A Week at the Beach

We are back from a fabulous week at the beach. We stayed at the same house we stayed in last year, which was lovely. It's a great house, and it was so easy since we knew where everything is and how everything works.

The best part of our beach vacation is the pace. We set very few plans, and everyone can choose their own adventure. 

One of the big funs this week was the Legos! Aunt Shannon brought three sets:

Evan made a military jeep complete with working door handles. Issa made a Starbucks that actually lights up:

I made Pooh Corner:

All three pieces now are on display on our landing.

We played a lot of games:

And the one mandatory thing each day was family dinner. One of the highlights was Aunt Shannon's veggie tray:

One of the big highlights of the week for me was our two trips to the aquarium to see the otters:

I absolutely love otters:

The whole group went on Wednesday, and we did the whole aquarium:

Thursday a smaller group of us went back just to see the otters at enrichment time. I am already missing my furry friends.

We went down to the beach every day but Wednesday:

We had red flags at the beginning of the week, but it was still nice to wade and watch the ocean:

The end of the week brought green flags and lots of ocean bobbing:

The kids and I spent the most time down there:

And we mastered the beach tent so I am finally not burnt at the end of vacation:

Evan even made himself a sand lounger one day:

Shannon made it down to see the sun rise every day, and Brad and I made it twice:

There were also many, many silly selfies:

Evan also took a whole series of photos of Issa taking photos:

We also did the traditional photo shoot! Issa opted to only do one outfit this year, focusing on pointe:

And Evan captured his wrestling moves:

It was a fabulous week of just a lot of being together. In the day to day, there just isn't a lot of space for just being. I loved bobbing in the ocean and chatting with my big kids; those are moments that are even more precious as we head into freshman and senior year.