La Jolla

Friday afternoon we left for the annual Miller trip to the pink hotel in La Jolla.  Its the WHOLE gang....siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins, you name it!  Sandy's mom, Grammy, started this tradition with some girlfriends and they have never missed a year.  It's SO fun and will always have a special place in my heart, it was the first trip Blake and I went on....for 10 days after only going on one date haha!  We drove halfway to Prim on Friday and stayed at Whiskey Pete's....but OF COURSE we had to stop in St. George for our fav Orange Peel, I promise they are life changing, and Mad Pita Express.  The next morning we grabbed a quick Mccy D's breakfast and hit the road.  The drive seemed to take forever!  When we got there we changed right into our suits and headed to the pool.  We walked to dinner that night at everyone's favorite, Spice and Rice.

They have yummy lettuce wraps we all share and then I get this amazing pineapple rice that comes in a pineapple shell.....SO SO SO GOOD!

We went to Jj's room after for dessert and to see everyone over there.

On Sunday we went to church and then met everyone for a delicious breakfast at The Broken Yolk.  It took a while to get seated so we entertained ourselves outside.......

 Trav and Pop shared the 6 lbs breakfast challenge......bad idea!  It looks SO sick....a dozen eggs covered in nacho cheese and chili, 3 lbs of hashbrowns and 2 HUGE biscuts which was served on a pizza pan.  It was SO gross and not worth the $25!!!

We spent the rest of the day in the park listening to the live music, a Navy band.  Blake of course had to get his favorite ice cream popsicle and Macie decided he needed to share!

 The boys played rugby after the music

Sandy made an amazing Sunday dinner for everyone and we all crammed in our little room to enjoy it together.

Izzy was obsessed with these shoes the whole trip and wore them everytime she came over!

We all love holding Baby Parker!

Blake and I went up to the hot tub after with Meredith and I left my brand new cover-up up there and never got it back:(  We went back to Nicole's room after, gave Izzy her new birthday swimming suits and watched the final bachelorette.  JP was for sure my favorite, but I don't think Ashley deserves him, she is crazy!

Monday morning I woke up early and went running.  I love running outside there SOO much!  Blake and I went up to the roof after for breakfast.  The view there is to die for!  We took the kids after to Boomer, a fun beach with big waves.

The water is freezing so we didn't last long and headed up to the hot tub.  We went to Pacific Beach and had our traditional Kono's lunch.  We spent the day body boarding, building sand castles, laying out, reading...rough life.

We dipped in the hot tub after and then got ready for dinner at Sammy's.  There are so many of us eating at one time, so we don't all get our food at once.  Blake and I finished early so we took Parker and Izzy so Nicole and Mikko could eat.  We went on a walk and got some delicious gelato.  We met up with everyone after and walked around town.

Tuesday morning I ran again, had breakfast on the roof and took the kids to Boomer and the hot tub.

We lounged most the day between the park and pool.  Pres cooked us a yummy steak sandwich lunch.  We had played a mean game of volleyball with everyone in the park.  We had lots of little ones playing so we didn't really keep score, which Blake hates haha!  That night we went to old town and tried a new Mexican restaurant that was great.  They hold 600 people, have 4 kitchens, and make the tortilla's outside in front of everyone......I could have eaten 100 of them!  We went back to our room after and Izzy opened more presents b/c it was her real birthday, she's 2 now and so stinkin' cute!  Everyone loves helping open presents...

We didn't have candles so Izzy blew out Brooke's lighter haha!

 Izzy got the 1st taste of course!

Wednesday morning I went running early again.  I just automatically wake up super early and so I love to get out running before it gets hot.  After everyone else finished working out Pres, Jamyn, Blake, Lindz and I went to Papalulu's for breakfast.  They have by far the best pancakes I've ever had in my life, oatmeal banana....ah I want some right now!  When we got back we all got ready and went to Pacific Beach for the day.

 Mikko is SO coordinated and could totally skim board which is NOT easy!

 The Merdi and Izzy in the hot tub they made

When we got back to the hotel we dipped in the hot tub and then got ready for dinner.  It was date night, which is one of my very favorite nights.  All the couples go off on their own for dinner.  Blake and I always go to Joe's Crab shack.  We sat outside on the deck and watched the sunset over the ocean and ate buckets of delicious crab.

We were in heaven.  I love that boy so much, we always have so much fun together!  We went back to our room after and helped Sandy and Pres with the kids while the other couples were on their dates (they took all the grandkids to Jack-In-The-Box). 

