This past weekend we went to the coast. We rented a house with our friends and went for just the weekend. It was a blast! We started out the weekend at the Fitzgerald Marine Reserve where there were tons of tide pools. The kids had a blast there. As a matter of a fact, it was their favorite activity of the entire weekend. They are excited to go back. It was pretty chilly, but not too cold to put on a swimsuit and get your legs wet. They spent their time looking at all the cool critters in the pools and they were able to reach in and hold them and play with them. I wish it wasn't such a cool day, we would have spend hours more there. But the mom's (me) and the babies were getting a bit too cold to stay much longer. Saturday night we went home and started a fast, as we have been asked to fast for rain in the state of California. We talked to the kids about fasting for rain. On Sunday morning, we woke up to rain! It was wonderful. WE went to church and then came home and the boys fixed us a wonderful lunch to break our fast. Sunday was also M's birthday, so we had a couple cakes and cupcakes and really lived it up! Then we went to the beach (the rain had slowed to a light drizzle) and let the kids play. J and I raced the beach and tied (thanks to her going the wrong way). The kids loved it. On Monday we woke up and headed to the California Academy of Sciences. What a blast! We could have stayed there for days. It was perfect. There were butterflies and snakes and an earthquake simulation, aquariums, a planetarium and so much more. It was a bit crazy with 11 kids, but so much fun and worth every bit of work. We had a great time and look forward to going again.