The Glorious Sun

 Hoping that sea foam wasn't harmful, cause he enjoyed it.

The wind.

 That would be a dead jellyfish.

(it's resting on a shovel, not her hand)

 The wind and a combover.

9/5

The weather this past week has been so lovely.
I'm not taking it for granted because it's only a matter of time before the gray is back.

It hasn't been windy at our house, but when we got to Marina State Beach (above) the wind was out of control.

It cut our sand-dollar hunting short.

Yesterday we went to a different part of the same beach to ride the dunes.

9/7

That was an adventure that included a shark sighting (Owen and Cal) and a foot full of stickers (Meg).
The views were amazing, though.
I'd do it again with either no baby or a husband (Justin had a class all day).

On our drive home I found this playhouse set out for free.
Literally that morning I had been searching for wooden playhouses thinking it'd be fun to get one for Sally for Christmas.
I was proud of myself for getting it home and assembling everything except the roof myself.

 The assembly included getting rid of one too many spiders.

Today she sold (or gave) us french bread pizza and giant cookies.

KOA Santa Margarita

We met our Carlsbad friends, the Laytons, in Santa Margarita last weekend for a little camping.

It works out, cause everyone has a buddy:

Sally and Jacob.

Drew and Dax.

Owen and Gavin.

(kelli pic)

and Reed and August.

This was our first KOA experience and it was a good one.

Our site was on it's own little level (so felt private) and was right across from the jumping pillow.

We split up meal duty and ended up eating better than we normally do at home.

Saturday, we took advantage of all KOA's activities and amenities.

(kelli pic)

 Indian survival skills demo.

(kelli pic (i was on baby nap duty))

The pool.

The snack shack for ice cream.

The favorite: water balloon volleyball.

The playground.

Another favorite: the jumping pillow.

And a hayride.

The view at the top was pretty awesome.

All this, and the fact that the kids were just so happy to be together, made up for:

the heat

the flies

the bees

the filth

the long walk to the bathrooms

and the lack of sleep.

 Until next year!

Some Randoms

8/6

Justin ran across the street for a second while August was napping.

Walking back to the house he noticed the blinds in his room moving.

Most definitely not napping.

 8/8

Boy power at Dennis the Menace Park.

8/19

Banana shakes w/Tes after kindergarten.

(thanks for the picture, Sarah)

8/19

Family night at the beach.

 8/22

A happy moment.

And an unhappy one.

Which we've had too many of thanks to never-ending teething.

And last but not least, Drew and the weapons of mass destruction he found on a bike ride with Justin.

8/22

Love this picture Justin took w/his phone on their ride.

PS Sally decided to give herself some bangs.

8/23