To The Beach!

Rachel and I have been talking about maybe taking the kids to the beach while she is here. Her mother-in-law has a little cabin down in Long Beach and we sort of, kind of, thought about, maybe taking all the children for a couple days. Seriously, taking care of kids is so tiring. We weren't totally sure we were up to the task.

After studying the weather we decided it was do or die if we were indeed going to do it. At our Father's Day lunch with Rand (who couldn't go to the beach but graciously said we should go anyway) and my Dad, we decided we were going and we were dragging my Dad and his trailer with us. Then on the way home to pack we invited my Mom and she decided she was coming too. There was a brief moment of panic when we started packing and counting heads and beds (10 people in a 400sq ft cabin??), but in a few hours we were on the road. We left Sunday evening and arrived at the beach right at sunset. Easton, Annabel and I ran to the beach to see it. It was beautiful!

In the morning (we all slept relatively well) I went to the store with my mom and we went down to the beach after breakfast. It was great weather. Sun, not too much wind, and fairly warm. The big boys played in the water for the most part and the little ones played in the sand. Rachel and my Dad spent a large portion of the day looking for her dog who bolted the second we got to the beach. I mean bolted and was gone. It didn't help that he is the exact same color as the sand. He was eventually found at the Humane Society. Oopsie and phew!
The weather slowly deteriorated throughout the day and was eventually raining by evening. We went back to the beach for just a bit the next morning, but we were tired, and cranky and the weather had turned. Nobody likes their wet cold legs getting pelted with blowing sand and rain.

We hit the road and were back home by yesterday afternoon. It was a crazy (fun) impromptu beach trip!

WE LOVE THE BEACH!

 

He got brave and got in the ocean this year!

 

FREEZING!

 

After tracking Sam for a good couple miles, they returned....with no dog.

 

I love the trek to the beach

 

love

 

She had so much fun walking (dragging) Sammy all around.

 

Sam's back (yes, we have 2 dogs named Sam)

 

And this is why we brought Papa! :)

Ocean Shores

To beat the heat wave last weekend we headed to the beach for the day on Sunday. It's always guaranteed to be at least 10 degrees cooler. That's not always a good thing around here, but this particular weekend it was...at least for me. No A/C in houses (most people anyway) around these parts!

We went to Ocean Shores this time. Our main reason was because you can drive onto the beach there. With all the gear we drag out there with us I was willing to put up with cars on the beach for the ease of access to our towels and coolers and tents and buckets and the copious other things that must go with us! It's really hard dragging a double stroller loaded with 2 children and all that other stuff through a sandy trail and over a dune down to the beach where we usually go. I love that we live close enough to hop in the car and go for the day....or half a day. The scenery changes so fast, and so does the weather! We left upper 80's (on it's way to upper 90's) and sun and drove right into maybe 70 and cloudy. The marine layer never did lift while we were there (in fact, we have yet to have a sunny day at the beach this summer, but we are going to keep trying) but it was warmer than the last few times and the boys were in and out of the cold ocean all day! Easton stayed in the sand. Annabel stayed in the pop-up shelter.

Baseball on the beach, of course.

It's  a great way to warm up.

Can't slide real well in sand. :)

It's not every day horses come tromping through the middle of your baseball game!

Spur of the Moment

Sometimes a spur of the moment trip is the best kind. Rand had Friday off since he worked last Saturday and we've been just waiting for the weather to get nice enough to head to the ocean. Yesterday the stars aligned and knowing the weather has been nice for "too long" and the rain has got to be coming, we decided to take advantage!
I lived here my whole life and have awesome memories of going to the ocean and so I am not sure why I thought my children would be any different than I was and choose to stay out of the ocean because it is just too cold for swimming? I mean really. So I packed all wrong, bringing blankets, sweatshirts and boots instead of swimsuits and flipflops. Did it stop them? Um no.
We played in Westport for the day and picked up saltwater taffy (because how can you not when you go to the beach) and then headed home just in time for Brendan's baseball practice and had a really perfect day.

Frozen solid

Typical. Remember this?

Sea Isle City, NJ

Over the long weekend, Rand and I (and the kids of course) got to go to the shore for the first time. Thanks to a friend of a friend we got a serious hook-up and a 2-night stay at someones beach house, just a block from the beach. It. Was. Awesome! It's been a while since the kiddos have been to the beach. Westport, WA, Summer 2006 was probably the last time. I'm sure Wyatt doesn't remember and Brendan only remembers a bit. They were excited and a little nervous about what the beach would hold. Mostly, we talked about sharks all the way there.


For Rand and I, it was our very first look at the Atlantic Ocean. I grew up in a West Coast State and spent most of my Spring vacations with my family on the Oregon Coast. Rand and I went to college in L.A. and spent our entire college experience exploring Southern California beaches. I've known nothing else as far as beaches go, except for a 3 month adventure in Hawaii and 3 months in the Philippines. Those beaches almost didn't even feel real to me. I didn't think much about the comparison because there wasn't any. Those were tropical islands. My beaches at home were the "real" beaches.
Enter East Coast beach experience:

SOO, all that to say that this weekend was trippy for me to be standing on a beach on the EAST coast. I guess I didn't realise how much I used "the beach" (on the West) as my point of reference. The ocean (W), Mt. Rainier (E...most of the time), Canada (N) and California (S). That's how I always knew where I was. Staring out at the Atlantic Ocean....besides knowing the sun would never be setting on that great big ocean....just thinking about Europe on the other side...or that South was actually to my right....felt soooo weird.

This, my friends, is EAST.................................................And this, is looking towards home, WEST.


Rand and I went for a walk on the boardwalk one night around sunset. It was so bizarre. I kept finding myself wanting to look toward the sunset and realizing it wasn't that great of a view...and then back to the ocean...and something just seemed missing. I was looking for all that color to be on the water...for the hot, firey sun, melting into the cold blue ocean. Not so much. The ocean just slowly faded away without much color at all and it was almost as if the sun was running from it in the opposite direction.



In defense of the beautiful East Coast....the mornings on the beach were magical. The ocean was practically alive with sparkly color. Intense, bright, excitement all over the surface of the water. It was definitely a different feeling than a West Coast morning on the beach.





The kids were a fury of excitement the entire time. The water was cold, just like in Washington. Once you were numb, it was quite enjoyable. The air was warm on Sunday and Monday so the boys spent a lot of time playing in the ocean. Brendan, Mr. No Fear, grabbed a board and hit the waves without an ounce of hesitation. Wyatt followed suit, like he does. It was hilarious when Wyatt realized the water was salty. I'm surprised he didn't gag and throw up (that's what he does).
*Side note about barf: Wyatt recently barfed up his entire (non digested) hot dog into the bath tub the other day because he saw snot come out of Brendan's nose. It took 5 min. for him to stop throwing up. I could write a book about Wyatt and his gag reflex!

So we had a lot of fun. I found myself quite grateful that God has given me opportunities to do new things....to expand my horizons (even when the sun doesn't set where I think it should). Often, throughout the weekend, I found myself saying, "We're in New Jersey. NEW JERSEY!!!!" I just never thought I would be here. I mean, why would I? Yet here I am. Exploring new places.
Jersey Shore. Check!





















This is for Uncle Bubba! (fishing at sunset. pretty anti-climactic don't you think?)