My sister and her kids were here mid-week last week for a quick visit, then some of my husband’s family were camping at San Clemente State Beach over the weekend, so we spent time with them as well – it was a fun but busy week!

It was really great to see my sister and the kids. My sister stayed at my house, and the kids stayed with Grandma or with Uncle Jon and hung out with their cousins. Grandma and Papa were troopers and took all 5 grandkids out several times and kept them very well entertained. The kids all got along really well and had a blast. My sister and I actually got a whole day together to shop and talk and relax. Then Papa and Aunt Carrie took all the kids to Boomers so that my sister and mom and I could go out to dinner. It was awesome! But my favorite part of the visit was the day that we went out on the fishing boat.

The kids were really excited. It was warm but overcast, so it never got too hot while we were out.

We saw hundreds of dolphins – they came right up to the boat and surfed our wake and jumped and swam in front of the boat.

They disappeared periodically and then we’d see more. We took some time to do slow rides on the inner tube, and even though it looked like there were no dolphins in the area, every time we started the boat up again they showed up and swam with us for awhile. Here’s Uncle Jon and the boys:

And here are the girls:

There was a little seasickness, but overall everyone had an awesome time. So good, in fact, that all 5 kids sacked out on the way back to the harbor.

Well, I ran the Dana Point Turkey Trot 5K yesterday. I can’t boast about my time, but at least I managed to run the whole thing! Pictures are not up yet, but I will try to post a link when I can so you can see me crossing the finish line, with my face bright red from exertion. What better way to justify eating myself sick on Thanksgiving?