Venice Beach and Santa Monica

We drove up to Venice Beach and Santa Monica recently because I've been dying to see it. The two places are so close, yet so totally different! Venice Beach is full of hippies and places to get medical marijuana. Definitely not like anywhere else I've ever been! Santa Monica is super nice with boutiques and fancy hotels and restaurants. 

There was a Hare Krishna gathering in Venice that weekend. It was full of people in saris and lots of chanting was happening. They believe in reincarnation and a whole slew of other things that are totally foreign to us; however it was interesting to see. I got a pamphlet and read some about them on the way home. Totally crazy town, but interesting. 

Skate park. 

People painting concrete structures everywhere. 

A little bit of the Hare Krishna festival.

They asked Josh if he was interested in a prescription.
They didn't look twice at me. Rude?

Muscle beach!

This guy was posing in front of tons of people, I couldn't stop snickering.
Real mature, right?

It was getting late-ish and I had a major sun burn on half of my body, so we drove a couple of miles down the beach into Santa Monica. I'm not going to pretend that I didn't want to see the pier because I was dying to see it. I mean, what if we rode in the same seats as Spidey when they got engaged!!! You liked the Hills too, don't try to deny it. 

Just outside of the Santa Monica pier. 

Waiting to ride the Ferris wheel. 

Family self portraits in line! Check out the sun burn!  

He loved it!!

Bumper cars!

California beaches are always SO busy! 

Reminded me of Despicable Me...

And they won a minion! 

I'm not sure I would want to live in the area because of all the tourists (and people smoking weed in Venice), but it was a fun place to visit after church on a Sunday afternoon. I'm glad we finally made it up there to see the sights, and we found a fun English restaurant/store in Santa Monica where we had some traditional English fare and I got some fancy English lotion! 

USMC Homecoming!

I mentioned a friend's husband coming back from a deployment, but thought I would share a few more pictures from that day. Homecomings are amazing. Even if you don't know a sole coming home, just the thought of families being reunited is totally amazing. I cry every single time I go to one because I know how special it is to hold your Marine for the first time in months. It's like you can finally relax because they are home safe... What an amazing feeling. 

Lunch at the O Club. 

Waiting for the Marines. 

Finally here! 

Taxing in. Felt like it took FOREVER! 

Self portraits while we wait. 

Just discovered how much Gray loves the self-portrait mode on the new IPhone. 

Marine wives (and Gray)! 

We took Gray to the park on base to play with some of his BFFs after the homecoming and happened to watch Josh fly out (night flight) while we were there! Here he is headed out into the night! He flies all the time, but I never really know when I'm seeing him or someone else, so it's always fun to KNOW it's actually Josh in the air! 

Homecoming!

I didn't post much (if anything) about Josh's deployment while he was gone. The main reason for the omission was operational security. It can be dangerous for everyone in the squadron if times and dates are thrown around in public about troop movement, etc. I'm sure it would not have been a big deal to say something about his absence, but I would never want to be the wife who gave away too much information and put anyone at risk. 

That said, Josh is home! Here are a few photos from his homecoming! Best. Day. Ever. 

They took their sweet time opening this door. :)

First family hugs! 

This is was almost surreal, in case you were wondering. 

Gray was so cute. He went to Josh quickly but didn't say a word until we got to the car.
He alternated between looking at Josh and putting his head on Josh's shoulder for 15 minutes. 

It got a little chilly on the flight line. 

One of my favorites from the day. 

I thought Fletch was going to have a heart attack when he saw Josh! He flipped out! 

We had a few days together when he got back then he had a week of work before we were able to take any of his leave. We were both told that the transition back into 'normal' life could be hard, but Josh was able to integrate back into 'our life' without any trouble. Some spouses say it's hard to let the service member back into your daily routine since you have been taking care of everything alone for so long. I found the opposite to be true because it was nice for him to feed Fletch in the morning, take the trash out, or give Gray a bath. Who doesn't like some help with the daily grind? 

He is back at work now and busy with the usual (flight planning, flying nights, getting qualifications, paperwork, pulling duty, etc). It's nice to have him home every night, conversations every day, phone calls, and text messages. Who knew text messages could be so amazing? He will be deploying again. Probably sooner rather than later (we don't know anything at the moment), but for now all that matters is that he is home. All is right in our world. 

**If anyone in SD is looking for a great photographer, I can give you the contact info for Steven L Perry Photography! He took some amazing photos (all but two in this post plus tons more) at the homecoming! 

Yucatan Cruise

My sister had the crazy idea that we should go on a Christmas vacation. Mom and I talked her out of a Christmas cruise, in favor of a New Year's cruise! We left on the 26th headed to New Orleans and got on board a Carnival cruise ship. We stopped in Cozumel and Progresso.  

Carnival has scheduled activities for kids basically every day you are on the ship (even days at port). Gray and Claire spent a few hours in the kid zone every day. We found that it was easier to have dinner without them (by feeding them first and dropping them off) and that they had tons of fun with the Carnival people. They went on treasure hunts and had a prince/princess party. They made tons of hats and had face painting,  it was so cute to see what they did every day. 

The kids loved sitting in the window in our cabin. 

Our first stop was in Cozumel. Jennifer found Chankanaab Park the last time they were there, so we went to it for a few hours. They had a little show with sea lions and seals, which was really cute and the kids loved. The park also offers swimming with dolphins, but we skipped that and headed for the beach. Jennifer, Bob, and Lexie snorkeled for a little while. Gray, Clarie, Mom, and I stayed on the little beach for kids because Gray loves the water. The water is much warmer in Mexico than it is here in California, so Gray stayed in over an hour. I think he would have stayed longer, but he got a little chilled so I made him get out. (He will have full body shakes and be turning blue, but not be ready to get out of the water at home.) We left the park and did a little shopping before heading back to the boat. It was a pretty relaxing day, and everyone had fun. 

Ma'am and Gray in Cozumel. 

Gray and Lexie loved Chankanaab Park in Cozumel. 

Gray and Uncle Bob watching the seal/sea lion show at the park. 

Gray loved the little bay for kiddos. Plus the water was WAY warmer in Mexico than it is here in California! 

Our next stop was Progresso. We had plans to visit the Dzibilchaltun Ruins, just outside the city of Progresso. We did a little shopping in the market before getting on a tour bus and heading to the ruins. Good Lordy it was hot out that day, but the ruins were very interesting. They let people climb on them and we had a guide that gave some information about what we were seeing. There was a freshwater sinkhole at the ruins that people swim in. We were told it was 200 feet deep, so I wasn't even remotely interested in getting Gray close to that! It was really pretty to look at though... I loved the trip to the ruins, but wouldn't want to go in the summer because if it's hot in December, I don't want to know what it's like in July! 

Making time for a little shopping in Progresso.

Trying out the swings/hammocks. He approved. 

We spend one day at the Dzibilchaltun ruins.

The freshwater sinkhole at the ruins.

Carnival has so many fun things for kids! 

The kiddos!

Build a moose! Gray wanted a pirate moose. :)

Once we made it back to New Orleans, we stopped at Cafe Du Monde for some beignets. I'm pretty sure there is some law that says you can't visit New Orleans without getting beignets. Gray loved his first experience with them and was covered in powdered sugar before it was over with. After the quick around the Riverwalk, we headed back to North LA. 

I think we all had a pretty great time on the cruise. Plus I found out how amazing the kid zone is if Josh and I plan another cruise with Gray anytime soon.

Beignets for the road in New Orleans.