Labor Day Weekend!

We started the weekend off by going to California and celebrating my dad's birthday - Happy Birthday Grandpa! We love you! Mom cooked a great meal with an even better cake! YUMMMMM!!!!!!!!!!! Jill, Matt and Scott were there too - way fun. Megan and Haley instantly took to Scott and when they got the chance mothered him to death, I think he enjoyed it though. Then the next day Jeff and I officially celebrated our 9th anniversary - Happy Anniversary Sweetheart! I love you tons! We went to Disneyland and then to the very place we met - a real baseball game - and the Angels kicked butt! We had great seats and a great time. Thanks to mom and dad and Jill for watching the rug rats while we were gone. On Sunday Jeff participated in the Disneyland 1/2 Marathon and he did a great job. There were about 20,000 runners and even more spectators - it was absolutely crazy and exciting. I can't believe Jeff did it and is still standing, I am one proud wife. Why anyone would want to wake up at 4:00 in the morning to go run 13.2 miles is beyond me. The only part I would remotely enjoy would be running through Disneyland and California Adventure and seeing the fun things there - of course I might have to stop and steal a ride or two while there. Next year Wendy wants to run with Jeff, any other takers?

Well after that what else was left to do except hit the beach and catch some waves! We spent Labor day at the beach with beautiful weather and the best waves ever. Nathan, Cole and Paige tried their hand at boogie boarding, Paige fared better than Nathan and Cole and actually had a blast doing it although she still prefers body surfing. She is a natural beach bum! Nathan and Cole had a couple of great wipe outs and decided to go back to chasing waves with Austin and Aaron.

The girls had fun jumping the waves and burying each other, they even made mermaid tails for themselves and Emma. Heidi was the beach crack-up. She was a hoot to watch playing in the little man-made puddles claiming them as her own little tide pools. She is the funniest baby ever! Everyone was on alert when she started moving - she headed directly for the water, no fear at all. Poor kid was stopped every time just before the wave could over take her. The water was cool but that didn't stop anyone from getting in and Jeff even made a new friend when a giant wave pummeled him to the ground and stole his boogie board. (Due to the fact that I value my life I will not be posting the short video clip of the awesome crash!) After some fabulous homemade hamburgers for dinner we tagged the day as one for the history books!
Our last day of vacation was spent at Disneyland - everyone was back to school so we decided to hit the rides before the drive home. Wendy, Jared, Kate and Cole were there along with Brooke, Emma and Heidi and Grandma. Grandpa and Aaron joined us later in the day. What Gray trip to California would be complete without a visit to Disneyland? And other than the fact that we lost Nathan for about 5 minutes, the trip was fun and exciting as usual!