The Beach

On cold rainy days like we have had all week, I like to look at pictures of warm weather.

This summer we went to the ocean. We were hoping to cool off since the temperature was supposed to reach the high nineties where we live and typically it is cooler at the beach. It was hot at the beach that day, the thermostat in our car read over ninety. There were a lot of people at the beach that day. I guess we weren't the only ones who wanted to enjoy one of the rare ninety degree days and they were definitely rare this year, so were the eighty degree days.

The tide was out when we got there and so we parked on the beach, along with a million other people, but we parked up at the top because we knew the tide would come in. Unlike a lot of owners who raced to move their cars. Some cars had water up to the doors before they were moved and had to have them aired out. We saw three cars be towed out of the water, a few be pushed and I think one people were trying to lift out of the water. Hello!!!! Where are the owners???? Why aren't you concerned when all the bystanders are? One car with a wet interior only moved their car about five feet up the beach. They moved all of their chairs and things before and then there car had to be towed out. It was crazy.

We had fun flying kites, enjoying a picnic, and building sand castles. This year Littlebit loved running in the ocean. It makes me so happy to see them enjoy the ocean, since it was something that I have always loved.

Sand in the City

Every year at the end of August we venture down to Sand in the City. The forecast called for rain, but we had a beautiful sunny day. My mom was able to come and play with us. The kids had a great time and look forward to it every year.

We built cars and raced.

It was Sand in the City's 10th Anniversary, so we made a block print to celebrate it.

Making a recycled vase.

Lovey climbed the rock wall.

I think the kids like the activities more than they like looking at the sand sculptures. There were a lot of people since the weather was so nice, but is was a wonderful day!

Zoo

One of the items on our summer to-do list is going to the zoo. We decided to make a trip up there yesterday. Big Daddy had to work, so I took the kids by themselves. (My the zoo is expensive!) I packed lunches for us so we could spend the day there. And spend the day there we did, we were there for over six hours! Good thing Lovey was our guide.

The first place we went was the aquarium. It was dark in there and Littlebit tried to run back out, but being the mean mom that I am, I picked her up and forced her to go in. She then told me that it wasn't scary at all. We went to the touch tank and for the first time, the kids actually touched some of the sea animals. We saw the baby tigers and the snow leopards too. Then it was time to come back to watch the divers in the shark tank.

I bought the kids the fun pass, so we fed the Budgies. I don't have any pictures because both kids freaked out when the birds flew over to their sticks, so I ended up feeding the birds. Then it was time for a camel ride. I was afraid that they would back out of this too, but I was so proud of them that they tried it. They had so much fun that we had to do it again later.

After the first camel ride, we decided to see the rest of the animals.

The kids and E.T., the walrus.

Trying to see the otters.

At the reindeer, Littlebit started throwing a fit. I told her that this was a reindeer and might know Santa, and if she didn't stop throwing a fit, he might tell Santa. I know, mean mom, but she stopped - at least until we were past the reindeer.

We also rode the carousel. A lot. Littlebit wanted to ride all of the horses on it and after each ride she would pet the horse and thank it. So sweet.

This was Littlebit's favorite. It's name was Lillie Belle.

Lovey told me it was a homerun day of fun! I thought so too.

Camping

Last weekend, we took the kids camping at Lake Crescent. We only had two three day weekends left before Labor Day, so even though we had a 30% chance of rain, we decided to go for it.

It was cold on the drive up there. It's August and only 58 degrees. Brrr... By the time we got there, the sun had come out and it started to warm up. Hooray. After finding a site (there were only 5 left) and setting up our tent, the kids wanted to go swimming in the lake. Brrr... I brought life jackets because if the weather held up we were going to take a ride in my dad's boat. I made them wear the life jackets since I was not going swimming. Lovey was disappointed because it made it difficult to swim. Littlebit didn't last very long in the water because it was so cold.

At about 5am, we woke up to rain on our tent. It was just a little drizzle, so we decided to pay for the next night of camping too. We went hiking to Sol Duc Falls with my mom and went we came back, we discovered that it must have rained a lot while we were gone.

There was water under our tent and the chairs were full of water. We decided to pack up the tent and end our camping trip early. I tried to be a good blogger and take pictures of the watery mess, but I got in trouble for not helping pack up. Oh well.

Here's the mess on the tarp. You can't really see it, but it is covered in water.

Big Daddy pouring water out of the chair.

Now we have everything set up in our garage to dry. When our neighbor saw the tent in our garage, he laughed and asked if we were camping in there. No, we just have bad luck camping. This is the third trip in a row that we have been rained on.

Checking Off the Summer List

We have checked off quite a few things from Littlebit and Lovey's summer to do list. We have been to the beach, we went camping twice, and Lovey went fishing with Grandpa. On Sunday we took a mini vacation and checked off three more items on the list: stay in a hotel, go swimming, and go to the zoo.

We decided to take a little vacation to Portland, Oregon. On the way there we went to Mount St. Helens. The clouds cooperated by moving, so we could see part of the volcano. Lovey was fascinated by the volcano and the movie he watched about it. He kept asking when it was going to erupt, not out of fear, but out of fascination and I think he wanted to see it erupt.

When we finally arrived at the hotel, we decided to go swimming. Littlebit was a little daredevil in the pool. She would walk away from you and jump in, so that you had to quickly swim over and pull her up because she doesn't know how to hold her breath. Scary. Lovey practiced the things he learned at swim lessons, like floating on his back. A year ago, floating on his back or getting his face wet would have resulted in him yelling.

