A full week

My empty calendar didn't stay empty very long.  We started easing back into school last week and have jumped into several activities in an effort to meet people and plug into life in California.

To start off, Colin has been asking about playing soccer for months and months.  I kept telling him, "When we move...".  I lost track of how many times we told the kids that.  Anyway, I finally got around to checking into it and caught it just in the nick of time!  I literally signed him up an hour before registration closed.  The next day he had evaluations and practice starts this week!

And now to brag on Alison.  She has taught herself flexibility moves over the last several years.  With no prompting from anyone else, she researched and practiced all on her own.  She also has been asking to find a class to take (Yuma had zero options for anything along these lines) and we discovered a studio just down the street offers an acrobatics class.  We went to check it out and they let Alison take a trial class.  The teacher warned her that it was intermediate class and she may need to just watch, but it would give her an idea of what the class is like.  Well, I was sitting outside about to have a heart attack because she rocked the class!  She's never taken anything like an acrobatics class, but because of what she taught herself, she was able to do every single thing they did without assistance.  

Soccer...check.

Acrobatics...check.

(Eli is waiting for basketball that starts in March)

This week we met a new friend from church at the park and went to the dentist.

We also have been participating in a homeschool group for military families.  They meet Tuesday's at the park to play for the afternoon and then on Friday's and rotate through art, PE and field trips.  It is just my cup of tea.  It's low key, yet really well organized and we've met some really nice people.  

This week we had art class and went on a field trip to Trader Joe's.  After art, we met Ben for lunch and then went hiking at Point Mugu State park. 

Beautiful is an understatement.

When we finished the hike, Ben took the kids to run some errands and I sat on the beach for awhile.  It was pure bliss.

Something about sitting here for just a few minutes completely clears my head.

I'm new to the Trader Joe's club, but this tour only made me fall in love with the store more.  The manager did a wonderful job teaching the kids about the store and I think they actually learned a lot.  Plus they all got a grocery bag full of free food, so it was fun to have lunch taken care of that day.

On top of all these things, I went to the outlet mall twice and we started playing tennis!

Tennis courts are right across the street from our neighborhood and Ben surprised me last week with new racquets.  We went over one evening to see if we remembered how to play and it was the most fun I've had in a very long time.  It also made me the most sore I've been in a very long time.

The kids could not stand not being a part of the fun, so we had to get them racquets too.  We joked that Colin would be a natural at it and we were right.  2 seconds after he had a racket in his hand he was serving the ball:

I need to study up on how to teach kids how to play...or fly my dad out here to teach them :).  They all loved it until Colin got hit in the head with a ball and then he was ready to go home, but has asked to go back every day since.

Eli is growing like a weed and outgrew his tennis shoes this week.  Poor guy had to hike and play tennis in crocs.  Looks like another trip to the outlets is on our calendar.

Smashburger for the win on an evening when life is busy.

The outlet mall still has the Christmas Tree up...naturally that means you have to run around it.

I am quickly falling in love with the California life.  I can see life becoming very rich and full and I love that daily life entails hikes and the ocean.