OurLittleMcFamily.com

My favorite childhood memories lay along Broadway Street and the Promenade, in Seaside. It is the best little beach town!

Bumper Cars and Tilt-o-Whirls:

The Arcade and Ice Cream Shops:

And we can’t forget Pig-n-Pancake:

The ninos started building their own little traditions and memories in the same little town, on the same little street. Mucho Joy!

While staying in Seaside, we took a day trip to Tillamook, OR for the “cheese tour.”

The drive had spectacular views:

There were cows and cheese aplenty:

And the ice cream was to die for:

Actually, Tillamook ice cream is my most favorite ice cream on the planet.
And the cheese is my family’s favorite–although I (the cheese hater) would know nothing about that.

Here’s the caravan of cars, bike racks and all, as we headed to Seaside, OR.
Our beach house was only steps from the water.

Adam and Papa Penning broke out the kites within an hour of arriving.

I think there was a total of 10 kites up at one time, all from our band of littles.
A great beginning to a great week at the beach.
FAMILY VACATION 2010

My favorite memory from Nana and Papa’s this summer was catching imaginations at play in the back yard. It so reminded me of my own childhood in that very same yard.

All of the cousins were whining one day that it was too hot, and that there was nothing to do. Excuse me…bounce house, pool, gigantic lawn, awesome sand pit, 11 children, and I could go on. Anyway, all the moms chimed in at once, “go use your imaginations and don’t come in until lunch.”

When we went out to check on the crew, they were taking old building supplies from around the property and making forts. They had divided into two teams and were having a contest to see which fort would be the best built. It was hilarious to see what they came up with for building materials.

(notice Nikki sitting on a chair with her legs crossed letting everyone else do the work…)

Well, they never finished their projects because Brooklynn stepped on a nail, which quickly put the kibosh on using papa’s old building materials. But they had a great time trying.

JULY 2010

Meet great-grandparents Penning!

The whole Penning tribe made a very special day trip to Point Defiance Park in Tacoma to spend some time with them. I am so glad we got pictures. Let’s face it grams and grandps…you’re no spring chickens anymore. :)

We also celebrated Danny’s birthday…the Nerf bow-n-arrow is something Danny’s has been asking for for 18 months. he LOVES it.

We all had a great time. Hopefully, the kids will remember the experience for a long time to come.

JULY 2010

Utah and Montana Road Trip…June 2010

Highlights:

1st annual talent show

complete with video crew, spotlight guy, and MC

Hiking

Yummy Food

 Lots of Cool Messes

And good all around fun

We love our tradition we have created for our family. We look forward to many more Zion trips in our future. Here are more pics!

Summer will quickly be upon us here in the desert. And you all know how cranky I get when summer comes. So I try and make the summer as busy as possible for myself so that I can endure the baking hot sun.

Here is what we are planning:

MAY
–Zion Nat’l Park, of course. Year six. We leave tomorrow.

JUNE
–Spring Mountain Ranch, Willy Wonka. Planning this outing for months now with friends. So excited to take the kids to their first official play.
–Camp Invent. Danny is going to his first invention camp with a buddy. He is totally stoked.
–Bear Lake. The kids and I are planning a week at the lake with my mom and sister. (Adam will be in China on business–boo, boo!)
–Swim lessons. Hopefully we can squeeze a couple of these in. :)

JULY
–Grandma Penning Visits. YAY!
–Relay for Life. We are going to Oregon to participate in Team Georgie this summer. So Excited!
–Washington. Oh how I love escaping the desert heat, trading it in for two weeks in Yakima. I can’t wait to hang with my family, scrap with Jes, camp at Rainier with cousins, and see old friends and their children.

AUGUST
–The Beach. Yes! Who love the Oregon Coast? We do. We do. We have been planning this vacation since Thanksgiving with my parents and siblings. One whole week in Seaside with my family. The kids are going to learn to body surf this time around. Can’t wait for vacation with my hubby and kiddos.