Izzy got her feelings hurt in the dogpile haha......

Macie's turn....

Merdi's turn....

Izzy's turn....

 Izzy was SOO sad because she dropped her binky over the balcony!

 Uncle Baypes to the rescue......Somehow he found it in the bushes in the dark!  She did it at Nicole's room the next night and cried for Blake to come over and get it haha!

Thursday morning I went running and then Blake and I went up to the roof after for breakfast.  We spent the rest of the day at the park and reading up at the pool, glorious.  That night we went to the Fish Market.  It's funny because when we go to dinner we have to get banquet rooms to fit all 18-30 of us depending who comes haha, it gets a bit chaotic but its fun to be together.  I liked my dinner a lot, but a lot of people weren't big fans.  We spent the rest of the night walking around Seaport Village.

My FAVORITE Blake smile.....that dimple melts me!!!!!

My mom, Whit and I used to love walking around there and it brought back a lot of fun memories!

Friday morning I went running and Blake came! We never work-out together and so I love when we do. He knows I can't run very fast but he does whatever I need to do and doesn't complain one bit. I know it's not much of a workout for him but it's so fun for me!  We went up to the roof after for breakfast and then got ready to go to Pacific Beach.  Another lovely beach day with a great lunch at the Pita Pit.

Burying Chase in the sand:

 Running from the waves with Mac and Izz

 Boys body boarding trip:

 All the boys:  Pres, Scott, Trav, Blake, Pop and Mikko

 Scott's trip was cut a bit short by an over-excited lifeguard.  The lifeguard told him he was in a rip-current and made him hold the can the entire way in while a film crew was taping haha!  We were all so confused what was going on and could not stop laughing!  They wanted an interview after and we told everyone on the beach that walked by that he was a celebrity.  It turns out the Weather Channel is doing a reality show about the California lifeguards and so Scott may get his 15 min of fame!

I wish we had one in SLC so bad!  On our way back to the car Blake stepped on a bee and it stung his toe.  It swelled up and was killing him even the next day!  Sweet Gordon made us a yummy flank steak dinner by the hot tub.  Blake and I walked to town after with Pres and Jamyn and we got some yummy yogurt at Yogi Topi.  Blake didn't feel like yogurt so we met Nicole and Mikko after at Spice and Rice and we got his favorite dessert ever, Mango Sticky Rice.  He never really eats desserts except this, he'd rather have that then birthday cake on his birthday haha! 

Saturday morning I went running and then we met up with everyone and walked to breakfast at Bernini's.  They are famous for their lemon ricotta pancakes....I ordered them forgetting I'm not a fan on lemon flavored stuff....so I wasn't a fan but everyone else loved it.  We spent the rest of the afternoon at the cove and the park.

We grabbed lunch at Panera's and then packed up the car and headed to St. George.  We stopped in Prim on the way to ride the rollercoster at Buffalo Bill's, but we missed it by literally 4 minutes.  We were SO pissed!  We grabbed dinner at Mad Greek, which oddly was double the price of normal Mad Greek restaurants and the food was AWFUL!  We made it to St. George at 12:30 and were all exhausted!

Sunday morning we went swimmin with Nicole and her kids and then had a late breakfast/lunch at the Egg and I.  That place is so yummy and will always remind me of taking my boards.  My mom took me straight there after I finished to celebrate!  We hit the road and the ride seemed SO long!  When we got home my cute sister had a yummy dinner waiting for us.  We sat out on her deck, ate and chatted.  It was fun to see my fam!  We spent the rest of the night unpacking and doing laundry.

Yesterday it was back to the grind, which thankfully I never mind.  I worked at Dr. Sands.  We had no food so I went to lunch with Tanisha at Kneaders and it was super fun.  After work I went to the gym, grabbed groceries at Walmart and then headed to Nicole's.  They have a weekly tradition of watching The Bachelor for FHE and we love joining in, Pres and Jamyn came too!  They fed us a great dinner, we played with the kids and then watched the season premier of Bachelor Pad.  I can tell this is gonna be a good season:)  Blake loves it as much as I do haha!  We didn't leave until after midnight b/c we TiVo it and wait til the kids are asleep so we can watch it totally uninteruppted! 

6:15 came way too early this morning, Blake and I were exhausted!  I worked at Dr. Dastrup's and then went to the gym.  Blake met me at home after with some Greek take-out.  Now I'm working on this while he relaxed and watches a movie, we're both exhausted!