Beach Days

After hours on the beach, I pile all the gear into and on top of the car, rinse off shivery bodies, pull out the dregs of the snacks from the bottom of the bag because everyone is STARVING, soothe the cranky and teary meltdowns , and try to hold it all together myself, not lose my patience, and end up saying things like, "if you don't stop crying, we are NEVER going to the beach again!"
And then we get home and it's quick! make dinner, get them bathed, and into bed because they are so wiped out.
It is always kind of frantic and crazy, and everyone is on the verge of hysteria.
Beach days end hard.

But those long, long, hours at the beach are worth all that.
Every. single. time. they are worth it.
Today William, Davy, and I spent an hour kneeling in the shallow water hunting for tiny, darting, fish that hide in the sand until our hands stirred them up.
William caught one with his quick little hands.
He was so proud.
What fun we had, spying on that quiet world under water.
Today the boys built a city of sand with their buddies.
They were building Stonehenge and Hadrian's Wall, and some other British landmarks they've learned about in history.
I loved listening to their conversation, "how did they get those stones up anyway?"
Today Lilly floated around in a little, green inner tube that someone left on the sand.
She is far too big for it, but was happy as a clam, as she floated along, booty dragging on the sandy bottom.
Today Davy romped around with all the big kids, and loved his life.
Today they spent hours in the water on surf boards and boogie boards, talking and laughing, and hanging out in the water with all their buddies.
Today they swam to the wall, jumped off the dock, and braved the swarm of boats being piloted by novice sailors.
Today, they lived a beautiful day.

Sure there were moments that weren't so perfect.
Sand in the face and sun screen in the eyes.
Toddler fights over sand toys, and water bottles.
2 pooping trips to the public restroom, where I wanted to barf rather than stand there waiting for them to finish, and have to tell my 2 year old not to touch anything 5,000 times.
I really, really, really hate public restrooms.
There is no such thing as constant bliss--at least not on this earth.
This quote really fits those kind of moments, don't you think?

As the sun sank lower and the beach grew emptier, my heart was full from our time there together with friends, and with each other.
Time in the sun, in the water, and enjoying God's glorious creation.
It blesses us so deeply.
After the tedious job of loading everyone in the car, we pull away from the curb, and I say the same thing every time, "I had such a great day with you guys!  I love being at the beach with you.  I love you all so much."
And it's so true.
Even if there is chaos when we get home.
At 9 pm I am still wearing my damp bathing suit and cleaning up the kitchen from our slap-dash dinner.
I am tired.
But it was worth it.
The good things always are.
I love summer time.

Hope your summer days are treating you right.--little stupid things and all.

Love from,

Greta

Camping Part II: Hitting the Beach

September,  I don't like you.

And right now, my feelings for you are actually a lot stronger than dislike.

They're verging on the h word.

It was 106 at my house today.

What the heck, September?

What the heck?

I'll be the first to say I love summer time and warm temperatures.

I love long days at the beach--days when you stay till dark because it's so beautiful that you don't want to go home.

I love flip flops, sundresses and never having to put on a sweater.

I love leaving the windows open all day and all night.

But even for this summer loving girl there comes a time when you just need to stop it.

Lay off the 100 degree temps, September!

While you're at it, lay off the 90 degree temps too!

I'm done.

I'll take 80 degrees for a couple of months, and then you can drop it down to 70, and then a few days here and there in the 60s for our wintertime temps.

But enough with the heat wave.

Enough!

August is done, and you don't have to prove you're better than her.

In fact, everyone will like you better than her if you just took it down a notch.

And if not, well, people are going to start liking January better than you.

And that's saying something.

.................................................................................................................................................

Really hot weather makes me cranky.

It makes me mean.

It makes me irritable.

It makes me impatient.

It makes me, well, you know.

My poor, poor children.

I am sure I told every child not to touch me at least 5 times today.

Nice, huh?

Obviously I am not meant for life in Arizona, or the South, or the tropics, or Southern California right now.

I need to get away.

Like we did a couple of weeks ago.

It was really hot then, too.

But it didn't matter because we were staying at the beach.

It was 85 on the beach and it was perfect.

Especially since it was this beach.

I've never had such great weather on a beach camping trip.
We hit the jack pot.
As soon as we set up camp on Friday morning, we headed to the beach.
The water was so warm that we just dove right in.
This is the Pacific ocean we're talking about.
Warm is not usually the way I'd describe it.
But warm it was.
And we played in it for hours.

