At The Beach

We went to the beach with the Prisbrey's, Carter's, and Burgess's. We had a great time. Isabelle had the time of her life....she had her Dad 100% of the time and cousins on the side. Olivia was in her prime as well. She loved the sand and......well, being held. I loved the time with Michael, the girls, and my siblings (Mari pregnant for the second beach season was just as fun!) We found a huge starfish at the tide pools, leave that job to Belle-Belle. She spotted it out and made sure her daddy saw who she was certain was Patrick from Sponge Bob. Papa and the husbands ate their weight in crab legs one night and we even bought a case of Mexican coca cola which they all guzzled. We went on bike rides and walks on the board walk. We saw dolphins and sea lions at the beach. We went to the aquarium and the guys went scuba diving in Catalina. We had a birthday party for Allie who turned 5 and we are quite sure that the highlight of the kids' trip was each morning's demolition wake-up call. They were tearing down the house next door so every morning bright and early the kids would press their faces out of the window to watch the tractors and big trucks tear down and demolish the house. Initially with the loud noises and chaos, Isabelle wasn't as excited about the demolition taking place. That is until Grandma Nan realized she was waking up without her glasses on. Once she had them on and could see where the noise was originating from and that it was an EMPTY house being leveled rather than an inhabited one, she was just as enthusiastic as the others in the project. However, she was still a bit on guard. She went from room to room accounting for everyone just to make sure no one suffered a fatality in the wreckage next door. She was very resolute to be in charge of everyone's well-being while demolition was taking place.... particularly her daddy's. Carter and Connor thought they had died and gone to heaven having front row seats to the show. They knew the name of every piece of equipment used. When the last day finally arrived, we were all convinced someone had taken away the rest of our blissful vacation...it seemed too soon to end it. Oh well, we'll take it up where we left off next year!