Carlsbad Day 3

 Today we went to the beach - which was really our main activity for the day. Thankfully, the beach is not far, so we were able to stay for a while.

Me at the beach.

Corey the gimp and Dad at the beach.

One of the annoying seagulls that wanted our food.

Hmm...Dad looks a little suspicious...

Aha! Stealing chocolate chip cookies, are we?

One of our traditions at the beach is to build a sand castle and attempt to protect it from the waves. Mom's building the castle, while Hope and I are building the defenses.

Dad decided to read.

"What was that? You want me to state the nominative declension endings for Hebrew nouns?"

Hope got some new hair.

Protect the defenses!

 Corey is trying to take down the castle using the force...I think he's losing.

The castle.

Mom couldn't resist the urge to destroy the castle.

Castle crusher!

 4 on the wall!

After we got back from the beach, we took advantage of the timeshare's shuffleboard to play some....wait for it...shuffleboard!

Caleb had to run quite a ways to get enough speed on the puck.

Hope did too, but didn't need quite as long a runway.

Corey didn't run at all!

Mom shuffling.

After shuffleboard, we did the "Sudoku Challenge", which was solving a really easy Sudoku puzzle. The reward is free pizza and bingo tomorrow. Since it took only about 5 minutes to finish the Sudoku puzzle, it's my impression that it was totally worth it for the money we'll save for dinner tomorrow (yes, we're cheap)!

And there you have it! That is the sum total of our pictures for the day. On the agenda for tomorrow? You can't know - you'll find out tomorrow!

Until then,

Casey

Carlsbad Day 2

 Today we had a nice, relaxing day. We did not do much, but we had a great time!

This morning we woke up, sat at the table, and ate home-made french toast - yum! After our feast we relaxed for a while until we left to eat lunch at Panera (which was generously paid for by a gift from a church family). After a nice big lunch, we left to see Frozen in theaters - which was also paid for by Christmas gift cards (nice, isn't it?) Frozen was fun and enjoyable, and was good for the whole family. Just don't forget to wait through the credits! There's something at the very end!

After we returned, we relaxed some more, and went outside for a bit.

Mom captured this pretty flower picture on our excursion.

More flowers!

We even found this stretching rabbit!

Walking amidst the flowers.

Mom walking back to our place.

I do have to say that the sunsets are spectacular here!

The heavens manifest God's glory!

And that is all! Hopefully tomorrow's post will contain more pictures, as we actually have a beach visit planned! Stay tuned!

Until then,

Casey

Carlsbad: Day 1

Hello from sunny Southern California!

Yesterday, our family made a trip down south to Carlsbad to relax and regroup before school starts for Corey and I and before life picks up speed again. We left after church and made it to our place at 10:00.

The place we are staying is very nice - and we got it very cheaply, too, which is a double bonus!

They even had face-painting! Hope gets her face painted.

Butterfly face!

Caleb gets his face painted.

Caleb the dalmatian!

Corey and I get some work done.

Lunchtime! We still get to enjoy home-cooked meals, even down here.

The view from our back porch. The ocean is not far away!

 
Caleb and I playing Blokus.

 

Some of the birds-of-paradise flowers outside our door.

The beautiful sunset out the back.

The sunset again.

It was a very relaxing, and enjoyable, day. There are not many pictures because we did not do much today. Stay tuned, however - more may happen in the days to come!

For now,

Casey

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas, everyone!

This season, we got off to a jump-start on festivities by ice skating on the 23rd (Christmas-eve-eve, as we like to call it). For the first time ever, Turlock had its own rink (however small)!

Hope is ready to go!

Gwyneth can hardly wait!

Aidan looks...apprehensive.

But others are more ready - and more excited!

The skaters.

Round and round....

Caleb looks a bit worried, or bored, or both...

Kevin dressed up for the occasion!

Lots and lots of people!

Playing tag on the ice.

On Christmas Eve, we celebrated with a lot of extended family.

One of the table decorations.

My crazy siblings decided it would be fun to do doubles on the jump rope :)

Heather doing a one-man routine...

Opening gifts...

Eating gifts...

Thomas and Hope watching the fun!

Heather and me.

Caleb admiring his new "big-boy" bike - watch out pedestrians!

The verdict? He loves it!

And of course, no Christmas celebration is complete without "The Twelve Days of Christmas". "A partridge in a pear tree!"

"Four calling birds!"

"Five golden rings!"

"Twelve drummers drumming!" (I cracked up when I saw this picture - everyone is doing similar things!)

The maestro.

On Christmas morning, we woke up and read the Christmas story in Luke and John, then prayed and ate breakfast. Afterwards, we opened gifts from the Brown side of the family.

It's a bag! It's a box! No, it's...

Caleb admiring his bike bell.

"Big" Great Grandpa opening one of his presents.

And thanks go around, again!

Merry Christmas, everyone! And don't ever forget the true purpose of "Christ"-mas - the worship of God!

For now,

Casey