Jeremy had a conference in San Diego, so we jumped at the chance to join him and get part of our trip reimbursed (thanks, St. Luke's!). We're in love. We really can't see ourselves being able to afford living there, but it's officially cemented into our future vacation plans.
Sunroofs were made for southern California...
Jeremy hit the waves as often as he could. And the boys acted like they'd hit the sandbox jackpot. There were some pretty intense sand castles out there.
Here's mine and the boys' version of the above:
My brother Nathan and his family are 1/2 hour from San Diego, and my brother Pete and his family are in LA right now. Some of my Athay cousins are there too, and my Aunt Janet and Uncle Russell were in the area. I talked my sister Katie into flying down from Denver for a long weekend, so we had a PARDAY! There haven't been 4 Hawkes in one place for a long time, so this was a big deal.
Daphne got lots and lots of attention
We went to the park
Reconnected with my childhood (my mom painted this door on a playhouse my dad built for us -- isn't it cute??)
Wrestled lots and lots with Jake (we wish you were here Jake and we would hire you as our permanent babysitter!)
Did a little yoga
And went to the mall with Aunt Janet and Karen to ride these crazy little mini motorcycle things
Pete and Nate even joined a soccer game when Jake's opposing team didn't show
Jeremy's family decided to join the fun and *all* came down from Vegas to see us for the weekend, so we ended up having a double family reunion!
We went to the beach and Balboa Park for an outdoor organ concert and the Botanical Gardens
They even threw a double birthday part for Scotty and his cousin David
Jeremy's parents are always up for a trip to Disneyland, so we decided to take the boys on the pilgrimage every child should go on at least once.
It turned out to be a little tiny bit too early to make the pilgrimage for James, though. He was too short for some rides (the pictures say a thousand words!) and scared on others. Maybe in another 5 years we'll try again...
It was so fun to be there with Grandma and Grandpa! Thanks for coming, guys!
Jeremy's brother and his family came too, and my cute white-blond nieces caught the eye of the guy picking kids for Star Wars Training camp so that Scotty could have the opportunity every 4 year old Star-Wars-obsessed kid dreams of : defeat Darth Vader face to face
Getting his game on
The enemy himself -- or wait? Maybe it's my father...
And the final battle
My favorite part of the day (Jer's too) is in the background here. If you've never been to California Adventure and ridden California Screamin, add it to your bucket list now! Best roller coaster .ever. Too fun to miss.
Another highlight: World of Color. It was like the Bellagio show on steroids. So fun!
We killed four birds with one stone, and had almost more fun than we could handle in just one week! But we survived, and lived to tell the very happy story.
We got to celebrate with leftover fireworks with our neighbors -- Scotty's friend has the exact same birthday as Scotty. 
We had Scotty's first friend party this year, which was more fun than I was expecting! He wanted a flying saucer cake, so it kind of turned into an outer space theme.
And alien rock buddies
Danced .a lot.
Played pin the alien on the spaceship
Tried to play "robot, robot, who has the robot," but the kids had a very difficult time grasping the concept of stealth
And ate lots of yummy flying saucer cake
Another rite of passage happened just a few days before: Scotty's (second) first day of preschool
He technically made the cut to start kindergarten this fall, but we decided to wait on the recommendation of last year's preschool teacher. Not too surprisingly his award at the end of the year was "most spirited." Here he is last May at graduation:
We know he's spirited, and that's half of what makes him so delightful! And I have to say --a little selfishly-- I don't mind one bit keeping him home for one more year. Happy Birthday Scotty!
