Stand Up Paddle Boarding

About 2 weeks ago we were able to meet up with my friend Ashley and her husband Matt. Ashley and I met when I first moved to Woodland, CA when I was 13. Her family moved out to Utah shortly thereafter, but we've always been the kind of friends who can get together after a long time and it is like there was no time gap at all! I love it! Anyway, the last time I saw them was at their wedding reception over a year ago, and at the time I was still pregnant with Danny.

We decided to meet up at the newly opened Cafe Rio in Manhattan Beach - it was fabulous!! For those of you who don't know about Cafe Rio, I suggest that you plan on making a trip as soon as possible! It is delicious! It was even better than we anticipated because the day we went was "Free Food Day" and they just asked for a small donation to go towards a charity cause. We were more than happy to donate and enjoyed a scrumptious meal.

(I stole this picture from Ashley's blog...Thanks!!)

We then headed out to Redondo Beach to try out stand up paddle boarding. I'd never seen it done before and was nervous that I would never be able to stand up on it...but when we got there, we found out we would be paddling in a harbor rather than in the waves, so needless to say, we all had a much easier time with it that we probably would have otherwise (let's be honest, I'm sure everyone would have been fine except for me). Here are some of our pictures:

Here is Kenneth waiting to get on his paddle board


Heading out!


Ashley & Matt


I love this kid!





Heading out!





My cute hubby


Danny & Matt hanging out


Danny felt left out of the action, so we decided to take him out as well!


He loved it!


While the two guys went out, Ashley and I were chatting on the pier when a man came up to us and asked if we would take pictures of him proposing to his girlfriend!! I had Danny, so it wouldn't really work for me to try to take photos, but Ashley was able to. It was so fun to see the happy couple! She was absolutely thrilled!

She couldn't stop looking at her ring!


After we returned the paddle boards, we headed to the beach for a little bit. The waves and views were beautiful!







What a great day!

Danny's New Hobbies

Danny has taken up some new hobbies lately, and I thought I would share them:

This was SOO funny! Danny is a little obsessed with the bathroom lately...He was trying to crawl into the bathtub, but got stuck half way. It was hilarious!

This was one of my favorites! I was doing dishes, and I turned around to see that Danny had crawled COMPLETELY inside the cupboard! I had the tiniest panic attack when I couldn't find him initially!

Danny was playing in his room by himself, and when I walked in, I found him like this. He crawled in through the bottom leg area, and was standing in it, just bouncing away!

This is another new hobby. No explanation needed...

Yup! We've got ourselves a drinker...of IBC root beer. Yum!

I love this picture and just had to throw it in! It represents things that are surely to come! We've been learning body parts, and because of the "belly button" he is always lifting up his shirt...and mom's and dad's as well! Yikes!

Well, I hope you enjoyed the photo log of Danny's new and wonderful(?) hobbies!

We're Moving!

Well, our home in Salt Lake still has not sold yet, and the combined mortgage and rent payments are killing us! So, since we don't have any control over a buyer for our house, we decided to look for a cheaper apartment. When we first looked for a place prior to coming down to CA we could only find 1 or 2 places that were month to month. We didn't want to sign any long-term contract because we would love to buy a house in CA as soon as our Utah home sells.

Anyway, I started my search for a new place, and asked our friends Jack & Amy how much their apartment is in the Redlands area. Jack & Amy are 1 of only 2 couples we knew prior to moving to CA. Jack is Kenneth's best friend from junior high & high school and they were roommates before and after their missions. It just so happens that they had an apartment open up right next door to them!! The rent was over $400 cheaper per month than our current place, it's month-to-month AND we pay for fewer utilities! How awesome is that! They said that there was a waiting list, but the owner happens to be LDS, and gives preference to 1) other LDS members (because she figures we're less trouble) and 2) if we know someone in the complex already. We scored on both ends!

We called the manager, and she pushed us to the top of the list with no questions asked! She is willing to give us keys a few weeks before our notice is up for our current apartment. This way we can move our stuff in, and rent won't actually start until we start sleeping there. Score once more!

We are so excited for the decreased rent, but more importantly, we are excited to have friends SO close! We have actually met another couple through Jack & Amy who also live in Redlands who enjoying climbing as well. It is going to be fabulous having some friends close by as I have had a little bit of a hard time living in CA. Things are definitely looking up on so many ends here! Also, Jack & Amy have a little boy named Logan who is a little over 2 months old, so Danny will have a little playmate! Yay! We are so stoked!

Big Bear Lake

I forgot to blog about our last camping trip, so I will repent now! We headed up on our last 3-day weekend. It was absolutely GORGEOUS!! Now, you might be thinking, "Hey, they said they went to the lake. They MUST have done some swimming, boating, jet-skiing, etc." If you thought that, you thought wrong! They had awesome climbing there, so obviously we were taking advantage of that (although I DO want to actually go to the lake sometime). We ended up camping & climbing with 2 families we met up there. They were the nicest people! Anyway, here are just a few pictures:

Do not let this picture fool you! This was extremely hard, and we both took our time getting up it!

Danny didn't like the feel of the dirt on his knees, so he crawled around with his bum up in the air the whole time!

The "feathery" tree as I called it. I thought it looked so awesome.

There were beautiful flowers everywhere!

At first I thought Danny was picking his nose...then I realized he was attempting to pick his nose with a stick!

A baby rattlesnake we saw in the bushes next to us...we seem to see one almost every time we go climbing!

The view at night was absolutely incredible!! This picture does little justice. I love having the opportunity to get away from society so often and enjoy all the beauties of God's creations.

A NaStY bug we found the next morning.

This climb was a little challenging for me, but was SUPER fun!

We saw this adorable little cottage in the middle of a field surrounded by the most beautiful trees. Loved it!

And last but not least...although we didn't go to the lake, we did at least get a picture! ;)

Lake Perris

Last weekend (it seems like we're always a week behind) we headed out to Lake Perris and Big Rock to...you guessed it - go rock-climbing! We also went to an Indian Museum and to the lake (for those of you who are tired of seeing only climbing photos). It was a blast! Big Rock is slab climbing, which is low angled climbing without any hand or feet holds. Kenneth hates climbing slab, but it is some of my favorite! It is the only kind of climbing that I might be able to say I am better at than Kenneth - which is saying something! This last weekend I led my first slab climb (which means I was the person initially climbing who had to put protection in along the way). We also were able to do a lot of climbing in a short amount of time (7 climbs in about 3 hours) which is something we rarely are able to do. Here are some pictures!

Big Rock

The view around Big Rock (some people wouldn't call this beautiful, but it has grown on me)

Initial climb of the day

It's all about trusting your feet!

This is the squirrel we were laughing at all afternoon...until he stole our cookies!

How big is Danny? SOO big!

The beautiful view of the lake

More of the scenery





And this is how Danny often ends up while hiking/walking to and from the climbing area...


After an afternoon of climbing, we headed to the Indian Museum at Lake Perris. I LOVE museums and am sad that we don't go more often...we'll have to make a better effort. I love history in general and learning about other cultures. Unfortunately we got there only a little before closing, so we got a brief overview, and will have to get a little more in-depth on our next visit.









After our quick preview of the Indian museum, we headed to Lake Perris itself for a quick dip in the lake. The weather and water were perfect! Danny was having the time of his life.





He's finally figured out how to put his face in the water!



One more climbing destination checked off our list!