Oceanside 2008 (warning-tons of pictures!)

Kaia and Brandt

I know I'm always taking pics of Layn & Ty, but I love the bond they have. I love this picture.

One of the big shots of the family. That tripod I used was a lifesaver. I've concluded it is near impossible for a huge group of people with 5 kids under 5 years old for everyone to be looking at the camera.

Every couple years we have a big Bentley family vacation (just my parents, the grandkids, and me and my 3 siblings & spouses) that my parents organize and pay for everyone. Two years ago we did the Lake Powell thing on a houseboat and rented a speedboat and some other stuff. We spent a whole week wakeboarding and having fun. So when this summer came around we were all wondering what we should do for a family get-together. We decided a beach house in California would be awesome. So, my mom put me in charge of finding a place and organizing some of the trip (which I was enthralled to do- I love planning stuff). I found a 6 bedroom, 6 bathroom house on the beach in Oceanside which was so beautiful, and it was so much fun. I swear the trip went by waaay too fast because we were all having such fun together. We spent the whole week lounging on the beach, going to Legoland, shopping around the pier and downtown in Oceanside, going to Torrey Pines in La Jolla for family pics and more.

The boys played plenty of smashball.

Jared & Tatum. Too cute.

We left on Saturday morning at 7 a.m. and drove all day with the kids to the house. We then unloaded and did the grocery shopping (we filled 2 huge carts at Costco!), while we were awaiting my parents' and my sister and her family's arrival at the airport. At the end of the day we were utterly exhausted from all the traveling, so we quickly went out to the beach and then hit the sack.

Dan (my brother-in-law) and his daughter Emmy (aka Ty's BFF)

Rog & Kelly at Torrey Pines

On Sunday we went to church at an Oceanside ward and then all of our family and friends that live in California came over the beach house to have a BBQ and hang out at the beach.

Monday we spent the whole day at the beach and we all got FRIED from the sun, except the kiddos (thank goodness). Needless to say I don't think we wore as much sunscreen as we needed to. We all were in a lot of pain for the following couple days. You could hear painful groans throughout the house as everyone was putting aloe on. We all paid dearly for that huge mistake.

Kelly, Emmy, & Kaia

The kids and everyone spent a lot of time digging for sand crabs. Layn didn't believe me that there were such things as sand crabs, until we caught some and showed him. His reply: "those are disgusting!" I have so many childhood memories of doing this.

Rog looking for them.

Tuesday we decided we better not spend the day at the beach, so we headed to Legoland. Kaia and Brandt loved it, but if anyone wants my opinion, Disneyland is waaaay better and the same price. I overdid myself the day before (I thought it would be okay to go boogie boarding-yeah right) and so from Dr.'s orders I had to lay low the rest of the vacation. So, my sweet husband and dad rented me a wheelchair and I was pushed around Legoland the whole day in it. I received so many strange stares...

Dan, Ty, Emmy, and Papa on the train ride at Legoland

Wednesday we spent the whole day at the beach again, had a "weenie roast" and made s'mores by the pier. Unfortunately it was overcast and foggy the whole day.

The Boys playing on the beach

The "Weenie roast"

Ty downing his chocolate bar. He wasn't too interested in the s'mores, just the chocolate.

Thursday we went to Torrey Pines in La Jolla and it was beautiful. Even though it was overcast (again) we got some great pictures. I have been wanting to take our big group family shot for awhile, because the last one we had taken was when I was like 12 years old. It was a fun mini-hike down to the coastline and the hike was totally worth it. I have seen tons of pictures of picturesque Torrey Pines and I had been wanting to go there for some time. I'm so glad we went. Torrey Pines is a state park right on the cliffs in La Jolla and is breathtakingly beautiful. Anyone who hasn't gone there, go if you're ever in Southern California!

The Whole Fam.

Mom and Dad. The group hiking to the coastline.

My sister Rachel, her husband Jared, and kids Kaia, Brandt, & Tatum

Kaia and Brandt

My sister Bekah, Dan, & Emmy

Rachel & Jared

Roger & Kelly

Friday was the 4th of July and people were already pitching their tents at the beach the night before. I had no idea it was going to be so crowded. It was crazy! The boys reserved a big spot early in the morning and by the time we all got there we we so glad the boys had done that. Yet again, the whole day was overcast and foggy, but we had tons of fun anyway. That night we went out to watch the fireworks and we could hear them, but couldn't see them because of all of the fog!

Another pic of my adorable niece and nephew Kaia and Brandt

Bekah and Brandt

Saturday was the last day and we packed up and headed out. We stopped for lunch in San Diego at The Cheesecake Factory before Jared, Rachel, & their fam had to head off to the airport. We arrived back home around 8:30 and we were all so tired from the long car ride home.

Ty was pretty good on the vacation, but still had some disciplining issues (as usual). He HATED the beach and the sand for the first 3 days which was so frustrating, but we just dropped him off in the sand and let him scream and cry it out until he finally got up and walked around and played with all the other kids (how mean are we?).

A special thank you to my wonderful parents who funded the whole vacation and who have started this wonderful tradition. I'm so glad we can be a part of it! I'm also so happy everyon in the family was able to make it. We didn't think some of our hubbys would be able to make it out there because of time-off-work issues and all, but everything fell into place perfectly.

I know, I know, this post is terribly long... Now we're off to packing and moving into our new place all week long. I'm so ready to have our own place again!