the next day, they started whining and screaming that they wanted to stay because they were having so much fun… go figure.

The trailers also had horseshoes, bean bag tossing, soccer and footballs, and bocce ball to play with the other campers. Our neighbors were all nice and commended us for attempting to camp with young kids. We didn’t really consider this real camping, especially since both of us grew up camping in actual mountains in Utah/Idaho, but this was a good entry point into enjoying the outdoors with the young kids without having to sleep on the ground or pack as much gear.

Meredith’s favorite was the bean bag toss.

Snack break.

There was a nice ocean breeze blowing the entire time we were there, which made perfect conditions for kite flying.

Amelia was proud to keep her kite flying for a few minutes.

Meredith annoyed the twins by running around and tangling herself in the kite string.

The natives were getting restless and threatening to mutiny, so we quickly switched gears and prepared an early dinner. Whether at home or camping, getting HANGRY at the 4-5 p.m. hour is a thing!

Wrong side, Meredith!

The girls wolfed down dinner and rushed straight to their beloved s’mores making.

The best part of camping was the beach, of course!   

This was only Samantha’s third day wearing her new glasses (more on that later), and she did a great job keeping them on and safe.

Besties.

Love you, sis.

At dusk, Meredith and I packed up and made the twenty minute drive home as planned, while Jake stayed overnight with the twins. They were texting me random selfies, unicorn and smiley face emoticons, and pictures of the stars well past their normal bedtime! Jake reported that after gazing at the constellations, texting me, general silliness and non-stop chatting, they finally conked out at 9 p.m. I said a prayer for Jake’s sanity and then slumbered peacefully in my own cozy bed!

Unfortunately, the trailer did not have blackout shades or their white noise machine to help them sleep in, so the girls were the first campers up at the crack of dawn (and probably woke up the entire place). By the time Meredith and I arrived back at the campground at 7:30 a.m., they had already made and eaten scrambled eggs and pancakes and were down at the beach playing! Having had a wonderful night’s sleep, Meredith and I were in good spirits, while Jake was sore and grumpy, and the twins alternated from wild crazies to sleep-deprived meltdown maniacs the rest of the morning.

Meredith was happy to be reunited with everyone.

Too much love.

One of the neighbors had a slack line set up and we all took turns balancing on it. It was a great workout!

 

We spent the rest of the morning at the uncrowded beach.

We must have spent at least an hour burying each other in the sand. The girls requested that I make them into dolphins, whales, and mermaids.

Seaweed hair for Amelia.

Beach frisbee.

For some reason, Meredith was having some sensory issues with the sand. Get me outta here!

Happy in Daddy’s arms.

Digging herself into a hole.

We watched surfers, build sand castles and saw pods of dolphins swimming, all while lounging on the sand.

SO many rocks to choose from.  

Watching the Surfliner.

The whole morning felt so unhurried and unscheduled and we all enjoyed just hanging out together with the beautiful beach to ourselves. It was the perfect “slow living” day!

We regret not having booked another night 1. because it felt like we had just barely gotten there and then had to pack up and 2. the girls were positively livid when we started packing up to leave. We had to drag both angry/sleep-deprived girls into the car and rushed them straight into baths and bed for a long nap when we got home. It was definitely the highlight of their Spring Break and they were so excited to tell all their classmates and their teachers about beach camping when they returned. So far, our camping trajectory is on its way up from the last time, so by next time, I may even be brave enough to stay overnight with Meredith!

Our second camping experience with the girls was much more of a success than the last time, but looking back, some things never change… hangry meltdowns, sleep-deprivation and gorging on s’mores, to name a few!

 

Taco Seasoning

Taco Seasoning

 

Lots of love,

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Easter 2017

April 27, 2017 by

Newborn Easter bunnies 2013:

Easter toddlers 2014:

Easter trouble-makers 2015:

Our new bunny addition 2016:

2017: Three Easter “bunny fairies,” as the girls called themselves:

Making fun treats is the girls’ favorite part of any holiday, and we spent the week before scouring my food magazines and Pinterest for cute ideas. The girls decided upon scrambled egg bunnies and bunny pancakes for breakfast:

The Easter bunny made it a little harder on the girls this year and didn’t leave their Easter baskets in plain sight. Instead, they followed clues, which took them around the house on a scavenger hunt, until they finally discovered their baskets in their car seats. The Easter Bunny needs to make a mental note to make the clues harder next year, as the girls were able to solve the clues way too easily (maybe rhymes next time?!)

