Day 3: Finally the Beach

 The whole trip Brandon asked if we were "in California" yet.  Once we crossed the Oregon/California border the routine conversation went like this:

B: "Are we in California yet?"
Adults in the car: "Yes, we are in California"
B: "Are we at the house yet?"
Ain car: "We are in California.  Now we have to get to the city called Los Angeles.  Just like Seattle is a city in Washington state, Los Angeles is a city in California state."
B: "Oh.  Are we at the beach?"
A in car: "No, we have to get to the house yet first."
...
B: "Are we in California yet?"....
It was just too much for his head to wrap around.

I forgot to mention when Bryan and I were driving from Lynden to Salem, we started playing the license plate game.  Bryan very impressively was able to name 49 of the states and had the shape of the one he was missing in his head and knew it was a midwestern state, just couldn't put the name to it--it was Minnesota.  Anyway, I was impressed he could still name them all.  Of all the states, there were only eight we were not able to find throughout the week.  And of the majority of the ones we did find, we found it rather interesting that the majority of them we found in Washington!  How odd is that?

Anyway, when we woke up Sunday morning, one of the first things Brandon asked me was, "Is it time to go make sand castles with daddy?"  No, we went to church first, then we enjoyed lunch at Auntie Gail and Uncle Bob's house with Great Grandma, then it was time for a very needed nap.

Except for Mom and Cheryl who went to the beach right away, the rest of us were pretty much in a coma for the next three hours.

Then it was beach time....

 

It was fun watching Grandma teach her grandsons how to play on the beach and in the ocean.
Having grown up in LA, there are some precious memories of her passing another fun passion on to the next generation.
 

These three went boogie boarding.  The waves were wild and the rip tide was pretty impressive so they had to keep walking up the beach and riding the waves back down to us, where the life guard would make them get out again. 

Sheer abandon and joy at riding the waves!

 

 

We were all having so much fun at the beach we had a late supper.

 



Reading the Wallstreet Journal was a very important part of every day.

Our professional griller of the week--if you ever need something grilled to perfection, Andrew is the one to call!

Snuggled up with Grandma and reading books--is there anything better after a fun day?

We were officially in California, on the beach, on vacation, and enjoying every minute of it.  We were also very much so looking forward to all the relaxing excitement the rest of the week was to hold.

Blessings on your Friday.