Mormons and Mexcians

Matt and I have lived outside of California and inordinately far from family for a good 80% of our marriage. (I just read that word in my head the way Captain Jack Sparrow says it: mar-i-AHJE. Feel free to follow suit.) Anyway, so what is the first thing we do when we get to my sister Rachel's house? Ditch our kids and make them babysit.
So we did what cool Mormon people do and we went to the exquisite San Diego temple.

Next, we did something educational because, well, I guess it is just in my Locke blood.
We took our kids to the Mormon Battalion visitor's center and learned about the Latter-day Saint soldiers who marched toward the Mexican-American battlegrounds circa 1847. Alex got to wear the soldier garb and who does he point the gun at? Me. How lovely.

This topic steered Alex into an obsession with Mexico. He already studies maps and is fascinated with foreign languages so it wasn't hard. We told him how California used to be a part of Mexico but he didn't buy it. "What? But there are no Mexicans here!" he insisted. All you've got to do is step outside, buddy. Immediately after that we were getting a cart at Costco when he noticed a couple speaking Spanish to each other. Quiet and discreet do not describe Alex so he was very audible when he exclaimed, "Sweet! Mexicans!" I just hope they took it as a compliment.
Aside from a visit to the Border State Park so we could see Mexico through a fence, we pretty much stuck with American stuff.

The kids were ecstatic to actually have cousins around for a change.
Alex and Steven here.

Natalie liked having a volunteer for hair styling and Bekah loved the attention.

Elizabeth tried so hard to get Michael to like her. Here is a moment where he gave in. She was undeterred by his crankiness and I love her for it.

Four little monkeys on the bed.

We tried the beach, I mean, this was Coronado after all, but it was freezing. The kids tried the water, but in the end, Jason was the only one who swam and the others made for the dunes.

At least the beach was good for a fire and s'mores.
Also, Jedd "knows a guy" and got me my own box of exotic, gourmet, handmade chocolates. I think they lasted an hour. He is also responsible for the awesome pizza we had and that I try to duplicate.

Mary came down later on and we played an unforgettable board game and ate Jedd's homemade kettle corn. The boys went to bed, but these three goons stayed up til the wee hours of morning--those are always the best talks, aren't they?

Here is an attempt at a picture of the kids.

We had a fabulous visit, but we had more places to go and people to see. So we said goodbye and forged on to the next adventure: ditching our kids again and sailing to Mexico.