And the next day we played in it for hours.

And the next.

What a blast.

I wish I was there right now.                     

Just scoping out the surf with all my little blondies.

The kids had so much fun playing with their cousins.
Days and days of sunny beach time with some of their favorite people=paradise.
They never ran out of things to do.

Early in the day, the water was so calm, that getting out on the board was no problem.
It was James' first time surfing on the ocean instead of the bay.
But it felt almost the same because the surf was so mellow.

There were still some falls.
But that's easy to do on a board with no wax--it's slippery.
James has pretty great balance on a board with no wax.

I even took the board out.
I didn't really surf--just paddled.
But it was a first for me.
And so much fun.
The first time I went out, I was all alone on the water.
I was enjoying myself, paddling farther out, until that thought came into my head.
"What if there's a shark?"
Since I was the only body out there, he would go for me, of course.
That made me kind of freak out.
I'm a strong swimmer, and a beach and ocean lover, but I am not at all a lover of swimming in deep water, with all the creatures that live in it that might eat me.
Still, I went out again, and I was less freaked, and had even more fun.
I think this might be the year I learn to surf.
It's time.
But I'm scared.
But I'm going to do it.
But I'm scared.

On the second day, Aaron helped the kids build this awesome beach hut.

 Check out those seaweed ties.
 The man has talent.

Unfortunately, while building said hut, Aaron was stabbed in the leg by a palm frond.

Mark came running back to camp, where I was working out (yeah, that's right!) while Davy napped.

"Aaron cut his leg pretty bad.  He might have to get stitches."

Grrrreat.

Apparently he got stabbed in just the right spot, and blood was actually shooting out of his leg, like in a movie.

I couldn't believe how much blood there was.

But he got it to stop, bandaged it up, and was fine.

He stayed out of the water for the rest of the day.

And he looked good doing it.

With such nice weather, and the beach such a short walk from our camp site, there was time to do some of our favorite beach activities:

I read almost a whole magazine over the course of 3 days!

I indulged in long walks and even a couple of trail runs!

Aaron and I both napped on the sand!

William found treasures on the beach.

We tide pooled.

We hiked.

The kids boogie boarded and body surfed in the waves.
Even William--it was his first time to try it.
And when the surf picked up, and there was a big shore break, and he got knocked down by a big wave once, and then again while in Aaron's arms, he still went back out there.
After some angry tears, of course.

They dug holes and made castles.

We saw dolphins and seals.
And the sun never stopped shining.
Until the last day.
That day was grey and windy and cold.
Everyone was tired.
And cranky.
We still went to the beach, though.
None of us braved the water.
We just watched the waves and dreamt of our next trip.

Refugio, we love you.
And we'll be back.
For those of you stuck in this dreadful September heat wave, stay cool.
For those of you already enjoying cooler temps, and baking pumpkin flavored goodies, just keep it to yourself.
Love from,
Greta

Settin Up Camp

This day last week we were basking in one of the best camping trips we've had.

Some friends had beach campsites for Labor Day weekend and couldn't use them.

They kindly offered them to us and we said YES!!! without hesitation.

Beach camping, in Santa Barbra, at one of my favorite beaches, on a long weekend?

Make that a HECK YES!

To make the trip even sweeter, Aaron's sister's family came along.

We have 8 kids between our 2 families, all practically the same age, and all the very best of friends.

It was a whole, whole, lot of fun.

Of course, I took a zillion pictures.

I've been trying to post them all week, but these 5 am mornings have been leaving me with no energy for late night blogging.

I fall asleep at the computer and wake up to find I have typed utter nonsense.

And writing during the day is a complete impossibility since I can't even go pee without someone needing me for something, or a major emergency happening.

I certainly couldn't find time to formulate enough thoughts for an entire blog post.

This is the way life is right now and I am trying to get used to it.

It's not forever.

It just feels like it.

But back to camping.

Since I took a million pictures and there are at least a few dozen stories I want to tell about the trip, I'm dividing it up into a bunch of different moments and memories.

That way days can go by between postings and it won't bug me so much that I am not finished.

So here's the first one: Settin Up Camp.

................................................................................................................................................

Within one minute of us pulling into our campsite and setting David loose, his mouth was on the fire ring.

