Matt and I went to San Diego, California June 6th - June 17th. Matt had a conference and we extended our trip an extra week. We stayed with Aunt Ruthie in La Costa (north of San Diego). We had a blast. I love San Diego! Matt used to always tell me the weather was "perfect," but I never really believed him before. But now, after spending a week and a half there I see how right he is. It was sunny and 70 every day with NO humidity. What could be better.

During the first 3 days of the trip Matt went to the NASPA conference on Mission Beach. He got up real early and drove about 45 min. to the conference. While Matt was at the conference I hung out at the beach. I went running and walking along the beach. I sat and read on the beach, watched the surfers, and soaked up the sun. I enjoyed every minute of it.

On the last night of the conference I joined Matt for the banquet on Mission Beach. The setting for the dinner was gorgeous. It was an outdoor dinner on the bay side. They served Mexican food. See all the guacamole on my plate!! The only thing was that when the sun went in it got a little chilly.

Here is Matt with Rick, another grad student from University of Florida in his program. Rick is proudly sporting the Gator gear. Rick stayed with Matt and I at Aunt Ruthie's and commuted with Matt to the conference.

After the conference was over Matt was able to begin his vacation. One of the nights we were there Matt and I sat on the beach and watched the sunset. It was pretty.

While we waited for the sun to set, I had a little fun making a message with the rocks I found in the sand.

While we were in San Diego we also spent time with relatives. We went out to lunch with both Gramma D and Grandma Buman. It was great to be able to spend time with them.

Lunch with Gramma D was at the Fish House. I had my first fish tacos, something that I thought Matt was crazy for eating, but it was actually good.

Lunch with Grandma Buman was at Chili's.

During our trip we also spent a lot of time with Aunt Ruthie. One day we had an outdoor lunch one afternoon with her!

On Sunday we went to a Padres game and then out to dinner at Pizza Port. The Padres play at Petco Park. The stadium was beautiful. It is totally different than Fenway. They actually let you bring in food and your own water!! I could not believe it. The park is extremely family friendly. They have a mini baseball field that the kids can play on during the game as well as $5.00 lawn seating and a sand pit for the children too. In addition, we only paid $10.00 to park in a lot right next to the stadium!!

A trip to San Diego is not complete with some Juanitas and chips and guacamole from the fruit stand in La Costa! Yummy!

Near the end of our trip Matt and I went to Catalina Island with Matt and Becca Ellis. Matt Ellis' mom owns a condo on the island and she let us stay there. We were able to spend 3 days there. We had a blast. I had no idea what to expect about the island and was surprised at how mountainous it was.

We parked our car at Dana Point and took the hour and a half ferry ride to Catalina. There are no cars on the island, but lots of golf carts. When we arrived we got our luggage and walked to the condo. We unpacked and ate lunch. Then we went grocery shopping and the boys pushed our carriage back to the condo. Then we went for our first hike of the trip.

During the first hike we were mainly exploring the island. We walked up a paved road and reached the Wrigley House. This is the guy who invented the chewing gum. He used to own Catalina Island. When we reached the house there was a fire break that looked like a good path to climb so we did. It was rather steep and going up was easier than going down. We had to "slalom ski" down the mountain.

The city of Avalon is behind us.

After our first mini hike (3 hours) we went out to dinner at an Italian restaurant. We ate outside and had to watch out for low flying sea gulls and other birds. In the far off distance, past all the boats, there is a red domed building. That building is called the Casino, no gambling takes place there, but Casino is the Italian word for meeting place. It is a famous landmark on the island. One night during our stay we watched Ocean's Thirteen in the movie theater in the Casino. It was a fun movie theater because the insides looked like an old play house.

For our 2nd hike, the boys got our hiking permits and mapped out our path. The initial goal was a 4-5 mile hike, according to the map, but we were in for a great surprise. The hike started out in Avalon and climbed up until we were hiking along the ridges of the mountains. The view was spectacular. As we approached the beginning of the trail there was a warning sign about rattle snakes. Man if it's not gators it's something else.

This hike took about 5 hours and we hiked over 10 miles. We were beat when we were done, but really proud. On the last 2 mile stretch of the hike someone did stop and ask us if we wanted a ride. At that point my feet were aching and I was so tempted to say YES, but before I could get any words out of my mouth. Matt said, "No thanks." I was glad because when we finished we were so proud of ourselves.

