CA vacay...full of mishaps and adventure

So another trip to Encinitas, CA for days of fun in the sand, surf and sun. But first we had to prepare. Piles of laundry folded...check.

I had my little laundry helper to give me moral support...

The car packed to the max. Off we go!

After hours on the road, our little peanut needed to use the bathroom. Luckily we were next to the only exit in sight, forty-five minutes before Vegas.

And then, the unimaginable. The car broke down. The serpintine belt snapped in two...Thus began our adventure of sitting for nine! (9) hours at the gas station waiting for it to get fixed (that in itself is a very amusing story, but I'll save that for a later date). And just so you know, the kids were AWESOME! But after hours and hours we all had had enough of sitting in a miniscule room entertaining one another. MASH was our favorite, and we finished our little french book that I can't now remember the name of. Thank you helpful strangers, Mike and Ben! And also my mom and dad who were hours behind us on the road, but then caught up with us and stayed for 5 hours making sure we were okay. The joys of road trips!

Poor Sophie!
Almost 24 hours after leaving UT, we finally arrived!

Our happy Lola, who was an absolute angel, but got her first eye infection and cold on the trip which required the doctor to phone in a prescription.

The cousins did sleepovers every night.

Lucy and Maria were inseparable.

Sophie had the first sighting of spiny starfish, which we had never seen at Moonlight beach before.

Spencer the mermaid.

Grace had a surfing lesson.

Coyote Cantina in Old Town. This picture was right before we left for the parking lot (without Lucy). I didn't realize she was missing for about 15 minutes, and then I bolted back to the restaurant looking for her. She was there (whew!) with the restaurant manager, where she promptly burst into tears saying, "Mommy, you left me!" Yes, I did. And I felt like the worst Mama ever!

Mormon Battalion Center with the cousins

And our poor Gracie fractured her foot in a terrible kite flying accident in La Jolla. 

Her crutches put a little damper on her 'fun in the sun vacation', but she was a very good sport and tried to be content reading on the beach. Here's what she read: 1) Howl's Moving Castle 2) The Limit 3) The Grimm Legacy 4) Turtle in Paradise 5) Moon Over Manifest 6) Nerds: Cheerleaders of Doom. Her favorites were The Grimm Legacy and Turtle in Paradise.

Spencer's poor back after he fried it a few days before...but let me state for the record I DID harass him to put sunscreen on, which he refused. Don't think he'll do that again. And hopefully he also won't have his previous nights dinner of Sour Cream and Onion Chips and four glasses of Chocolate Milk (he woke up that night vomiting it away). Hopefully lesson learned. Whew. What a trip. Next year will hopefully be less exciting! Until then.