The next day we went to the Portland Children's Museum. This is a fabulous children's museum and although there were a lot of kids there, it doesn't feel crowded like the one here. The kids had a great time on the stage, playing with the trains, and in the dig pit. Lovey and I even played a giant game of checkers and Littlebit played with blocks that looked like wood, but were soft.

On our last day, we went to the zoo for $2 Tuesday. Yikes! Who's idea was that. It was nice to only pay $6 to get in instead of $30, but it took over an hour just to get in the gates of the zoo. We had to park in a church parking lot and ride the shuttle to the zoo. The kids loved the shuttle because it was a school bus and both kids have a fascination with buses. We didn't see all of the animals at the zoo, but we did see bears, elephants, and tigers. We went to see a cougar that Grandpa had helped rescue, but it wasn't out due to having its area cleaned. Bummer, that's why we wanted to go. The kids loved the elephants and still talk about the size of the poop and the size of one male elephant's privates. Nice. Next topic. We also took the train around the zoo which Littlebit had been asking for the entire day. We left just as it was starting to rain. Our timing was perfect so that we only were rained on in the car.

The hotel we stayed in was nice. I might post a review about it later.

In three days, we checked three things off of the summer to do list. Now to try to finish the list before Lovey goes to school in a month.

Trip to the beach

What do you do when the temperatures are supposed to be in the high 80s, you have two little kids, and it is daddy's day off? You drive to the beach.

The ocean is just over an hour away, so we packed lunch, sand toys, a kite, swim suits and towels and drove to the beach on Friday. We ate our lunch in the car and arrived at the beach around noon. It was still cloudy and cool, but soon the weather turned sunny. We started out parked on the beach, but ended up moving the car because the tide was coming in. We moved it just in time too because just after Big Daddy drove the car off the beach, the waves rolled in about five more feet to where our car was parked! It caught everyone parked around us by surprise I think.
We built a sandcastle that was quickly knocked down by the waves and flew a kite. Littlebit is usually my water baby, but I don't think she liked the waves. Lovey, who is usually more timid, kept running out into the water. He was knocked down by the waves once and couldn't get up and he drank some water. I was pleased that he didn't panic though. He just kept lifting he head up until I could get to him. He was closer to the beach than I was. I ended up with very wet pants. Good thing I brought a change of clothes.

I was happy to see my kids enjoying the beach and the water. The delight on their faces brought joy to my heart. This was the beach where I lived until I was eight and I loved it. After the beach we drove around the little town. Each time we are there I like to drive by my old home. I was sad to see that the playhouse had been taken down. It was still there when we drove by three years ago. I can't believe all of the houses around it, I missed the house the first time we drove by. I was looking for the playhouse.

We enjoyed milkshakes and fries on our drive home. Going to the beach was on our summer checklist and now we could check it off. Maybe we will go back again soon.

Camping

A few weekends ago we went camping with three other families. There were 17 of us total. Eight adults and 9 kids. We went to a state park with a creek on the canal. The kids had a great time riding their bikes and scooters and playing in the creek. They wanted to swim in the canal, but each time we would go, it would be low tide and the oysters would cut their feet.
We planned on taking the kids swimming in the canal on Saturday night, but while we were changing we heard thunder. We waited awhile and since the cloud seemed to pass over us and there was blue sky we went down to the canal. As the kids were getting in, we saw lightening. We decided everyone had to get out and we would try again in the morning. It rained on and off with a bit of thunder and lightening, but ended soon. At 6am we woke up to a huge clap of thunder, I think Lovey was the only one to sleep through it and he had gone to bed with a migraine. We got up and took down our tent and left by 9:30. As we started driving off, it started to rain.

Here are 2 funny things that happened while camping:

1. My friend, Amy, killed a spider by the door of my tent. While she was killing it, she said, "You would do the same for me if it was a snake." I responded with a maybe. That afternoon while walking back from the creek, we saw a snake. She turned and ran screaming. I screamed and ran after her. Hmmm. Some friend I am.

2. Amy, Big Daddy, and I were walking back from the bathrooms in the dark and a dog started growling and running at us. The owners are yelling that he is off his leash. The dog is scary and is snarling at us. Big Daddy throws me in front of him and hides behind me. Nice. Thanks for protecting me! The owners got the dog and then said he was friendly. Sure.

Summer to do list

I love lists. They help me stay organized and help me remember what I need to do. I love to cross off things when I have finished them. There is a sense of accomplishment to it.

I helped Lovey and Littlebit make a list of things they want to do for the summer. Lovey really wants to learn to read so that is on his list and Littlebit wants to play with a duck (?) so we added that to the list.

Some of the things we have already crossed off like camping (see the previous post) and going to the beach. We also be doing these things again.

The kids like looking at the list to see what we can do and it gives them something to look forward too.

Blessings of summer

One of my favorite things about summer is berries. I'll take any type of berry: strawberry, raspberry, huckleberry, blueberry, blackberry, marionberry, etc. I try to stockpile berries in my freezer so I don't just dream about them all year, I eat them too. Littlebit and Lovey devour blueberries, we were out so fast last year, that I am determined to have more this year. Lovey is a great blueberry picker. He has picked blueberries (or been with me) since he was 4 months old. This year I took him to an organinc blueberry farm in town to pick berries. It was a little early and the berries were small. We picked for over an hour and only were able to get less than 2 quarts. I'll either resign to buying a flat or trying my luck later. Mmm... I am already dreaming about frozen blueberries. Yum!