More Summer Fun . . . At the Beach!

 A couple of weeks ago, we kidnapped my mother-in-law, and all escaped to the beach for the night.

The beach is my happy place.
I love it.
When I'm feeling sad,
When I'm feeling lost,
When I'm confused,
When I'm hurting:
I long for a trip to the sand and sea for peace.

 

 

 

We walked long walks,

 

 

We rode fun rides.
{When I say "we", I don't mean me.  That does *not* constitute "fun" in my mind.  That looks like a nauseous mess waiting to happen.  BUT ~ it's obviously fun to some!}

 

 

Gram and Kam ♥
 

 

The girls found the carousel.  A favorite tradition!

 

 

 

And while the others were on the carousel, Sierra found a space for lease, and was dreaming of opening her bakery there :)

 

 

 

 

Then we hit the sand to collect seashells,
 

and watch seagulls.

 

Tay even found another walking stick.
Remember our last beach trip, and her walking stick??
 

 

And the obligatory group photos ♥

 

 

 

 

 Hopefully the girls and I can make another trip soon.  We miss it already! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Forgetful

 I don't have much of a brain anymore.
Motherhood has fried it.
{And I do mean that in the sweetest way possible, because I really would not trade it for anything in the world}.

All this time I thought I'd blogged our recent trip to the beach, yet, no.
These photos have just been chillin' out in my folder waiting for a blog post of their very own.

So here goes.

Earlier this month we went to the beach.
Friends of ours joke with us that we oughta just buy ourselves a beach house since we travel there often enough.

And if we had a million dollars just sitting around, I think we'd do it!
We love it so.

We are super blessed by family friends who share their beach house with us at least once a year.

It is the cutest house.
In the most adorable neighborhood.
Just a couple blocks from the beach.

We settle right in, make ourselves comfy,
 

and set right to work playing games.
Especially if it's just us girly girls.
And it was, that first night.

 

 

The next day, Daddy joined us.
We had beautiful weather, so we walked around downtown, and grabbed some lunch.
 

 

Then, of course, it was off to the beach.
 

Jeremy and the girls dipped their toes in, then he motioned for me to come on over so that I could "get some photographs". Only, he took my camera while the girls took my hands and begged me to get in because "it's not very cold at all, Mama".

 

 

Yeah. Right.
My toes about froze off, but not before Jeremy grabbed a shot. Normally I don't hand off my camera.  But I'm grateful for the moments I do.  Otherwise, one day, my children will be looking through photo books, wondering if they *had* a mom.
 

So, then it got crazy. 
Girls plopped right down in the water {or . . . were shoved?}, and I skidaddled right out of there. Because, no. 
No to being a popsicle for the rest of the day.

Later that evening, Grandma and Grandpa joined us.
After a dinner of oysters and barbecued chicken, we hit the beach again.

 

  

We found some gorgeous shells, and Sis found the tiniest, most perfect sand dollar ever!

 

Tay . . .  found a stick.
She kept drawing a "trail" in the sand that she wanted me to follow, so I did.

On our way back up to the car, I had to follow every inch of that trail.
When I stopped for a second to snap a photo, she asked why, and I told her: because one day, many years from now, when you're all grown, we'll look back on this photo and remember our beach trip, the found stick, and all the trails you made Mama follow.  At that, she burst into tears, sobbing that she didn't want to grow up.  She wanted to stay with me forever.
And I'm pretty okay with that ;)

After a few hugs, she proceeded with the trails.

 

 

Then we stopped for a sunset pic:
 

 

And we got tired, so Daddy carried.
 

{Then we got back to the car, and found out that the car keys that had been in my sweatshirt pocket were no longer there.  They were somewhere on.the.beach. 
See above for reference to lack of brain.  Sigh.  Luckily they were found almost immediately, and back to the beach house we went}.

The next morning Jeremy had to go to work, so it was just us girls again.
Grandma and Grandpa hung around in the morning, and took us on a walk:

 

{This is in front of the condos we stay in every February with my parents}.

Then it was off to a very yummy breakfast.

We said our goodbyes, and enjoyed the beach the rest of the afternoon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 And Tay pointed the way home ♥

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Beach Trip, Part 2

Beach Trip, Day 2

Jeremy joined us on Day 2, and we were so happy to see him.  It may not seem like a big deal, but for the better part of last year Jeremy was either working at the fire station, or building the house.  He was too busy to enjoy outings with us.  We are so thankful that he has a little more time this year.  A vacation just isn't the same without him.

Tuesday started out with a walk into town.  When we called to book reservations we were assured that it was a short walk to downtown.  Five blocks, I was told.  That's doable with little ones.  Uhhhhh, no.  Actually it was 16 blocks to town.  Anyway.

Once we got there, the girls headed straight for the carousel.


Kam thought it was the best!



Then off to the arcade.  I'm not much of an arcade person, but the girls enjoyed it for a short while. 


Even the daddy enjoyed it.



But then it got a little crowded.  A little loud.  A little obnoxious.  So we left.



Just in time for this little princess who was getting a tad hungry.
And speaking of princesses, Kam wore this pink crown the entire time. {In fact, she still is wearing it non-stop} She found it at the Osh Kosh outlet the first day at the beach, and wouldn't take it off.  She even wore it to bed, sweet girl.



After lunch it was more sand and surf.



This time in bathing suits.
In 68 degree weather.



That didn't seem to phase 'em.



Into the icy water they went.



With vigor ;)



And when we couldn't feel our toes any longer, we went back to the condo for warm showers, and to dress for dinner.  We traveled down the coast a bit to Cannon Beach.  We've never stayed there, but we almost always stop in for dinner.  The whole town is adorable.  Quaint little shops and restaurants everywhere, plus gorgeous views.  Jeremy even pulled over on the side of the road so that I could snap a few photos. 
Is that love, or is that love?




I love the beach.  Love.

Beach Trip, Part 1

So, we've had the busiest couple of weeks ever.  The night we got home from our Crane Prairie camping trip was Jeremy's birthday.  We didn't get to have much of a celebration because we were running around here like crazy trying to unload the trailer, do 3400 loads of laundry, and get everything put away.  But we did manage to have a little cheesecake and open presents, and Jeremy had insisted all week that our camping trip was his birthday present. 

Saturday was filled with more laundry, a quick grocery shopping trip, and then getting ready for Jeremy's grandparents' vow renewal. 

We celebrated until 9:30 Saturday night. 

I know. 

We're party animals. 

Then it was home, and off to bed.

Sunday was the picnic/anniversary party, and then we raced home to pack for . . .

The Beach!!!

We have been looking forward to a beach trip for a very long time.  Our last trip was May 2010, so we were long overdue.

We like to stop for lunch at Camp 18 on our way to Seaside.

And there was no keeping these girls off the sand when we arrived. 



They were so excited to be there.



There was a LOT of sandcastle building.



A lot.



Gramps wrote the girls' names in the sand.



I couldn't get enough of these cute little fingers just digging in the sand.



Sweet Miss Tay slept through a lot of it.



Snug and warm in the Ergo.



Even Nana got her feet wet ;)



Once they found the water . . .



It was almost impossible to get 'em out! 

We had such fun!  Jeremy had to work part of the time, so he didn't get to join us until Tuesday.  Luckily the beach is only about an hour and a half from Jeremy's station.  He surprised the girls by 9am.  We were so happy to see him.

Stay tuned for day two at the beach . . .