The 4th at the Beach

Wow, has it been a while. I think of blogging so often. Each time I get a great shot, I imagine what I will say when I post it. But the pictures and days accumulate and soon I am digging through 400+ and I am overwhelmed. So in an attempt to keep you updated and not have this post be HUGE, I kept to the two main things. Beach house and t-ball.

The beach house and 4th of July! We were able to be there for an entire week! What a joy. The weather couldnt have been any better. It was pure therapy.

Yay for ferry rides!

We were able to go up with Mary and Mr. Dave, along with great friends Matthew, Nikki, and their son Eli.

What do you do first at a beach? BBQ of course! Matthew brought the house down with some super yummy grub!

My girl diggin the sun.


Zach and Eli at the kids table.

One of my favorite all time shots. I didn't realize I had gotten this because the sun was right in my eyes, but I love it.

Beach baseball. I just LOVE all the bright and vibrant colors that happen at the beach. Its just a normal occurrence all the time there. Perfection.

Me and the pretty lady Sadie, who is wearing her new bow from the garage sale from down the street. She normally doesn't keep them on but she likes these ones, and so did I. Not over the top. Just sweet.

Unlike this one I found in the stash. Hilarious.

Nikki graciously sharing her tanning bed with these two monkeys.

Our neighbor, Luke (12), and his family are the best. He is so patient and wonderful with Noah. He didn't mind having a little one admire his work either. So they dug and played and built all weekend.

The guys getting back from a run.

The weather later did take a turn. It got cold and windy, but the boys refused to come in. Again, with colors. The green, blue, red...amazing.

We also hit the Oak harbor 4th Parade. It was a bit toasty for me but the kids loved it.

Our crew.

I think this is the first time Tony has had a child in any carrier other than a hiking pack. It was great and Sadie passed out!

We also met up with our buddy and officer, Jen Porter. How cool is that?! We know her!!!

Waiting for the show. Im semi excited that I had a small amount of wherewith all to remember red shirts for everyone. This is big for me.

Daddy and daughter. I love getting these two together.

The parade did get started and it was fun. Especially when the pirates came along!

And where did we go when we got back? The beach of course. Tony had a fun time doing sand castles and I was messing with my phone in the sunlight.

Fresh crab from the neighbors. Noah loved it and kept calling it "crabs". Can I have some crabs? Yea, some things are worth not correcting.

Then of course, came the evening fireworks. It was freezing outside. Windy and super duper cold. But per Tonys begging, we bundled and watched the neighbors light up the night. Zach and I couldnt hack it for long, but Tony and Noah stayed out for the long haul.

Sand castle #1

Sand castle #2

The super crash for a nap. This picture just looks like a piece of heaven. Not only because he is so sweet and angelic looking, but because he looks so comfortable and I want to be there right now!

The sunsets are mind blowing and different every night. My camera just cannot capture it fully.

One of our last days there two friends came up to join us with their kids. What fun it was! Kids littered the beach and had hours of fun.

This shot was also cool in sepia. Again couldn't tell what I actually getting a picture of because of the sun, but I love it when the sun is streaming in. He is just growing like a weed. We measured him again and he grew over an inch in 3 months. Sounds like a lot to me. Especially because he was a month old when we started coming here.

Its official. Sadie does not like the feeling of sand on her feet. So I held her the first few days, but then I wised up and put shoes on her. Hello. Then she was a beach baby and couldn't get enough of the stuff.

She seems to always have a purpose. This was to get to the water before I could snap a picture and stop her.

Especially since the kids had big sticks and were hitting each of the waves as if to beat it back into the ocean.

These two. Noah has become even more of a care taker. He loves it when Sadie or Zach lets him dress them. He loves to tell them the rules and gets very frustrated when they disobey. Which is interesting. He tells them that they need to listen to his words. Hmm, who does that sound like?

And finally, the famous bath. All 3 bums washing at once. This tube gets used at least once a day. And by the end of the week we defiantly had a dirt ring going on. Which was wonderful. It means we played well.

And our second main event, is T-Ball. Both boys have officially started up on the same team. The Tigers. Which Noah came up with. It really helps that they are together, because I wasnt sure how it would have gone over with Zach having to watch. These guys are two pea's in a pod that are inseparable. I love it most days, but some days its hard when one goes with out the other.

Stretch!

Team huddle. Tony is still coaching. He loves it and so do I. I love that he loves it so much. Noah thinks its pretty great too.

I think this is Zachs game face. He would not smile for me.

Up next!

Ready....

Swing! Its really funny because he knows to run to first base, but sometimes he just keeps running. Straight. So, into the other field. If we arent there to stop him, he will be running circles in the outfield.

In some other news: Zach is now fully potty trained. We were delaying the process as long as possible. Just messy, and we have so many things going on each day...but finally I decided. Its time. So in 24 hrs, it was over. He had one accident. And has been a potty user ever since. Its like he knew what to do and was ready to do it. I forget to remind him or tell him to let me know, and before I know it, he is telling me and washing his hands. Ah-maz-ing. Its been great. One less thing.

Also, we were in a huge conflict over school for the boys next year. It was costly to put them both in preschool next year. We are holding Noah back a year, so he will do kindergarden when he is 6. Finally, we decided on homeschooling this year. We have done some summer workbooks and it is really fun to watch him learn. So we are hopful for a fun and great year coming up!

Heres to hoping I can keep up even better next week!