I know it’s been a while, but I was on vacation and I’ve discovered that I’m getting better and better at this whole relaxing thing. Those of you who follow me on Facebook saw that I posted a few pictures and status updates, but not nearly as much as I have in the past.

That’s because I was busy catching fish:

It was a little bit breezy out that day, can you tell? Mike and I spent the week down in Newport Beach with my brother-in-law, sister-in-law, and niece and nephew. It was really a fun time – we took the boat down. I finally got to go on it, after three years of dating and almost two years of marriage. No, my husband is not a jerk that won’t take me fishing, it’s just that whenever they do go, it’s typically during the week when I’m at work. Apparently the tuna don’t understand the five day work week. Anyway, we spent the entire week fishing, dolphin watching, sea lion (seal?) watching, and playing on the beach. I boogie boarded with the kids and taught them to paddle board. We even took the boat over to Catalina for the night and hung out on the island.

I did, however, get the dreaded sunburn. I know, I should know better – I got distracted once I put it on my face and ended up forgetting the rest of me. Two hours and a lot of boogie boarding later, I ended up with a gnarly sunburn just about everywhere besides my face. Coincidence? I think not.

The boys did manage to get some serious fishing (sans wives and kids) and caught/saw some interesting stuff. This is a mola. It scares me:

They also came upon a shark, sheep head fish, perch, sea bass, and god knows what else.

Finally, the real reason we headed down for the week… my stepdaughter graduated from college! Without getting all stepmother mushy, I’m really proud of her!