Long Beach Day One

I'm finally getting around to posting a report and pictures from our beach trip!  We really had such a great time!  I took some time before I went to bed each night to write a little about that day, so here is what I wrote about our first day:

Monday July 20, 2009

This morning, the girls and I left Vancouver with our good friends and headed to Long Beach, WA.  The first sign that this was going to be a good trip was that Rori made the entire 2 ½ hour trip (plus the hour before leaving town, doing errands in the car) without needing a single potty break!  She did great! 

We arrived at the house we are staying at right in time for lunch.  We quickly made sandwiches and pulled out veggie sticks to eat and then got changed to go to the beach.  We had been watching the forecast for a few days and we were very excited that it was actually going to be 80 degrees here today!  However, as usually, the forecast was not entirely accurate.  It was more like 60. lol  But we were excited to be here, so we got ready and walked the ½ mile or so from our beach house to the ocean.  It was cold.  Not freezing, but definitely cool.  For some reason, that did not stop any of the kids (who are all undergoing psychiatric evaluations) from playing in the waves.  After a pretty short visit, Susan and I called the kids back in so we could go into town and do some shopping instead.  We had fun looking through the cute shops and each and every one of us ended up with a new “Long Beach” sweatshirt.  We also each ended up with a yummy ice cream cone once we were done shopping. ;)  Just before leaving, we noticed that the sun was out in full force and the fog had burned off, so we made a beeline for the car and raced back to the house so we could try the beach again.

This time it was MUCH warmer!  It was so warm that most of us took our new sweatshirts off and we all enjoyed a little water.  We gathered driftwood to carry back to the house and after dinner, we started a fire in the fire pit so we could roast marshmallows and have Smore’s.  YUM!  Once we were out of firewood, we came back inside, started a load of laundry (because most of us used two, and in some cases three changes of clothes today, which we hadn’t entirely expected) and sat down to watch Twilight.

The house we’re staying at is just right.  It’s not super fancy but it is large and has everything we need.  I’m hoping that the next time we have family come visit us for any decent amount of time that we can come up here for a couple of days.  It’s beautiful, convenient, and affordable.  :) 

Everyone’s in bed now (though, I’m positive the kids are up talking and being goofy) and I should turn in so I’m up for the full day of fun tomorrow.  I miss my Blue but I’m having a fun time with my girls and friends. :)

I took many pictures on our trip.  And then I came home and played with them... creating even more!  Here is a slideshow with some of the pics from our first day.  One thing I didn't realize when we first arrived, was that this was Jake and Jessica's first time to the beach!  And it was only Emma and Kaitlyn's second!  Poor deprived children!!! ;)  Now I understand better why they were so excited and how every little thing fascinated them. :)

Stay tuned for Day Two...