Jam packed Weekend Away

This past weekend, Ben and I took a trip to California (without kids) to attend his sisters wedding. They were getting married at the Newport temple, which was minutes from our good friends from college, the Hellewell's, who live in Laguna Beach. We stayed with them for our trip. We packed every minute with something. We left Friday, after the kids went to school. It was so weird not having the kids in the car. We listened to some of our old music, and I tried to sleep a bit. I can't believe the only time I can actually sleep, I forget to bring a pillow. We stopped at In and Out on the way, and met up with Matt and Nicole for lunch. We then went over to the Coach outlet. Neither one of us walked out of there with a purse. That is pretty amazing since we are both Coach purse connoisseur's! We hit a few more stores, and then headed out to avoid traffic. We got to the Hellewell's and visited for an hour, and then got ready and left for the wedding dinner.

The dinner was nice, allowing Ben and I got get to know her fiancee whom we had never met, a little better, along with his family. The seemed to be very laid back....a California trait!;)

After the dinner, we headed back to play games and spend the rest of the evening with our friends.

The next morning our friends made yummy crepes and then we headed off to the beach. It just wasn't any beach. It was a private beach where their parent's have property. Its called Three Arches Bay. It was so NICE!! (I can't believe I didn't take my camera!) It was the cleanest beach, and had all the amenities (volleyball, grills, picnic table, and nice bathrooms) and no traffic! It also had great waves, fun tide pools, etc. The kids would have LOVED it. I definitely want to take them there! It was hard to pull ourselves away. We finally pulled ourselves off our towels, and quickly got some lunch at our favorite Mexican food spot in Laguna called Baja Tacos. It seriously had the best shrimp tacos I have ever had. We then rushed home to get ready for the sealing.

This was the first time I had ever been to the Newport Temple. It was a beautiful mini temple. It was a beautiful day for us, but a hot one for the locals. They were all complaining about the 80 degree weather. LOL They made a beautiful couple. Her dress was a lot like mine. Know what that means if that style is coming back around? It means I'm old! Ha!!! (Or that I was ahead of my time! Double ha!) Here are a few shots after the ceremony.

After pictures, we rushed back to go to a reunion of sorts that was going on at a friend of ours. There were several people from college that we haven't seen since college. It was great catching up, and was hard to leave so quickly, after not seeing them for so many years.

We then headed back for the reception. The grooms parents had turned their backyard into a great reception area. They had a tent and a dance floor, lit with white lights and a colored disco light. The food was exceptional, Maggianos and some Hawaiian food. One of the better backyard weddings I have seen in awhile.

After getting some dancing in, Ben and I left to spend some last few hours with the Helewells before we went to bed. We were planning on leaving that night, but decided a full nights rest would be more safe. We were up early, and home before church. Ben took the kids to church, and I stayed home with Sophia. I hadn't slept all night, and the 3 hour nap was much needed. I'm still trying to play catch up around here.

The last two time we went to Laguna I have gotten really homesick for California. I so miss the mild summers, where you can take your kids outside for whatever activity you want to do. I miss the summer bike rides, trips to the park and beach etc. It was so nice driving around with the windows down and feeling the cool breeze on my face and looking around and seeing all the beautiful vegetation. Of course, Ben just looks around and sees traffic and a state that is bankrupt! I guess I'm just still a California girl living in Arizona. Good thing I like it here, too!