Catching up again

It seems strange to talk about death and then post about Disneyland, but I've been asked more than a few times for updates on our Birthdays (mine and Ashlyn's) Trip this past Labor Day to California. So here are some pics. I have a busted camera so I don't have any new pictures from after we returned. Maybe the camera had too much sand and salty air. But if I did have a camera that worked I would show you Rick's two new accomplishments:
1. Concrete sloping of the sidewalk curb on our driveway. Now we won't bottom out and scrape off the undercarriage when we back out.
2. Rick's water rotation system is almost functional. We have 2 big plastic drums for water storage that Rick has rigged up to hook up to our sprinkler water so we will be "rotating" our water each time we water the lawn.

So here are the pics of our first day in CA. The kids had a Murphy bed and enjoyed playing in the pool (to varying degrees - if you've been swimming with us you know what I mean). The earlier pics were also from this same day - the 1st, Labor Day. Nathan is pouting in the pic on the pier. And that walk to the pier is the reason why we didn't go to Disneyland on Tuesday (the day after all of this) like I had planned. See, it was quite a walk to the famous Oceanside pier. We were excited and eager to go out, the morning was overcast, and we didn't use sunblock. Spare me the lecture. I had guilt in spades. Because by that afternoon it was obvious that we were burned. All of us. Rick to the point of pain on the backs of his legs and a fantastic headache. Lauren peeled and her face was nice and swollen (Violet Beauregard) as it reacted to the sun she received. The others were pink-cheeked as well. But it was Lauren that had me feeling awful. I'd been so careful with her to that point! So we stayed home on the 2nd and went to Anaheim on the 3rd.