Beach Brothers

Tonight, before praying for the boys before bed, I asked Paul what he was thankful for and he pointed at Micah. In return, Micah said, "I'm thankful for Paul." Ahhh. That is why this family vacation was so encouraging to me. I've put a LOT of pictures on this post, but really this is the summary photo (and much better than the rest!)

Paul did a lot of pointing this trip. Paul seemed interested in everything, just as Micah did when we went to San Diego when Micah was Paul's age.

Oceanography field trip -- Micah was interested in the tide pools' amazing diversity.
Both times that we visited the seals at La Jolla, Paul was all smiles. I think that was his highlight.
P.E. field trip -- Something in the San Diego playgrounds brought out climbing courage in Micah!

Thankfully, the boys slept well in the car and the hotels!

Botany field trip -- Who would have thought that Aunt Cheryl's home in Hollywood would be the place to learn where oranges come from! This was Anthony's birthday, too.

A genuine smile in Hollywood!

Performing Arts field trip --Touring Sony, where Aunt Cheryl works, was fun.
I even got to be Vanna White in front of the Wheel of Fortune board.
Who is enjoying the Santa Monica Pier Carousel the most?

Theology field trip (ever heard of such a thing?) -- Jon and Pam Lunde are such good friends and we were blessed to have a day with them . . .

while Micah had a blast with the big twins, Trevor and Connor.

What a great family! They were our next-door neighbors in Chicago. We all decided that life was significantly different than 5 years ago!

Even though we don't have a picture of them, we got to have a great evening with Uncle Robert and Aunt Nona. All four of us really enjoyed being with them!

Science field trip -- Even though we had days of rain in a city that expects sunshine, we had fun at the science museum.
History field trip -- Eating at the place where they filmed Top Gun qualifies as history, right!?
Economics field trip -- We also took a day trip to Mexico to appreciate U.S. infrastructure.

Zoology field trip -- Zhen Zhen is the baby Panda on the left and she is less than 6 months old. She's only been on exhibit for 2 weeks.

The Orangutans were both of the boys' favorite animals. This one was interested in Micah for awhile, but the swinging ones were the most entertaining. Can you find Micah and his Grandma Jo in this picture? I puts lots of miles on the stroller!

The camera took a math field trip (at Anthony's conference) while the boys and I had a gorgeous day riding a ferry and playing on beautiful sandy beaches on Coronado Island.
Spanish field trip -- Balboa Park was beautiful to walk around with our friend Michael who was at Northwestern with Anthony.

Under the direction of Paul, we went back to beautiful La Jolla with Michael.
Laundry conservation field trip -- Among the numerous things Paul taught himself this trip was the ability to build a sandcastle without dirtying one of his few pairs of pants!
Education field trip -- We had several great visits with our friend Ray Posey who taught at Trinity with Anthony.
I am rejuvenated after a great time with my boys. As Anthony has been saying, "We're good at vacationing!"