Vacation part 5

This day turned out to be one of the kid's favorites!
My parents treated us to a ride on this! It's an amphibious vehicle!

We took off at Seaport Village and toured downtown San Diego and then we drove right down a boat ramp and into the water and the cruised around the harbor. -A very informative and fun tour.

One of the highlights of this day, was that we spent part of it with my Aunt! She flew out from AZ to visit with us. It was just wonderful to see her and catch up on her life. She is very special to me.

Then it was off to my brother's and sister in law's house. They live near the beach and they offered to teach us how to surf!
Now the big feature, besides being in CA and surfing, was that our family all loves Switchfoot. (except maybe me. I seem to be too old to catch all the words they are saying. I love the Newsboys and Third Day and David Crowder)

Well, the guys from Switchfoot are surfers from this area. One of their father's is a pastor and is building a new church building right in their neighborhood. (I know where my hubby and kiddos will want to worship on the next visit!) Switchfoot worships there! And the beach is just a couple of miles away and so the kids concluded that we were going to surf where Switchfoot surfs! And that made it even more cool! ; )
Todd was so sweet to give all the kids lessons. Here is Joy getting her lesson.

Nathan and Joy actually stood up on the board! Very exciting! Whenever they were 'up' our video camera was pointed in the wrong direction though...
My parents watched and my hubby's brother who was in town on business came along and did some boogie boarding. (I almost did but the water temp was making my body parts go numb!)

Then we all went to Todd and Cindy's for dinner. Cindy made one of my favorites... Refried bean soup. I just had to have the recipe four years ago when I visited and I've been making it ever since. Here it is:


Refried Bean Soup

2 tsp. olive oil

1 cup chopped onion

1 clove minced garlic

1 can chicken broth

1 can Mexican style stewed tomatoes

1 can each black beans and red (or whatever you have on hand)

1 can refried beans

1/4 t. cumin

Heat oil in Dutch oven over med. heat. Add onion. Raise heat to med. high and cook until tender. Add garlic, broth and tomatoes. Raise heat to high and add drained beans. Add refried beans and cumin. Stir well and allow soup to come to a boil. Reduce heat to low and stir occasionally 5-7 minutes. (you can also add green peppers but I never do)

Serving it with Quesadillas is a must and if avocados aren't $1.33 where you live, (boo hoo! They are where I live!) then serve them with GUACAMOLE too. YUM!

We had 'death by chocolate' in the form of my surprise Birthday Cake. And Joy informed them that anything for me needed Reese peanut butter cups on it. An added bonus. : )

The 8 cousins had such fun together giggling and quoting movies. We wish that we all lived closer! That night I also had the chance see A who was my flower girl 16 years ago! And she's a beautiful young lady with 3 adorable children of her own now. It was such a blessing to see her after all these years. Cindy's girls (my nieces) wore the dress her mother made A for my wedding. When they outgrew it, Cindy mailed it to me for Joy to wear, which was really special. Then we brought it back to A that night so that her little girls can wear it someday! : )


I promise to wrap up these vacation posts tomorrow!

~Becky