California! {part six}

Nina cleaning the mud off with a soda lid.

Chris ALWAYS has his camera...

Another great day at Coronado Beach. Clay got all eight of the kids involved in making the coolest sandcastle ever, and Chris and W. made a forest of mud trees all around it. Everyone that passed by commented on what an amazing castle it was! Then after taking a final picture, the kids jumped all over it and destroyed in a matter of about 10 seconds.

We decided with Chris and Natalie to take turns watching each other's kids so we could each have a date night while on vacation. Clay and I went out to Benihana when it was our turn to go out. When it was our turn to watch all the kids we did a barbecue down at the hotel pool, and swam for a bit. The funniest thing was when we were heading back up to the room with all 8 kids and all the crazy looks that people gave us. Clay was at the front of the line and all the kids were sandwiched in between us as we headed up the stairs. I was in the back carrying the baby. People that saw us seemed to be in shock! I called to Clay down the hall, "Hey! We're like the Von Trapp family on The Sound of Music!" (plus one). Clayton said, "Yeah, but this is how family vacations actually were for me as a kid." He's the oldest of eight. Oh, and when I went to get some towels, the girl at the front desk thought it was so amazing that we had four kids. She asked me so many questions about motherhood and, "What's your best advice?" So funny!