These eucalyptus trees lined the paved road down the mountain at the end of our hike. If you look closely you can see the damage that the fire did. During our hike we went right through the fire damage. It was really sad to see.

While we were at Catalina we visited Paul and Virginia Friesen's camp, Campus By The Sea. Unfortunately we missed seeing Paul and Virginia by a day. While we were at the camp we hiked a little (not too much since we hiked 10 miles the day before), ate lunch with the group of high school students that were there, sea kayaked and swam. We had so much fun. Maybe someday Matt and I will counsel at the camp.

Our good friends, Tom and Amy Tanis, have officially moved to Littleton, Colorado. We are excited for them and the adventures they are going to have, but we're already missing them. Here is one last Saturday morning Panera trip.

We had one last sleepover with Amy and Tom before they left town as well. It was great to spend some quality time with them. Before they left we prayed over them for God's protection for this upcoming year.

Here Sarah, Fritz, and Amelia, Amy and Tom, Matt and I are resting on the back of the Tanis rental truck ready to head to CO.

Amy, Sarah, Lisa and I all shared one last ice cream together. We ate with baby spoons! Those were Amelia's of course. :)

Matt and I attended the Family Church marriage retreat Memorial Day weekend. We stayed in the World Golf Resort just outside of St. Augustine. The location of the retreat was perfect. We were close to downtown St. Augustine as well as near the beach. The retreat was 3 nights and 4 days, so we were able to relax a lot. Matt and I went to the pool at the hotel one afternoon, went out dinner, went to the beach and went on some great runs.

Just like last year, my birthday falls on the marriage retreat weekend. Everyone made me feel so special on my birthday with cards and birthday wishes. Matt brought my birthday present along on the retreat with him. He had me open it the night before my actual birthday. He got me the Nike ipod Plus so that I can keep track of all my runs. It is the coolest thing! He knew that I'd love it and he was right. For my birthday dinner Matt and I went to P.F. Chang's. It is my favorite restaurant and the food was so good.

Here I am waiting outside P.F. Chang's with my new Vera Bradley bag. It was a gift from a couple of the students I taught this year. I love it and feel so blessed to have been given it.

Matt and I ordered Chang's spicy shrimp, mild, steamed spinach, and a new beef entree.

We are already looking forward to next year's marriage retreat!! The speakers were excellent and we learned a ton of things.

Paul and Marilyn came to visit Matt and I in May, Mother's Day weekend. The week before they were visiting Kevin, Valeri, Keegan and Finley. While in Minn., Marilyn went to a gluten free store and got all these new GF mixes to try. I was really excited. We ate the Namaste pizza crust and it was really good.

Along with the GF food, Paul and Marilyn brought pounds and pounds of bananas. Marilyn found the bananas on sale really cheap while they were in Minn. and she packed them in her suitcase to take to FL. Any time anyone was hungry over the weekend, we joked about eating a banana for a snack. The bananas did not go to waste. Most of them were eaten and when the visitors left I made GF and regular banana bread.

Kevin also came to visit during this time. He works for the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN and came to FL to visit the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, FL. He slept on our brand new Aero bed that Matt got for his birthday from my parents.

One of the things we did was shop for Gator gear. Keegan collects Pez dispensers so Kevin bought him a Gator one. Kevin also bought Val a Gator t-shirt. Here are Matt and Kevin taking a break at one of the stores. Go Gators!

Here are Paul and Matt just lounging around. Paul and Matt worked on a few small projects around the house during the week visit.

One of the things that Matt and I wanted to do with everyone was the La Chua trail. We hyped up the size and number of gators we would be able to see. It was fun to get excited. Unfortunately we were disappointed because the trail was closed. We hiked along the Gainesville/Hawthorne trail and found that the La Chua trail was closed. We did not know why, but it was all taped off. Later on Mom sent me and email (she signed up for the Payne's Prairie list-serve) that said the trail was closed due to the drought. All the gators across the prairie were flocking to this one water source and the trail was too dangerous for people to walk on.

So instead we walked out to an overlook of Payne's Prairie. There is always next time!

Paul and Marilyn left on Mother's Day. But Kevin, Matt and I took Marilyn out to a Mother's Day brunch a day early. Here we are eating at Ivey's Grill. The food was great and fresh, but the service was slow.

Before we went to brunch we took everyone to the stadium. Kevin wanted to climb the stadiums with us. After one, he was a little tired. He did a total of 5. (Sorry Kevin about the 3 before!!)Way to go Kevin! Paul and Marilyn walked around the stadium.