No More Monkeys Jumping On The Bed

This post doesn't have a story to go with it. . .

(well it does but I'm hoping if I don't write it down I will eventually forget about it)

All I will tell you is that it is Kristopher's bed.

All is better now - a little wood glue and some TLC from Mr. Handyman.

I tried to find the good in the situation after it was over and I realized the only thing about this whole thing I can be happy about is how clean it was under his bed!

BEACH BABY

I was really excited to see how Karalyn would like the ocean this year.

As soon as we got to the beach house, Kara would stand at the balconies and look out into the ocean. I knew she would love it!

So we ventured out . . .

Just me and her.

She wasn't too sure at first,

but you know me. . .

I'm one of those moms who will force you into it and then you can decide if you like it or not.

And so I forced. . .

And it turns out she actually liked it!

Loved it really.

Everything about it.

She loved playing in the sand.

And she loved it when the water would wash away the sand.

She loved chasing me along the beach,

and beating the waves back to the wall.

This year I think it hit me why I love this vacation so much.

I mean we have been to a lot of beaches but for some reason this beach beats them all.

And after taking this picture, I figured it out.

It's OUR beach.

There is hardly ever anyone else even out in the water when we are.

You don't find that very many places.

It feels like it is ours, and that is fun.

Thank you for the memories beach, we LOVE you!

SUPER HERO PARTY

WE ARE ONE SUPER FAMILY!

Really, before you read on, just take a moment to take in how SUPER we really are!

And here is our little contribution to this SUPER family. . .

Now, let's just tell you that unlike Kyle's brothers (yes Ryan S you are included as an actual brother whether you want to be or not) Kyle was not going to be caught dead in tights!

And I was stuck. I mean what super hero doesn't wear tights?

So when I found these super-duper, super-hero pants I knew we had a winner!

Here's our little super twist we added to our costumes. . .

(by the way do the capes look familiar? Left overs from the magic birthday party - awesome)

Here we have our SUPER boys!

Busting some SUPER moves!

And this is about as SUPER as it got for Kara.

Her SUPER attitude was not all there that night!

(I do love her cape. My mom whipped that little cape out for my little brother Kasey (who is now 17). It went through him, my two boys, and now my daughter. All their names start with K. I can just imagine the day. . . my brother probably said, "mom I want a super hero cape" and my mom probably went right into her sewing room, grabbed some red fabric and whipped this puppy out in a matter of minutes. If that's not SUPER I don't know what is!)

Our SUPER hero party would not be complete without some SUPER hero games.

The highlight. . .

A silly string war between all the SUPER HEROES!

And we capped off the night with SUPER HERO races on the beach!

I REALLY DO LOVE BEING SUPER!

And on a side note:

we have been home for over a week and there hasn't been one day that has gone by where my little Kristopher hasn't been in that Robin suit for at least half the day!

(The best 1/2 off clearance price -  day after Halloween sale costume ever purchased)

Top 10 Favorite Moments at the Beach House

In no particular order

(and not including the Super Hero Party  - that's an entire separate blog entry)

Number One

THE SUNSETS

Number Two

WATCHING THESE TWO PLAY TOGETHER

Someday they will best friends and it makes me so happy, but for now they practice their dirty looks on each other.

Number Three

GETTING FULL CANS OF SODA WITH DINNER BECAUSE AUNT KAYLYNN TOLD THEM THEY COULD. . .

Number Four

SEEING THIS MUCH TESTOSTERONE IN ONE HOT TUB!

Number Five

BOOGIE BOARDING WITH THESE TWO

Number Six

 SURFING!

If you honestly thought this was me - you are now my favorite reader!

This is actually someone that my camera decided to focus in on while I was trying to get a better shot of

THIS. . .

It's Kale surfing!

My boy surfing!

Number Seven

WATCHING COUSINS PLAY AT THE BEACH WHENEVER THEY WANTED TO

Number Eight

BROTHERLY LOVE

Number Nine

THRIFT STORE SHOPPING

Now we did take our annual "girls day out" and thrift shopped and treasures were found,

(I'm sure someone has pictures somewhere)

but as a family we also took a trip into town to visit the Ventura Mission for Kale's mission project later on this year and on the way we stopped in one of the thrift stores to look for Harry Potter Books for Kale.

We found one but what was even more fun was that we found our thrift store buddy.

You see we have seen her shopping the last 3 years we have been going and sadly we didn't see her this year, but the next day she was spotted.

Look closely. She's the HAIR behind Kale. 

WIG? REAL? We don't know but glad to know she's still shopping strong!

Number Ten

PUTTING MY DAUGHTER TO BED

(Please before you turn me in read on)

You see my daughter has her own room at our house for a reason. She is a light sleeper and if she wakes up to find her entire family inside one room she believes it is play time!

Just ask Kelly. As she was up nursing William the first night of the beach house she was surprised to hear laughter and singing coming from our room at 2:30 in the morning.

It wasn't working out.

Kyle ended up sleeping with her in the back of the van the first night.

So when he woke up with a sore back and a not so pleasant attitude the next morning I knew something had to be done.

And I took action.

I moved that porta crib to the back of the van,

hooked up Kelly and Ryan's baby monitor,

and voila instant bedroom!

(The van was inside a garage right outside of where we were sleeping. She was literally closer to us there than when she's in her bedroom at home.)

It worked great.

I'm not gonna lie it was a little weird to shut the back of the van and say "good night" but she slept at night, we slept at night, and the boys slept at night which allowed us to PLAY all day every day!

So once again we said goodbye to Ventura only to know that we'll back again next year! 

We had SUPER fun!

Stay tuned for more SUPER DUPER fun!

What we REALLY did all Summer. . .

We Hung Out With These Gals

Swimming All Summer Long!

This is the only picture all summer of my three kids together at the pool.

I couldn't get them to slow down for one minute to pose for a picture.

They wanted to SWIM!

I love this picture. It says SUMMER to me in a way I can't explain.

There was some down time just relaxing by the pool. . .

or using the heat from the cement warm them up a little. . .

or chatting with friends. . .

or building forts out of beach towels and pool chairs. . .

But usually they were in the pool.

Kristopher even took the "plunge" and learned to swim all by himself!

Our favorite thing was the diving board!

They got very creative with their dives. . .

And would jump off that diving board with any pool toy they could find!

And then they got really creative and would make the tallest tower they could build. . .

And then. . . .

Jump right on top of it!

Really could summer be more fun than this?

This girl didn't think so.

In fact half the time she didn't even wait to get a swimsuit on to get in the water.

But most of all she loved having little girls all around her!

So much she was even willing to share a popsicle (this would never happen with her brothers)!

We had so much fun swimming this summer.

Thank you to

Marissa, Kyla, Elise, and Olivia for hanging out with us this summer

and Thank you JOAN for letting us use your pool whenever we wanted and for keeping your freezer stocked with ice cream bars and popsicles!

Now as summer vacation has come to a close we are getting ready for our big summer trip to the BEACH HOUSE!

Need a reminder?

Here we are last year!

So this year's theme is SUPER HEROES!

We've been busy all year trying to figure out our costumes.

Here is Kristopher with one idea. . .

What? You can't tell he's Ice Man from Incredibles?

Come on!

Well, tune in next week when we get back to see just exactly what SUPER HERO ideas we came up with.

Goodbye Summer Vacation,

but

Hello BEACH HOUSE!