He spent pretty much the entirety of the camping trip looking like an unkempt, orphan child.

And he loved every second of it.

Camping with a toddler, Lesson 1: He will not be clean.  Get over it.

Aaron and James got to work right away setting up our new tent.

James was, as usual, a great help.

He was so proud that he helped Daddy figure out how to build the tent with no directions--"we just used our brains."

James, you are our right hand man.  

We love you, son.

William wasn't too interested in helping.
Climbing palm trees seemed like lots more fun.

But he gave in after a while and was a big help too.

After all, hammering in stakes is almost as fun as climbing trees.

David just kept getting dirtier.

The tent went up and the kids all ran into explore it.
It's huge!
We all love it.
In fact, I devoted a whole post to it over at Picnics.
I hope this big, old, canvas tent of ours will be the host of many more cold, uncomfortable nights spent with the ones I love.
Ahh, camping.
It's so much fun while you're there and so much more fun when you come home to a clean bathroom.

Lots more pics to come.
And a funny tale or 2 also.
Stay tuned.
Love from,
Greta

Why I Love the 4th of July

The 4th of July is one of my favorite days of the year.

It wasn't always.

I don't have amazing childhood memories of the 4th.

But then one day, long ago, that all changed.  

I was 17 years old, and falling in love with a boy named Aaron. 

On that 4th of July, we sat side by side, and as the fire works exploded overhead, he held my hand for the first time.

19 years later, we're still holding hands while we watch the fireworks.

Sure, the fireworks are sitting on a ladder in the middle of our street, not exploding over Mission Bay.
And we're sitting on lawn chairs, not on the sand. 
And instead of the sound of water lapping at our feet, we hear our kids screaming their heads off with joy, or terror, (David) at each explosion.
But if I would have known 19 years ago when Aaron slipped his hand in mine, that I would someday have ALL this, I would have squealed with joy myself.
Happy 4th, my love!

It seems the 4th of July gets better every year.
This year was pretty much perfect.
Except for the extreme amounts of fatigue induced crankiness that ensued the next night at bedtime.
But you gotta let those things slide sometimes, right?
Get ready for a boat load of pictures, people.
............................................................................................................................................................
We started our day with an early morning hike under some Oak trees.

Lilly enjoyed the view from her favorite spot in the world.

I enjoyed hiking with Davy in my favorite spot for him. (he's not such a fan anymore)

We found a bee hive.

And explored under bridges.

We enjoyed a rare treat: raspberry soda!

When we ventured out from under the oaks, we found a cactus patch.

And sandstone caves.

Which we had to explore.

Last year on the 4th, he was not even 3 weeks old and now he's itching to get out and climb around himself.
I'm going to miss carrying this little guy on my chest.

After the hike, we came home to our neighborhood 4th celebration.
And then the real fun began:
Bounce house.

Go cart.

Cotton candy.

I lost track of how much cotton candy this girl ate.

She lived it up!

Then we had to come inside for a bit to rest.
Some of us even napped.

Then back outside for basketball.

And trying our hand at exploding bottles of diet Coke.

We used 4 bottles of coke and each one exploded differently.
It was a total blast, although we didn't achieve the height that they did.
We're going to refine our technique.
And in case you ever want to try it, some teenage boys discovered that when Mentos are added to diet Coke inside your mouth, the Coke shoots out the same way it does out of the Coke bottle.
Out of your mouth and nose, that is.

For reals.

Amidst all this hubbub, I managed to make my first rhubarb pie.
From scratch!  
See all the details here.

Lilly played all day long with her new best buddy, Cody.

There was a train to ride.

And a fire truck.
With buttons to push that made noise!
This 4th child is unaccustomed to these kind of toys, because we don't have any of them anymore.

And then, it was time for fireworks.

I made popcorn for the show.

Davy was not too sure about the fire works.
His nervousness grew as it got darker and the fireworks grew louder.

Sparklers!

Tears and smiles.

And our very own fireworks show.

Who could ask for anything more?
God bless America!
He certainly has blessed me.
Love from,
Greta


PS.  I had such high hopes of posting more now that it is summer and I have a bit less on my plate since I'm not teaching the kids school.
But I am up to my ears in summer projects, taking kids to the beach, and planning Lilly's paper doll birthday party.  
Here's hoping I'll come up for air and get a chance to blog more regularity someday soon.