4th of July Vacation - lots of pictures!!

Whew!  We just got back from a vacation in La Jolla, CA to celebrate the 4th of July and to spend time with family.  It was a lot of fun and so nice for the 4 cousins to spend time with each other and with Grandpa Steve.

We actually did a professional photo shoot there (of 5 adults and 4 kids!!) so there will be more pictures coming within the next few weeks, but for now, here are the ones this amateur took.

 It's been tough recently to get Shyla to give a real smile to the camera.  I am hoping this is just a phase.

One of the twins playing in the sand.

There's my pretty girl!  As we walked along the park some woman actually pulled her car over to tell me how cute Shyla is.  (I think she even exclaimed "OMG!")

 Another twin.  Or maybe the same one.  

Sophis with Grandpa Steve.  These two are best-buds.  It is so cute how she follows him around!

  

My two girls for the 4th!

And more goofiness as I continually attempt a good sister picture!

 Pretty Harper showing off her dress!

Shyla's first experience with an ice cream truck.  Hopefully she doesn't think every truck contains sugary goodness.   

 She chose the spiderman popsicle.  It was $4.50.  OMG!

Harper loved playing on the patio!

All dressed up for the fireworks!  All 4 kids enjoyed the fireworks and no one cried.  The display was, as always, beautiful and the kids looked mesmerized.

I think being a parent now means watching your kids faces light up as they watch the fireworks, instead of actually watching them yourself.  It was amazing!

 Four cousins in the tub!  Next time we see the twins it will be tough to fit them all in the tub at once so we had to do this one.  

Auntie Kirsten brought these adorable mermaid/whale jammies for all the girls.  We tried to get a picture of them together with Ted, without much success!  Shyla is now obsessed with mermaids!

 The weather was overcast for most of the trip, but that was just fine!  We got plenty of beach-time, plenty of sand-castle building, and plenty of sand in our mouths.

 I love this picture of my Shyla!  She's not smiling but it shows her perfect features!

Beach babies!

Playing ball with Daddy!

Watching the waves with Daddy!

And, of course, where there is Shyla there is running (and/or jumping, skipping, dancing!)

Another high-light of the trip, for which there are no pictures (boo!) was a visit with Uncle Dan and Auntie Erin (Shyla and Harper's god-parents who live in San Diego).  We had a lovely evening with them and although it is never enough, we love getting to see them!

A huge, huge thank you to Grandpa Steve for the wonderful vacation!  We weren't certain that we were going to be able to make it and we are so glad that it worked out in the end.  Stevie grew up spending the 4th in La Jolla and it is a beautiful thing to share those traditions with our girls.  We loved watching the twins play together and getting to know them better (although still not much luck telling them apart) and it's fun to watch Shyla as the big-cousin since she's used to being the little-one.