Baby Lucy Central Coast Trip

Sunday was baby Lucy's baby blessing. Kelly and Julio live in San Luis so we decided to do a Central Coast tour while we were down there.

We headed down on Friday after Trevor's Cross Country meet. And most of the kids fell asleep in the car - awesome!
We stayed 2 nights in the lovely Motel 6 and made lots of fun memories during our stay.

Here are our top 5 moments of the trip...

5. Splash Cafe - TWICE!
We only ate there once, but met Kristen, Doug, Ryan, Tyler, Karen and Doug there and watched them eat their hot clam chowder breakfast because they were soooo cold from sleeping on the beach the night before.


4. Hanging on the Pismo pier
After breakfast we walked down to the end of the pier. The priceless moment came when Doug W. tried to take a picture with the pelican. That pelican did NOT want to be photographed and just about bit Doug's arm with a protesting "SNAP" of his beak! Doug jumped and squealed a bit as he scooted out of harm's way. Has anyone ever seen their father-in-law jump like that? I sure haven't.



3. Avila Beach
Avila Beach is so good to us. There are many things we love about this place. The Fruit Stand/Barn is a favorite stop. The kids always get to feed the animals, get a treat and maybe a scoop of homemade ice cream. (Notice Benny flashing the "Big Fuchi" sign... the Ward family has wholeheartedly accepted the Duran Family big fuchi obsession and that really is the sign.)

The waves are perfect for our little ones. The big kids usually enjoy some body surfing too.


There were dead jellyfish all over the place. The kids were picking it up and snuggling with it almost - ew gross! Most of the parents wouldn't even touch it. Bleagh.


The kids thought this was great! Ammon was the only one that got a little claustrophobic, but the others stayed happily buried until they got sand in their eyes. Doug R. was the master sculpter as he transformed the sand into various sand creatures around the buried kids.




2. Watching the "boys" play 3 flies up
For dinner on Saturday night Kelly planned and organized a bonfire party. All the Wards/Christophersons/Reids/Burtons were there, the Minnicks, some Hernandez's and some San Luis friends. We were quite the crowd. The bonfire was raging, the food delicious and the entertainment was entertaining. Someone brought a football and started the game. Every guy out there was a magnet to this little competition. It was like they were all in high school again. They didn't even come in when dinner was served - they were so into it! I don't know who won, but they all had a great time competing, jabbing and teasing each other.

1. Baby Lucy's blessing
This blessing was the whole reason for the trip. The Hernandez and Ward families took up about HALF that chapel - it was a great gathering. There were 13 guys in the circle (yes, I counted). She was so beautiful in her white gown and white bow. And that sweet little girl did not disappoint! She knew this moment was special and she wanted to be the absolute center of attention on her special day. She cried through the whole thing and the microphone picked up her wailing and made it even louder. Julio was a trooper as he prounouced a simple yet powerful blessing on his first child. He did great and so did she. The bishopric member even commented that Lucy would someday be a great singer with lungs like that. It was a moment we will never forget.

The after party was also great. Tostadas, homemade salsa and posole at the park - you just can't pass up Grandma Rosa's cooking! Everything was so tasty. It was nice to be outside too so the kids could run and burn off a little steam before we hopped in the car to go home.