Ice blocking

The boys have gone ice blocking with the youth at church a bunch of times, and they thought the little kids would like it too. So one day in February, we picked up a few 10 lb blocks of ice at the grocery store and headed over to the park. All you need is a block of ice ($1.99), a towel to sit on, and a grassy hill. It's like California sledding you can do in shorts!

You go fast! I even went down once, but I can't find the pics. I don't like to go too fast, so I kept one foot on the ground the whole time to slow myself down. My boys think I'm crazy.

Great balance, Levi!

 Brennan looks so much like little kid Dave in this picture!

If the towel gets in the way, the ice stops but you keep going. 

They took turns giving each other boosts.

This was during the rainy season, so the ground was soggy. Warning: clothes and towels may get muddy.

This next bunch of pictures are from a day we went during spring break. The kids also went once while Dave and I were in Hawaii. I guess they really like ice blocking! 

 We invited cousins to join us, and then we headed over to the pool across the street.

This is my favorite ice blocking picture!

 So fun!

They're always looks for things to climb. This was before the park ranger came and told them to get down. Good times.

This was a hot day, and it felt really nice in the shade of a tree. I taught the kids to blow grass and made clover necklaces. It was so relaxing I didn't feel like leaving to go to the pool. The kids had to drag me away.

My birthday

I turned 41 in April. For breakfast I made malasadas (which are like little fried donut holes - Ellen and Jason introduced us to them in Hawaii), and then I wanted to go somewhere but didn't know where. It was spring break, so the kids were home. I've always wanted to drive out to see the famous wildflowers near our town, so we ended up doing that. I think we were pretty much at the tail end of the flower season, but we did manage to find some.

 I love this picture of my cute kids!

Spencer and Brennan really wanted to hike up to the top of those hills, which seemed close to them. They ended up running most the way, but it still took them longer than they expected.

The rest of us stayed and watched all the cows, who were all watching us. Cows are funny.

It was a fun little outing. We'll have to go there a little earlier in the year next time!

Santa Margarita Hike

We went on a hike at Santa Margarita Lake the day before Easter. We were going to go there a month earlier, but it was raining too hard. We really wanted to do it while there was still lots of water in the lake from our wet winter and before it got too hot. This place gets way too hot in the summer for hiking. This was perfect hiking weather!

We've done this hike a couple times before, but it had been awhile and the little kids didn't remember it. It's hilly but not too steep and has great views of the lake throughout the hike.

It also has lots of big boulders to climb.

The lake was fuller than we remember seeing. The ranger said it's even spilling over the dam. What a beautiful sight! We are so thankful for all the rain we received this year!!

More rain means more wildflowers, too.

Lots of green grass! 

Snack break.

No swimming allowed in the lake (it's the water source for SLO), but the kids had fun skipping rocks.

This was such a beautiful place to stop and rest. It was green and lush and had pretty lighting. I took a bunch of pictures.

 You can tell the water isn't usually this high!

The sun was setting as we started headed back. I loved the shadows on the lake with the lit up trails from the birds floating along. I'm usually the one holding us up as I take pictures. I love nature. 

It was a fun hike!