***Just experimenting with the new Blogger options! Huge pictures!
Day 4 started with POURING rain! Did I mention pouring rain? It was awesome! Anyone who knows me well knows that I was in heaven! I love rain! When we used to live in Roseville, CA and the rainy season would start, I would perk up and love life! I love hearing the rain as it falls on our home, as my family is safe inside. I love that we often play in the rain when the storm is absent of lightning. When I was a child and lived in Lake Charles, Louisiana, my siblings and I were invincible in the rain storms that would fill the gullies and streams all around our home. When I was little and lived in Houston, TX there were boomers. I mean booming thunder that would shake our entire home far into the night. I remember those storms, all over the country, like they were sweet companions to my childhood. I love rain! I love that my children love rain! I love that John will call me from work on those very few humid afternoons that we have here in Colorado, and say, "Laura, go outside and smell." I know exactly what I will be smelling...rain!
Back to Cali...we got up and headed to UCLA! We "toured" the campus, which consisted of driving around the school grounds, saying, "Look at that!" and "Look at those buildings!" It was wonderful exploring in the safety of our suburban! John took Brooke (because she was the child that was behaving her best during the drive-around), and they headed to the bookstore! The bookstore was stocked with every item possible that could be printed with UCLA!
This was the fuzzy phone picture that I posted on Facebook! I showed it to Madie (to get her "approval") and she mentioned how dad looked funny in the back of the car. I assured her no one would notice him, and we posted it anyway. Boy was I wrong! These are the comments that followed this posting within minutes on FB:
Allison: "Beautiful girls! If you told me it was an old pic of you and Julie, I'd believe you! Have fun!
Kim Milius: Have fun!
Angel: Have a great time. I love seeing pics of your beautiful family.
Gabrielle: Shoot I forgot to email u! Love Santa Barbara, have fun!
and here is where they begin to notice "the man in the back!"
Dori: Who's the dude sneakin' up on the girls in the back?
Kelley: I thought the guy in the back was paparazzi when I first looked!
Me: The funny guy in the back in John getting SOAKED at UCLA on Monday! Too funny!
Debbie: WOW! Where to start! I am soooo jealous! You'll have a blast. Do the pier and State Street for great shopping. Or go north 20 minutes to Carpinteria! Best beach, quiet and such a great surf town. If it's open you have to go to "The Spot" for lunch and "The Palms" for dinner. Hope you have a fabulous time! Text me and I'll tell you some more :) love y'all!
That was too funny! It made us laugh and got us GREAT tips on Santa Barbara that we used in the post for tomorrow!
Another thing that I am unusually obsessed with are watching planes fly over. I totally get this from my dad! If I had $100 for every air show my dad took us kids to growing up, I would have had a fully funded college fund! I love to stop and watch planes. My kids are obsessed too! We had fun watching them fly over us at the beach, on our Sunday drive after church and even while we ate at In-N-Out! It was awesome!
We sat in this next place forever. We watched the surf come in on the empty beach and plane after plane as they made their approach home!
Then my obsession with the planes turned to my girls.
They were hanging out the window pointing at this thing or that. They smiled, laughed and sometimes, just stared. I loved every minute of it! I thought that if I only picked one picture, it would not do the fun event justice, so you get to see every one, and every single one is saved for all posterity! The cutest part...Annie's ever changing faces. Stop and take each one in! She is seriously cute!
On our way from UCLA to Pepperdine, we took in some beautiful homes, gorgeous plants, and even pondered if...
...if pigs really could fly? It was a Californian pig after all! :)
Next we headed to Pepperdine! Brother Dale told us it was a beautiful school nestled up in the the beautiful hills overlooking the ocean, so we knew exactly what we were looking for!
It did not disappoint! It was a beautiful school! We wandered around the campus taking pictures, observing the student body and found some fun items at the bookstore to add to our college collection.
The streets were lined with beautiful trees...
And beautiful babies...(ok, just one baby, and the car was stopped so don't panic Nana!)
The buildings were nice, the students seemed friendly, according to A.J. the baseball program and facilities were amazing, but the views...
THEY WERE UNBELIEVABLE! The pictures don't even do them justice!
The baseball stadium...now my mother, Nana and Papa would watch A.J. play for weeks straight with this view!
Next we headed for...
...wait for it...
THE BEACH!
And thus began the "Annie Grace photo shoot at the beach!"
I love how even her shadow is playing along with her in this one! :)
Ellie and Tymber got in on the fun too!
Tymber sat here forever! Touching one piece of sand after the next, but amazingly, never putting them in her mouth!
I love these pictures of John and Tymber! He held her forever, and they just stared at the ocean and the kids in the waves.
Ellie is "buried alive" and smiling, and Annie is not buried, and faking her death!
This is where Easton and Brooke were the entire time! No closeup shots for these two. Just pure wave exercise!
Tym Tym starting to wind down for the day! It has been a full day! Rain, UCLA, lunch, Pepperdine, and now the beach!~
More of Annie playing with her shadow, and a Madie taking in the waves with Easton!
Ellie with a sand-smooth tummy!
Presenting..."BROOKE!"
I can't get the flash on this new camera to work at night, but here it is making it's debut in the bright afternoon!
It was a day full of memories, unaccompanied college tours, airplane watching and lots and lots of beach time!
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