Last Beach Day of Summer .........

When we arrived home from vacation, we still had a few days left before school started, so we decided to spend one more full day enjoying the beach that we all love so much! Now, I was aware that Hurricane Earl was supposedly heading our way in the next day or so, but that didn't stop us!
Perhaps I should have given that more thought - What was I thinking?! LOL

We got to the beach and saw something I've never seen before. It was like a giant natural makeshift pond way up on the beach where we usually plant our blanket. Looks like Mother Nature was pounding that surf in preparation of Earl.


We decided to make the best of it, especially since the "pond" was warmer than the actual ocean! The kids had a blast playing and running in the shallow water -





But then it was time to brave the ocean, the waves looked like so much fun! Daddy, Ryan and Kelsey made their way down......



While the big kids played, the little one had a blast!


Eventually, my pipsqueak decided that she too wanted to frolic in the waves -


But the waves were rough and the undercurrent was strong, so we all stuck together; helping each other out, and holding each other up! :)

I will definitely think twice next time before heading to the beach again during a hurricane forecast!

After a wonderful fun day of smiles and tears (after the scavenger seagulls stole our bag of Doritos right off our blanket!) the sun started to set, and it was time to call it a day! The 3 amigos posed for a few more pictures ~


and suddenly the tide went out, along with it the "pond" that we had grown so fond of. At the end of the day, this was all that was left of it!

So it was time to hit the showers and head on home.


Thanks Summer 2010 for being everything I've always dreamed a summer should be! :)

Amazing Vacation.............

Last week we headed to the mountains with Grammy for an end of summer adventure, staying somewhere completely different from our usual "beachy" type places that we love so much. What fun we all had!

We arrived to find our very own mountain top treehouse!


It even had a cool deck out back that looked out onto a forest!

Not to mention the biggest bathtub any of us have ever seen!


We even had alot of cool new neighbors drop by below our balcony to pay us a visit each day-




We spent a good part of every day swimming in the various pools, especially enjoying the mushroom-like fountains!




The kids were not happy though that every hour, at 10 minutes to the hour, there was a 10 minute ADULT SWIM! Boy, did we grown ups like that rule! ;) Notice how happy and content Grammy looks in the below picture without 3 monkeys hanging on her neck! Ryan, not so much! LOL (They were allowed in the kiddie pool during that time)

We went out to eat a couple of times - But we had to make sure that everyone had a chance to sit next to Grammy!


While Daddy and the kids enjoyed splashing in the big tub-

Mommy and Grammy enjoyed some fine wine and watched Big Brother!

All of this fresh mountain air has done wonders for Marks hair! LOL

Here's an even better shot where you can really appreciate Mark's new hat!

We spent an entire day at an amazing waterpark-(see previous post for video of Ryan "surfing"!)









There was this cool obstacle walk that Kelsey aced....ABOUT 12 times in a row!

I, on the other hand, couldn't even make it across once! LOL

Ryan decided to approach the course a little differently than everyone else-

and sure enough, he made it all the way across!

Well, look at that! ~ a "different" way works just as good as a "typical" way! ;)
What a blast we all had at this park!

We played a little miniature golf-


and even decided to race each other on Go Karts!




We visited a Teddy Bear Factory where the kids got to make their own special vacation friends thanks to Grammy!



And then, Grammy was in Vera Bradley heaven in this next store! :)

Next thing we knew, our vacation time was over and we had to say goodbye to our sweet little mountain retreat! I know we will all miss the peace and quiet of being on that mountain together. It's such a different world than the crazy, hectic lives we lead here at home.......

This was my view about an hour into our ride home. The girls passed out, and Ryan rocking out to his MP3 player, my little party animal!

Life is good and I'm thankful I get to spend mine with these people! :)