Seabrook, 2012

This was our third August trip to Seabrook with Jeff's family. We are liking loving this tradition! The weather wasn't fantastic this year, but we still managed to have a great time, and the lack of sun didn't phase the girls in the least. The ocean does amazing things to these kids. Once they hit the sand, they can be calm and content for hours. We just love watching them on the beach.

We didn't spend as much time at the beach as we would have liked, but we filled the long weekend with various adventures and enjoyed the unique beach house Grandma Bonnie reserved. We can't thank Jeff's parents enough for providing these memories for our family (our whole family, not just us four). Our girls will remember these trips when they are our age, and if they are anything like me, they'll gush over them like nobody's business.

I love the feel of Seabrook, and would not be disappointed if their decorator offered to come do my house. ;) I just love the little touches.

Kaitlyn and I went on a little adventure to the store while Austen (and Daddy) napped. A goal for the upcoming year: Make more one-on-one dates with my kids separately. Hold me to that.



Zipping her coat by herself, because
that's what almost-4-year-olds do.

This puppy was at the house, and Kaitlyn was attached to it for one day -- the dinosaur, too.



My heart hurts just thinking about the day she stops this.

K was SO proud of getting to keep her treat money in her own pocket:

(Blogger has quit letting me use captions without reformatting for me -- thank you, Blogger.)

Of all the treats in the store (and Mama offering pretty much anything -- they had ice cream!), K chose a DumDum. :)

Stinker :)

Got something stuck in her shoe...



Sooo excited about their sand dollars:

Austen loves her Grandpa Roger (and dog, Molly)

"Immuna go sit on the porch."

 Go figure, the sun came out in full force on our last day. :) We stopped for some beach time on our way out of town:

She hits the beach running -- seriously -- she doesn't stop.

On Saturday night, we met up with some friends, Andy and Megan, whose family owns a house at Seabrook. They had a group of friends with them, and one thought that our names were Keith and Allison. We think things like this are really funny, and we were Keith and Aly for the rest of the night, even when we went back home to play "Sticks" (a fun game that apparently resembles Pinochle -- I wouldn't know -- that we had a great time playing with Jeff's parents all three nights). By the end of that last night, Roger and Bonnie were Butch and Barb. We think we are funny; you don't have to.

We decided that this is Keith's personality.

We don't have many pictures of our little family, so I set the camera where I wanted it and asked Bonnie to start clicking. Grandma did an awesome job, and I'm thrilled to have some family pics.

It's Tuesday, and I'm still recovering from three nights of being up past my bedtime. This afternoon called for a rare, extra cup of coffee. Can't wait for next August!

**If anyone who happens to be reading this has a blog with a program other than Blogger, please let me know. The formatting has worked fine for my last few posts, but this one was another doozy. I'm ready to really move on from this site and try something new, but I have to be able to transfer all of my posts. Feel free to comment if you are so inclined. If not, I'll be forced to take a few minutes and figure it out for myself. ;)

Summer

The calendar is full. I'm tired, but full of happy thoughts of our girls having the time of their lives this summer. I'm sure there is so much more joy to come, and milestones to look forward to, but I'm in no hurry for this season to end or for these two to get one second older (okay, so there may be minutes here and there when age 2.5 isn't my cup of tea...).

I may not enjoy every second of every day (is there someone out there who finds joy in cranky toddlers? Not this girl), but it's all part of the big picture, and I do love that, time-outs and all. A difficult day, or part of a day, is forgotten fast enough to look forward to what is to come tomorrow. And I do; I SO look foward to this year off with my kids.

Summer highlights since the last photo dump:

Kaitlyn wanted to do "homework" outside while Austen napped. We still have some sheets from preschool.

We are enjoying many birthday parties this season. The girls love it, and it's a great excuse to see our friends as well. The girls have gotten into this routine of sticking together when they first get somewhere. Kaitlyn often takes Austen's hand to "show her what to do." Mama thinks someone is using this as an excuse to have a buddy until she's more comfortable ;)

I'm a sucker for these bouncy slide action pics. They crack me up every time!

This is one of Kaitlyn's creations before bed on the trusty Magnadoodle. She says, "This is a picture of my family and our house."

Jeff found a new spray park in Shoreline. We went to check it out -- approved!

Scopin' it out

K showing Austen the ropes, again.

Got into the costume bin...("smittens" are sock mittens, coined by my brother)

Amy was a bestie of mine in preschool (with whom I got into a fair amount of mischief with...), and our kids are around the same age. We headed to their new place for a play date. We pulled up and Kaitlyn said, "They have a playground at their house!" They do, indeed, have a very large property with lots of exciting things to explore. I say this all the time, but spending time with old friends and watching our kids play together as we did warms my heart :)

Kaitlyn's current "silly face"

Matthew showed K all of his "jungles" under the trees. They played in the dirt contently for quite a while, building bridges and rainbows.

More bouncy house fun for Paige's fourth birthday! 



Little miss dare devil!

Austen thinks big kids are pretty cool.

Birthday girl with her rainbow cake.

We've been hanging out with our friends, Makya (K's age) and Audrey (14 mos.) this summer. These girls love each other, and there's not much quiet when they are together.

This kinda sums it up!

And there's the silly face...

I have one more group of pictures that will have to wait. This post is happening during a too-long break from packing for the ocean. I'll be back next week...