just before school let out we packed up the car, our bikes and our kids and drove to newport beach where we stayed at the marriott newport coast villas for a week. this is our home away from home when in california. we love taking advantage of our timeshare there because it is close to family, the beach and great shopping. the weather was perfect for us the entire time we were there and every place we went including legoland was empty! we've figured out that may is a great time to vacation to the coast. we kept our vacation simple. i took most of our photos with the pocket sized camera just for the ease of it. we did most of our eating from things we bought at the grocery store and made at our condo. and we did things that cost little to no money like the beach and biking and swimming. even legoland was a gift from a friend at rod's office! we are getting to the point where when we go to california we don't feel like we have to go and do all of the tourist attractions each time. it is just a relaxing place to escape the vegas desert and soak in all of its natural beauty.
when we first got there my parents were already down there visiting darren and nikki in their new home! darren and nikki bought a home just a few minutes away from morgan and elizabeth so now we have two sets of harris cousins within three minutes of one another in san clemente. that weekend was my mom's 70th birthday so we took time to celebrate. niki and i went with her and got pedicures. my mom choose a fire engine red color. that is so very her! she loved her pedicure and is fairly new to them! i think we have her convinced that they are a fabulous thing to do! then on sunday we put together a delicious and easy summer meal and had dinner with all three families. my two brother's are years apart but now that darren has twin one year olds it just feels like everyone is on the same page. it was such fun to sit and talk at the dinner table with the grandchildren. they are growing up so fast! mom requested frozen mango popsicles from trader joes as her "birthday cake" so we didn't make a cake and served everyone a refreshingly good mango pop. nikki had made the most adorable banner to hang and it did the trick for our nan's birthday. she wanted it simple and with the kids. we all loved it. she is youthful and healthy and looks amazing. i'm so glad she is my mom. she always has us in mind but this one weekend it was fun to do things that made her happiest.
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