California Days 1-4

1) As we put a sound asleep Cooper into his carseat at the airport he started screaming "no, no, not again Daddy." This is one boy who is over traveling!
2) Boaz got to meet his Great Grandma and his godmother for the first time!
3) Dayton and Cooper warmed up to each other pretty quickly and the noise level in the house increased dramatically.
4) Ben and I escaped for dates twice!  First night we went to Claim Jumper for drinks and dessert.  The second we drove up to Mulholland Drive and looked around.  Then we had dessert at Mel's Diner followed by a drive thru Beverly Hills and Hollywood (kind of a must do for me each time I visit!)  And bonus...the second time Boaz woke up and Gram managed to get him back to sleep like the pro that she is!
5) Cooper and Lucy are loving the pool...they could spend hours in it every day.
6) Lucy got a date day with Gram and Grandpa that included painting, painting nails, playing dolls, and a trip to Arby's.
7) While she did that the rest of us took a trip out to see Great Gram and enjoy some root beer floats together.
8) The first day here Courtney and I snuck off and got In-n-Out for everyone for lunch.
9) Boaz got his first tooth on our first day here.  He has not slept well at all...
10) My brother and Courtney picked me up a coffee from my favorite place the morning after the first tooth :)
11) Dayton has a few words that are gonna stick with me: "shoes and door" especially.  Love that little boy's smile, his puppy dog eyes, and how much fun he had with his cousins!  Him and Cooper are going to be lifelong buddies!
12) Cooper learned the word mustache and had fun calling people that!

All other highlights should be covered in the pictures below!

The piano got some serious playing by these two

The second full day included lots of family.  Family from both my mom and dad's sides came over.  I got to spend time with my cousin and her precious twin girls.  We discussed that the last time we remember spending any chunk of time together was during the 1996 Olympics...yikes!  We are only 9 months apart and had some great times together growing up!

Dayton and Cooper became best buddies...leading to an increased volume level.  They had a blast together!

 Boaz met Great Grandma for the first time and we also got to spend some time with her on the third day.

Mom got the kids coordinating outfits and we did some family pictures....these are some of the best!

Enjoying Great Gram

There is no predicting this girl...we weren't sure if she'd love the beach or hate it.  She loved it!

We were able to hit the beach with my aunt, uncle, and cousin for a few hours.  They had a busy weekend so I appreciated them carving out some time for us.  We ALWAYS enjoy them!  Had about 5 minutes of uninterrupted conversation with my Uncle (that's actually a good chunk of time these days) and he had some good parenting advice/encouragement.  My wonderful Aunt focused a lot of energy on Cooper and didn't seem too phased by his energy level.  They ran and jumped and enjoyed the beach for all it is!  She did predict he will be a pitcher or quarterback :)

Timmy enjoyed making up games with the waves and running through the water.  He gets more independent every day!

We were able to hit the beach with my aunt, uncle, and cousin for a few hours.  They had a busy weekend so I appreciated them carving out some time for us.  We ALWAYS enjoy them!  Had about 5 minutes of uninterrupted conversation with my Uncle (that's actually a good chunk of time these days) and he had some good parenting advice/encouragement.  My aunt spent lots of time running and jumping with little Cooper.  I'm pretty sure she has a fan for life in him!