BEACH

We're back from our beach vacay. It was probably the best trip we've had in Newport. And the best weather. It was in the high 70's the whole time. This was our 7th year down there. We started going when Winter was 8 months old and Mya just turned two. Now our baby is 3 and life is oh so much easier. So for all you mamas with diaper wearing, psychotic toddlers on vacation, it gets easier. Life just continues to get more doable and more fun with these kids. There were very few are we there yets and only a couple carsick complaints by the time we reached our destination. One of the many reasons we vacation one hour from home. 

Dan likes to get there two hours early just in case we are able to check in early. We always go to a local pizza joint for lunch. As we were slowing down our loaded minivan to pull into the parking lot, a grumpy gus in a nice car shouted at us as he drove past us. We had the windows open because of the carsick complaints so the kids were able to hear him clearly.

It went something like this:

Road Rager: "F#!%iING IDIOT!

Mya: What did he say??

Me: He called Daddy an idiot... cuz he doesn't have Jesus in his heart.

Winter: He said bucket idiot...

Me: Yeah... that's weird. There's the pizza place!

We were able to check in a little early. It didn't take long for the kids to make themselves at home. 

Week days are so empty. One of the perks of renting after Labor Day.

Addie's the easiest one to burry cuz she's so teeny.

Dan insisted we bring the expensive camera. I reluctantly brought it and ended up really loving pretending to be an amature photographer. And it was easier to get good pics of the kids because they didn't even see me taking them. I mostly used the giant lens that takes super far pics. I know it's called something technical but I don't know what it is because I'm just pretending.

There was lots of boardwalk bike riding...

And sand gymnastics.

Favorite Mya comment of the trip:

Wendy: Mya, you are so beautiful with that long hair and those GREEN EYES!

Mya: Yeah, you should see them in the sunlight.

Still love this belly oh so much.

Flying a kite.

I'm going to do something with this picture... maybe black and white. Not sure. There are some awesome filters out there. It'll be fun to test them out.

This one too.

Newport Beach is kind of close to the Higerds now so of course we insisted they visit. Mari took this one. Swimsuit model James is by far my fave in this pic. 

I took this one. And in a matter of seconds, all the faces are different. They are all such fun little people. I still can't get over how many babies we carried in our bellies.

And we always love it when Uncle Bill and Aunt Karla join us. 

For the first time, we rented a little boat and ate lunch while cruising around the marina.

The girls were not happy about having to wear life jackets but they tried their best not to complain... well not really. They complained a lot. But they still enjoyed it I think.

And everyone got a turn to drive.

This guy hitched a ride for a while.

And we saw seals. Laziest animals on the planet.

Oh here's Brittany. Mya's creepy doll. She is always winking because one of her eyes doesn't work. She was a thrift store purchase. I feel like I've mentioned her before. Can't remember. Mya insisted we bring her on the boat with us. I like to take pictures of her and send them to my friend Elizabeth who thinks she's incredibly frightening. She's an 80's child. All those doll horror films will get to you after a while. 

My mom always joins us on our trip. The kids adore her, especially Angus. Whenever he's upset he goes to her instead of me. It's kind of nice. And when he needs someone to help him in the bathroom, he calls for Grandma. 

They love this lifeguard tower. It says, "KEEP OFF" but I guess they don't really enforce it. 

Dan likes to make sure the kids get plenty of exercise while we're there. I totally had my money on Mya but Winter won twice in a row. 

I take SO many pics at the beach, just trying to get a few perfect ones that I can frame and end up overdoing it a little. But whatever. They are so fun to photograph.

The big girls had so much fun boogie boarding together this year. That's pretty much all they did in the water.

Angus doesn't like the water much. It's a bit cold for his taste.

Addie mostly looked for baby shells and danced around.

Mom's on the phone and doesn't seem to notice that Addie is standing on her.

Grandma opens her bible and studies the book of Job while Angus studies trucks.

The girls brought two weeks of classwork with them on vacation. This is Winter's daily journal. She actually did pick up a bird. Twice. Against our constant threats of harsh punishment and warnings about bird diseases. I don't even know how she was able to catch TWO pigeons. Winter has always been drawn to birds. Since she could waddle as a toddler. I told her she must have been a golden retriever in her past life. When she sees a group of birds she must run to them and chase them. 

And Angus did bite her. Hard. It was a first time offense but he got in big trouble. 

Our friend Ashley joined us for the first time. She's one of our favorites so we were super happy to have her.

Speaking of favorites, this delightful sister of mine traveled the furthest. It took her 3 hours and we're so glad she came.

She took these pics.

I like to wear this shirt to remind people that sharks are out there and they are not your friends.

Wendy helped Mya with her homework...

And also convinced her to do an extra credit project for science. Dan bought some giant shrimp down at the dock so Wendy figured, why not look it up and draw a diagram of all the parts of the shrimp. Mya does not like creatures of any kind. It didn't help that Dan chased everyone around the house with it earlier. But she agreed anyway. 

Winter loved holding the shrimp of course. 

She turned it in to her teacher and he was super impressed. He didn't give her extra credit though. Oh well. But we all learned a lot. For instance, the shrimp abdomen is on its back. Weird huh. 

Dan cooked it up and Mya didn't mind eating it. She loves her some shrimp. 

This was the highlight of Angus's whole trip, and possibly his life. He got to check out a giant wheel loader. 

The nights in newport aren't bad either. Dan took this one. 

And I want to frame this one because it's where we've spent so many vacations together as a family and it's a cool pic. But I can't decide which filter I like better. Actually I like the first one but I'm sure Dan will prefer the second. 

I've learned so much this trip. The shrimp abdomen thing and also how acceptable it has become to wear a thong bikini to the beach. I have seen far more tushies than I care to. But I also learned that taking pictures at sunset is not the best time. I totally thought the lighting would be great. Not so much. Still cute pics though.

Dan and I celebrated 10 years of marriage on September 14th. 

Now onto fall things like shopping for halloween costumes and the perfect pair of sweatpants. Heading to Trader Joe's tomorrow to count the number of pumpkin items they have for me this year. Happy pumpkin shopping to you all.