Upon picking them up from their Primary class, Jake noticed their teacher had given each of the girls a bag of jelly beans, and not an individually sized one… an entire bag! The girls had already gobbled up so many and had a tummy ache, so they were fine when he confiscated the bag.

The girls received many compliments on their fairy crowns.

The girls picked out their color of dresses this year, and with their crowns, remarked that they were “beautiful fairies!” I still think 2015 may win for most adorable Easter outfits, though, but maybe it was just the fact that they were so itty bitty! Or the espadrilles!

We had our big Easter feast at lunch, so that we’d have the rest of the day free to relax and do an egg hunt. I was nervous about how the herbed leg of lamb would turn out and didn’t want to ruin it, but it turned out to be delicious, (sigh of relief) and the girls thought it tasted like steak. An Easter miracle! The lemon orzo with asparagus and honey glazed carrots were a hit; not so much for the creamy spring peas with bacon and mint and roasted parsnips. We also attempted to make some pillsbury rolls in the shape of bunnies, which looked more like snails, but the girls didn’t mind.

After naps, the Easter bunny had hidden some eggs out on the trail for the girls to find (not that they needed more candy, but that was the only way to bribe them back into their itchy Easter dresses!)

We passed by Nate on our way, who exclaimed, “I like your flower dresses. I’m wearing Converse.” Observations from a toddler.

Meredith was happy to participate this year and caught on quickly! She was all over the place hunting eggs.

Last year, she was stuck in a basket.

Or was tortured being smothered by kisses… no escape!

She had way more fun this year!

Samantha, the purple fairy, volunteered to be Meredith’s helper and searched for harder to find eggs along the trail after filling her own basket.

Amelia, the blue fairy, was all about finding the biggest eggs, which she quickly realized had either coins, or the more desirable caramel eggs.

Meredith didn’t care so much about what was in the eggs, as finding it fascinating that she could pick them up off the ground, take them apart, and put them in her basket.

Strategizing.

The girls had participated in a few egg hunts around town and at preschool at this point, and although we had done a “Resurrection egg” lesson during one FHE and talked about the non-bunny side of Easter throughout the month, I wasn’t really sure how much had sunk in, until at lunch, Samantha randomly talked about how we were celebrating the fact that Jesus died, but came alive again on the third day. “Yeah!” echoed Amelia. Thanks, Primary teachers!

Samantha and her cronies put a stop to the tyranny, staging a silent protest against a full-length dress picture. Oh well.

SO serious.

We didn’t plan this in advance, but it’s now a tradition to have an annual Easter Meredith Being Tortured Picture:

2016: Samantha and Amelia were even on identical sides last year!

See ya!

Lots of love,

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Never-ending Easter

April 26, 2017 by

April has been one big Easter extravaganza and I’m pretty sure the twins think holidays are all meant to be a month long. Between preschool crafts, Easter egg hunts everywhere we turned, learning about the Easter story at church, and don’t even get me started on the candy (when did Easter become Halloween?), the girls have yet to understand the concept of Easter actually being on a single day. Even days after the real Easter, they were asking about when the next egg hunt would be. Next year, we will do a better job of educating them and setting expectations!

At the beginning of April, the twins had their spring pictures taken at preschool and they thought it was exciting to wear their special Easter dresses to school. All the kids looked adorable in their Sunday best!

Amelia, April 2017:

Samantha, April 2017:

Miss Debbie said we could bring in younger siblings for a photo op if we wanted to, so Meredith joined in at the end of the morning for a sibling pic. They are such girlie girls and all three twirled around in their dresses all morning.

Meredith adores visiting the preschool and had the playground to herself while we waited for class to end.

Another day, I helped out in Amelia’s classroom with some Easter projects. The kids are always super motivated to “be good” so that Miss Becky will call on them to be next to work on projects with me. We made pictures with “Easter eggs” made out of potatoes and stamps made out of Peeps, as well as decorated their Easter bags for their preschool hunt at the end of the week.

Amelia always acts embarrassed when I am there, but I know she likes it!

