in between

We had an amazing summer with our girls! Yes, there were many fun vacations that we took. But, there were also all the days that fell in between. On the "in between" days, we tried our best to stay cool in the heat and had lots of fun doing it!!

When we moved in July, we moved even closer to the Todd Beamer park. And, as soon as it starts to warm up, "the water is on!"(as Audrey likes to scream)

can't get enough!
even Madison was getting after it!
there were many a days spent in Nani and Papa's pool
dirt can be oh, so much fun!!
at the end of the day, sharing ice cream
yumminess!!

and a little bit messy

or a popsicle in the backyard

boardwalk

While we were staying at the beach house, we took a trip to the Santa Cruz Boardwalk for a day full of fun!!

stay off the road while these three are driving!
the roller coaster was audrey's favorite...can you tell?

The boardwalk holds a special place in my heart. When I was a little girl, we used to vacation here every summer. The Giant Dipper was the very first roller coaster I rode and I can still remember being so scared yet loving it all at the same time.

riding the carousel is a MUST! seriously? i think my dad was the most excited! : )

holding on all by herself

big kid ride

audrey, our brave little girl, could not wait to ride the log jammer!

she went on it twice

can't leave the boardwalk without some dippin' dots

beach house

For the past six summers, we have rented a beach house for a week in Rio Del Mar. Besides our family of four, my parents and my sister and her family of four, all stayed at the beach house for the week. The beach was across the street from the house we stayed in. Needless to say, we were at the beach every day. Memories were made that will last a lifetime! audrey jumping the waves
boogie boarding for real!

the girls running on the beach with papa and nani

madison still needing a hand to walk, but her other hand was free to hold on to some seaweed

madison loves the beach! every day, she was covered in sand from head to toe!!

pausing for a quick pic

kaleb and audrey

pretty special to be able to spend every day with your cousins

almost every morning, we would take the kids out for a walk to find "treasures"

madison came too...usually being pushed in her little pink car

our days started on the beach with a walk and ended on the beach with a bonfire...and maybe a smore or two.

the first night we were there, papa treated us to ice cream

this girl loves her some ice cream

we also went to the santa cruz swap meet, stopping for doughnuts on the way

the four of us took a day trip to moss landing for lunch at the whole enchilada

"cheese"

on our way back to aptos, we stopped to see all the sea lions

we didn't spend all of our time on the beach. there were other activities like baking cookies with nani, riding our bikes to the cement boat, and playing games together. audrey enjoyed riding her bike with her cousins, especially when she got to wear her "princess dress" that we bought at the swap meet.

our last night at the beach house, before heading to dinner at manuel's for some delicious mexican food

island waterpark

As a Christmas gift from Nani and Papa, we were given season passes to Island Waterpark. This summer, we went almost every week and spent hours splashing in the water, sliding down the water slides, swimming in the wave pool, and cruising down the lazy river. Both of the girls absolutely LOVED it!!!

This was the one and only time Aaron went down the slide with Audrey. He got stuck half way, but most importantly, Audrey wanted to go all by herself anyways.

Audrey was super brave and went down the slides over and over again. She was really disappointed when we found out that she couldn't go down the "big slides"(height requirement of 42 inches, she's 38 inches), but we snuck her down a few times anyways. I know, way to be an example, right?!

When my sister and her little ones were in town, we took them out to the water park for the day. The cousins had so much fun playing with each other!

nani and madison

papa and audrey

madison and aunty jenn

ready for the lazy river