Santa Monica Pier is all that!

Our day was just beginning as we left the temple. We first HAD to get lunch at Tommy Burgers. Steve hadn't been there in forever so this was it. I think we can wait a little while longer before we go back, nothing like a good ole greasy chili burger and fries.

Matthew with an extra long FF.

With our tummies full, we went to the Santa Monica Pier.

Need I say more.

I think these kids could have stayed here all day. You can see it in there faces and their stiff poses as I make them take this super cool picture with the fun pier we were about to go on in the background, that they were not happy to leave this part of the beach.

But look what we got see on the pier, pretty impressive stuff.

Thanks for posing boys!

Oh yeah! A fun picture!

We knew we were going to spend some money on this pier, but it was so hard to let our kids just throw it away on some carnival games and they really didn't want to ride any of the rides. We had some interesting conversations. They boys ended up wanting to buy some souvenirs and the girls did this....

(I'll post some video later.)

Walking back to our car taking the beach path.

Just a glimpse at what LA traffic is like-Our next stop: Santa Paula!

Long Beach Aquarium-Free

On our way to the temple we stopped in Long Beach (actually way out of our way) to pick up Dad. He was there for a business meeting and instead of driving all the way back, it worked out for us to pick him up and he also was able to pick us up some free tickets to the Long Beach Aquarium of the Pacific.

Good thing, because the ride there was a little less than desirable with all the traffic and not having enough space in our 8 passenger mini van for all 5 of us. What are these kids going to do when they really have to sit right next to each other and when the line drawn down the middle is not in the middle of the whole seat that is separating them?

We made it and the aquarium was wonderful. We did have to rush through it a little quickly because they closed an hour after we got there. But it was exciting!

So this is a life size whale. Can you say humongous? I hope I can spell it.

Lauren with her fish star.

Ethan swimming with the fish.

Live stingrays and sharks.

These were our favorite. This one reminded us of the shark in Nemo and the next one just had the goofiest smile. We were kind of making fun of him. Good thing we were on the other side of the wall.

As we left the aquarium, Matthew found a "child's ticket" on the ground and picked it up to show us all the "Chicklet" he had found. I thought it was so cute.

We ended our Long Beach stay with dinner at the famous Bubba Gumps Shrimp Co. The food was good but our favorite part was when the waiter questioned our knowledge of the movie Forest Gump. We/Steve did pretty good.
The night wasn't over yet. We headed back to Santa Monica to check into our Temple Apartment and then off to visit Aunt Sarah and to check out her nice little bungalo/apt nestled in the middle of downtown, just down the street from the temple. And thanks to her and her DVD collection, we checked out a few for the rest of our trip. Thanks Sarah!!!

Los Angeles Temple Trip

So some things were cancelled for the weekend and all of a sudden we had a free weekend and I wanted to head down to the Los Angeles Temple and experience the whole temple apartment "thing". I don't really know why, but we experienced it. Steve said it felt like he was back in the MTC and thought they must have been built around the same time. Anyway, Steve and I enjoyed our session.

The Los Angeles temple is much bigger than the Houston temple. I never thought I would miss that particular temple but it has been OUR temple for the last 12 years. I liked how small it was and that there were always the same familiar older faces to greet you. I also miss the temple mints, aka white tic tacs. However, Steve and I were married in the Los Angeles temple and it is beautiful and spectacular in it's own grand way. How blessed we are.


We took the kids for a nice walk around the temple grounds. It was a Saturday morning so we were able to see many wedding couples. There were lots and of ooohs and aaahs from my girls as we watched the brides in their gorgeous white dresses and there bridesmaids walking around.


Here is our photo session on the temple grounds. There were many many more pictures of Lauren and she wanted to pose by EVERYTHING.

This is our first picture. It is monument dedicated to the family. Just thought it was the perfect family, just like us. Two boys and two girls and a little baby. At the time we didn't know what we were having but it all worked so each of the kids stood by their counterpart for the picture.

Roadrunners Swim Meet #1 Wasco

Well, my camera is still broken and Rachel's camera hasn't been taking good pictures for me, but this is what we have for their first swim meet here in Bakersfield. As with everything else, things are just different. Swim Team was no exception. I am not even going to try and explain all the differences but I am having a harder time adjusting to this one. Overall I am sure it will be great. We joined a new team that is being formed through California State University Bakersfield's swim team.

Anyway, EM&R are able to register for 3 strokes and then they were put on a relay if chosen for each meet. The swim meets are huge here. I don't know how many other teams we swam against. They award the 1-3 with medals and then 4-10 with ribbons. But they take all the times of every swimmer in that age group, not just the heat you are swimming in. So placing is even a bigger deal.

After missing an event and then 2 DQ's, the Spendlove family came home with:

Ethan-1st place in the 50 Breakstroke @ 43.10,

Matthew-4th place in the 50 Breaststroke @ 55.19 & 8th place in the 50 Freestyle @45.78 and Rachel-6th place in the 50 Butterfly @ 54.31.



I should also say that this is the first year they have swam 50 yards. Way to go Team Spendlove!! Let's see how their times progress throughout this summer.


The twins before their freestyle relay.
Ethan ending up WAY ahead on his backstroke, but was DQ'd on his turn.

Matthew taking his place on the block.

Blowout

Nothing like working together. We had just finished our end of the school year dinner at Chili's and we're headed to Big 5, the night before EM&R's first swim meet, to get Rachel a swimsuit before they closed and our tire went flat as we were exciting the freeway. Love the excitement. But always a good learning opportunity.

Daisy has been rediscovered!

These pictures don't even do this post justice.  But we are now in the BB Gun phase again.  But the best part about it for the boys is making the targets.  We have had stacked tin cans, cardboard boxes with targets taped to them, one big board with a target, little birdies and who knows what else.  Ethan's favorite is the shoebox.  That way it catches all his BB's and he can reuse them.  Talk about one thrifty little boy.  And he complains that I use coupons all the time.  Go Figure!!!

Lauren's Last Day of School

Lauren's last day of school was all party, games, water balloons and food. Here is a picture of her and some of her friends. The two she is between actually live on our street, however, those two are in the morning session of Kindergarten, so she was having a great time hanging out with them at school.


The end of Kindergarten came with a great big hug from Lauren to Mrs. Summers as she was passing out report cards. Lauren had a difficult time adjusting to her new school and friends. But Mrs. Summers did a great job with all of Lauren's mood swings and her cute personality. Thank You!!!