Spring crafts and cooking fun! The girls especially enjoyed dyeing eggs at preschool (I was secretly happy I did not have to do that at home this year!) and baking/decorating a giant cookie Easter egg with frosting and fruit at home.

Meredith attended her first spring celebration up at our local park and thought sitting on a giant furry bunny was sorta fun. Amelia flat out refused to be in the picture, but Samantha insisted going with Meredith so that she “wouldn’t be lonely.”

Snuggles!

Flashback to 2015: so tiny and cute!

Last year with Daddy (Meredith stayed at home):

One more try to get Amelia in for a torture pic:

I don’t know how this qualifies as a “hunt,” but at least when we do ours at our house, the girls have to put in a little bit of effort.

I’m pretty sure the girls ignored whatever the egg limit per person was.

Meredith was feeling too timid to ride the ponies, even after Samantha showed her the ropes.

Amelia riding the pony, 2015:

Amanda and the girls show off their face paint.

Being silly with their faces painted, last year:

Amelia was acting cranky that day, but I couldn’t really take anything she cried about seriously because of her face paint! I would just burst out laughing.

Another fun cooking project the girls helped with was making some yummy coconut and chocolate “nests.” The girls have really improved their culinary skills as of late, and it’s getting to actually be fun to have them help out, instead of just a huge hassle. We didn’t get around to half of the crafts and cooking projects we wanted to for Easter, but

Lots of love,

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Spring Strawberry Picking at South Coast Farms

April 9, 2017 by

Our experience the past month and a half of Open Houses and constant showings has taught us a lot about simplifying meal prep so that we can eat something healthy (or just anything edible, really) without spending a huge amount of time cleaning up, keeping the house in show-condition and getting out of the house quickly with the kids and dog in tow, sometimes for just a quick walk around the block, and others for three-hour chunks of time. We are beginning to become experts!

We are back in escrow again, and hopefully this buyer will work out, but if nothing else, one of the silver linings has been that we’ve had the opportunity to spend a huge amount of family time together the past month. Whereas normally we might have filled our weekends by dividing and conquering, splitting up the kids and doing errands, or working on projects at home, we’ve been forced to plan on being out of the house together. ALL. THE. TIME.

Sunday Open Houses have been the easiest, since Jake can take the twins to church, while I stay home with Meredith during her nap and clean the house/get everything ready. As soon as he gets home, we do a quick change out of church clothes, go out for a picnic and then fill the rest of the time with other activities, or in some cases, drive around, hoping the kids fall asleep for their nap!

One of our Open House outings entailed going strawberry picking at South Coast Farms in San Juan Capistrano. If all else fails, the girls can definitely fall back on a career in farm work as they loved being day laborers for the morning. Having worked on his brother-in-law’s farms in Washington every summer growing up as a teen, Jake had a lot to tell the girls about the farm equipment and crops, which was all fascinating to these city girls.

Meredith didn’t understand why she was picking her own lunch, instead of it being handed to her on a golden platter.

The girls have perfected the “twist and snap” method of strawberry picking and were very careful about only picking the brightest, juiciest ones.

Samantha inspects a strawberry with a small amount of green to decide whether or not it will make the cut.

Two years ago, we went strawberry picking with a bunch of friends at Tanaka and had a blast there as well. I remember thinking back then how grown up the girls seemed at the time, but looking back, I can’t believe how much of little babies they and all their friends were!

Samantha’s strawberry face!

Last year, we tried out South Coast Farms with the Smith Family. The girls look so little here too, and Meredith was just a tiny babe who spent the afternoon snoozing in the Ergo.

Back to 2017, the girls were great about helping Meredith find strawberries for her basket. She gave up on the whole thing after about five minutes and tried to escape through the rows of strawberries.

  

Farmer Samantha.

Farmer Amelia.

How do you work this thing?

After all that hard work in the sun, the girls were famished and wolfed down lunch at Ellie’s Table. Meredith stole my gluten-free quiche and savored every bite.

Since there were still potential buyers at our house, we made one more stop at Casper’s Wilderness Park. Meredith hung out at the playground and chased squirrels with her buddy, Bandit, while the twins splashed and threw rocks into the stream.  Another successful family outing!

Lots of love,

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