vacation = the beach!

Well, it's hard to know where to begin...

Mojo & Dado arranged a perfect family beach vacation for us all - complete with beach toys galore, dinner reservations at some of our favorite places (and one new favorite!), a tee time for the big boys, and an order for excellent weather all week! We even had a signature drink for the week:

(don't ask me, it was a bunch of yummy juices and rum...!)

Anyway, the beach was gorgeous, but most of all it was the company we kept that made it all so great!

Here's an idea of what we did all week: set up camp on the beach and hit the waves!

and a few (just a few!) of my favorite photos...

Here is our daily beach camp:

umbrellas, chairs, towels, snacks, drinks, books, sunscreen...

... oh, and lots and lots of toys!!!

There was a new sand castle every day:

But once the sand started getting into all our crevices, we jumped in the ocean and over the waves!

Some of us needed a little help getting over the waves:

But Hamp really took on the role of resident surfer this year... with a little help from Uncle Alec, he learned how to catch a good wave all by himself and loved every minute of it!

In the evenings, once we were beached out for the day and had swum to our hearts' content... we would gather for happy hour on the porch and watch the beach clear out and the tide come in.

The time spent together as a family was quite special - we laughed and chatted, tried to give "Baby E" a real name, had a couple of great home-cooked meals (thanks J & A for the shrimp & fish tacos - they were great!!!) and stayed up late playing games.

The boys with Aunt J and their future cousin!

Everyone had a "favorite part" of the week... surfing the waves, swimming in the pool, happy hour, good food, and beach camp were all on the list. But my favorite (and here's where the "momma" in me comes out!) was by far watching my boys play together on the beach.

My two favorite people at my favorite place!

Thank you Mojo & Dado for an amazing week at the beach!

It certainly could not have been any better - and I will cherish these memories always!

vacation = prologue

Just got back from a WONDERFUL 2-week vacation visiting both families... but that's not what this post is about!

As I sort through the literally hundreds of pictures I took of the kids and their adventures at the beach and the forest, I will start from the beginning...

We flew out of Denver - so naturally we headed over a little early so we could catch a baseball game before we left! How fortunate that the Rockies were at home - and even better that they beat the Dodgers that night in a pretty exciting game (well, exciting is relative. The first 7 innings were a little slow. So the kids gave up and went straight to the ballpark playground. Lucky for Dad he stayed and watched our Rocks come back and score several runs in the last couple innings to win the game!)

The boys at COORS FIELD!

Great seats - we had a little sun in our eyes for a while, but it kept us warm so there were no complaints!

We were in perfect position to catch a possible foul ball, and Hamp even brought his mitt. But someone was a little too shy about asking the outfielders for a practice ball!

One nice distraction was a visit to see Dinger - the Rockies mascot. The boys asked him to autograph their ball caps and were so happy to get a big, purple hug!

Another highlight (besides the actual playing of the game of baseball, of course!) was the cotton candy! These guys are surely learning that the joy of a ballgame is certainly not all in the game, but also in the atmosphere.

A great way to start a trip!

Now on to the beach...

Monday Fun-day

A great way to fully realize "summer vacation" = take a Monday and invite all your friends and your kids' friends over for a back deck play date!

Of course, with 16 kids and 7 moms it was chaos... but it was perfect chaos! The kind you love to watch, the kind that makes you happy and proud and grateful for friends and sunshine.

(And the slip-n-slide was a nice touch!)

(yes, Hamp is indeed very sunburned on his back.

But NOT his face - I DID apply sunscreen on his face!!!)

And oooooh..... there were popsicles!!!

As things wound down after lunch, Sam felt it was time for some Melissa & Doug birthday cupcakes. He was very proud of his contribution.

Naturally, one can only handle so much adventure in one day.

Sometimes, it's all we can do to just sit down and rest a moment.

let's try this again

Muuuuuuuuuuch better...

A 30 degree difference in temperature made a world of difference when we attempted another back yard cook-out. This time, there were no sweatshirts, gloves or knit hats. There were, however... hats.

(this was Sam's idea of keeping the party going - give everyone a hat to wear!)

There were also still back-yard games... this time not as violent (unless you count me being pelted in the arm by a rogue frisbee!) but easily just as competitive!

Nice catch, Marty!

Happy Summer!!!

summer?

To kick off the start of the summer season, we hosted friends for a cookout on Memorial Day...

but Colorado apparently didn't get the memo that the seasons had changed and kept us in late winter/early spring for the day.

Thank goodness we had a fire pit!

After plenty of red meat, the kids didn't hesitate to take leftover s'mores ingredients from our camping trip and put them to good use over the fire pit!

While the kiddos worked on their sugar intake, the adults played a great game of "interception"

Yeah, these guys aren't competitive at all !!!