Beach 2014 - Second Half

Our trip was broken into two parts because the first half of the week was just the five of us, while the second half found several other families joining us. The first day of the second half ended up being just us though, and it was definitely my favorite day of all.

As usual, we woke up early and went down to the beach. The weather was amazing, but sunny. This was the day that the kids all got the most sun. No one ended up badly burned, but there is only so much your skin can take! Maddux and I built many sand castles on the beach with Ruby while Eli boarded and boarded the morning away.

Lehr rented a Yolo board before the beach got too crowded and he and the older kids paddled around on it out past the waves. Lehr would say that Eli's chicken bone is larger than Maddux's, but he comes by it honestly (I wasn't getting out there!).

After much fun on the beach, we retired to the pool and grabbed some lunch. It is a tradition of ours to split a fish sandwich at the pool, often followed by ice cream. The kids loved it and were crazy generous with sharing ice cream with Ruby.

That afternoon, Lehr took Ruby home to nap and Eli and Maddux and I rode our bikes to a shady park to play. Total awesomeness. We played shuffleboard for at least an hour (they got along great!) and then we moved over to the playground where we played "American Ninja Warrior". The kids would go to a high bar and swing themselves to see how far they could jump in the sand. (Much like a contestant 'stuck' on an obstacle an making a jump for the landing pad.) We did that forever until Maddux formed and ripped a blister mid-swing. She was fine, but could no longer compete.

The night ended at the beach; the older kids brought boards down and crashed in the waves as the sun set behind us. All of that AFTER we ate pizza on the beach. Perfect day.

The following days were filled with so much more sun, sand, sea, pool, fun, games, bikes.... David and Renee and the kids had a few other families staying with them, and all of the kids had a blast together.

We ended the trip with a full morning at the beach where the kids got to surf and all pile up on the paddle board. I swear they balanced, jumped, fell, sat on that thing in the waves for an hour.

That last day found Ruby a little more tired. She didn't get fussy, but she fell asleep in my arms while I sat at the ocean's edge and slept for almost two hours. Ruby also cut a tooth while we were on vacation, but it didn't stop her from being the biggest rock star ever!