Day 4 was spent with our beaches. That makes Elliot laugh. Just more relaxation, eating lots of grasshopper cookies and other snacks, more Sea Eagle time, and lost glasses.
Elliot is the luckiest guy in the whole world because he gets to wake up to this every morning (well, usually "this" is still sleeping, which makes it even better because "this" probably has it's mouth gaping open, drooling, and in some weird position). Lucky man. Very lucky.
She's cute. She was so exhausted from each day that she fell asleep quickly and slept in until after breakfast . . . even with all of the other kids trying to wake her up.
Lucy and Xan
The kids waited patiently and played nicely together while they waited for the parents to be ready to head to the beach. We weren't in such a hurry because it was a little cold if you went down too early.
Trav and Elliot, fed.
The girls tried to fix their own hair for the day. I think Sarah tried again later.
But Anabelle was satisfied with her first attempt.
Lucy got mad if someone else sat in this chair.
Claire probably got kicked out of the chair by Lucy. I couldn't get out of those chairs. Very difficult.
The mop under a little more control. Claire took this picture.
Some minor surgery on Dara's sunburned and blistered ear. It was huge, seriously. And Lynnae performed the surgery right where everyone could see it. I'm sure they all appreciated it. Pansies.
We finally made it down to the beach and set up our compound.
Ward and Lisa Andrews
Xan and Lorraine
Joe and Elliot played frisbee.
Elliot tried some fancy moves occasionally. This wasn't one of them.
Stella was so happy to be back at the beach!
Reagan the mermaid!
Garrett
Lucy. I just love Lucy.
Clairie just relaxing in her sandy recliner.
I can't tell if Raymond was happy about being made into a merman.
But this girl is happy. Super happy.
Xan, Adam, and Lucy
Xan and Lisa
We need to visit the beach more often. Magazine/book, bag of chips, shade that actually keeps you cool, and a wife that will kiss you whenever you want = relaxed Elliot.
Lucy eating more sand on a walk with her Daddy.
Reagan is really good at entertaining herself. She either just sat here playing with the sand or was running back and forth from the water with a bucket . . . or she was falling asleep while eating her snack. She'd just lay in Lynnae's arms with her eyes closed and chew, swallow, open her mouth. It was so funny.
Adam and Xan went on the Sea Eagle and I was really hoping for some good footage of a crash. It was a very uneventful voyage from my view. No crashes at all.
Adam and Xan planned their family picture at the beach right before Adam had to flee to climb Mt. Whitney with some friends. This picture is adorable, but it makes me laugh because they've all just spent a day at the beach, windblown, exhausted . . . and not wearing pants. :)
Lucy isn't quite sure what to think of her new hairdo.
Stella, Garrett, and Tyler spent quite a bit of time together digging this volcano-turned-recycling plant.
Elliot just returning from his last voyage on the Sea Eagle . . . also warning Travis to be careful and NOT lose ANOTHER pair of glasses when he went on the Sea Eagle. He didn't listen. There is a pair of dolphins out there wearing his glasses.
Elliot, an accomplished inflatable sea kayaker.
She wasn't this happy after I told her it was time to go back to camp.
Sandy snacking, and really happy about it.
Aw.
AW.
Our last night on the beach.
Sorry about missing the crashing footage of Travis and Lorraine . . . I got too excited and forgot I was holding the camera.
Sorry to post a picture of my mug first again, but what is my problem?! My lip is totally swollen and so is my forehead!
Almost everyone else had left already, so Stella had to entertain herself by climbing to the top of the sign.
We headed down to the beach for one last walk . . .
. . . with the instruction of "don't get wet!"
Fosburgh's and Dara
Daddy + Stella
Until next year!
Elliot is the luckiest guy in the whole world because he gets to wake up to this every morning (well, usually "this" is still sleeping, which makes it even better because "this" probably has it's mouth gaping open, drooling, and in some weird position). Lucky man. Very lucky.
She's cute. She was so exhausted from each day that she fell asleep quickly and slept in until after breakfast . . . even with all of the other kids trying to wake her up.
Lucy and Xan
The kids waited patiently and played nicely together while they waited for the parents to be ready to head to the beach. We weren't in such a hurry because it was a little cold if you went down too early.
Trav and Elliot, fed.
The girls tried to fix their own hair for the day. I think Sarah tried again later.
But Anabelle was satisfied with her first attempt.
Lucy got mad if someone else sat in this chair.
Claire probably got kicked out of the chair by Lucy. I couldn't get out of those chairs. Very difficult.
The mop under a little more control. Claire took this picture.
Some minor surgery on Dara's sunburned and blistered ear. It was huge, seriously. And Lynnae performed the surgery right where everyone could see it. I'm sure they all appreciated it. Pansies.
We finally made it down to the beach and set up our compound.
Ward and Lisa Andrews
Xan and Lorraine
Joe and Elliot played frisbee.
Elliot tried some fancy moves occasionally. This wasn't one of them.
Stella was so happy to be back at the beach!
Reagan the mermaid!
Garrett
Lucy. I just love Lucy.
Clairie just relaxing in her sandy recliner.
I can't tell if Raymond was happy about being made into a merman.
But this girl is happy. Super happy.
Xan, Adam, and Lucy
Xan and Lisa
We need to visit the beach more often. Magazine/book, bag of chips, shade that actually keeps you cool, and a wife that will kiss you whenever you want = relaxed Elliot.
Lucy eating more sand on a walk with her Daddy.
Reagan is really good at entertaining herself. She either just sat here playing with the sand or was running back and forth from the water with a bucket . . . or she was falling asleep while eating her snack. She'd just lay in Lynnae's arms with her eyes closed and chew, swallow, open her mouth. It was so funny.
Adam and Xan went on the Sea Eagle and I was really hoping for some good footage of a crash. It was a very uneventful voyage from my view. No crashes at all.
Adam and Xan planned their family picture at the beach right before Adam had to flee to climb Mt. Whitney with some friends. This picture is adorable, but it makes me laugh because they've all just spent a day at the beach, windblown, exhausted . . . and not wearing pants. :)
Lucy isn't quite sure what to think of her new hairdo.
Stella, Garrett, and Tyler spent quite a bit of time together digging this volcano-turned-recycling plant.
Elliot just returning from his last voyage on the Sea Eagle . . . also warning Travis to be careful and NOT lose ANOTHER pair of glasses when he went on the Sea Eagle. He didn't listen. There is a pair of dolphins out there wearing his glasses.
Elliot, an accomplished inflatable sea kayaker.
She wasn't this happy after I told her it was time to go back to camp.
Sandy snacking, and really happy about it.
Aw.
AW.
Our last night on the beach.
An expensive lesson learned: Do not tease your 5-year-old daughter with super-fun play time with cousins and friends and then take her to Sea World the next day without them.
Flamingos run funny.
Pre-melting.
She just has to touch everything!
I didn't really read any of the plaques while I was there, but don't penguins need to live in the cold? It was hot out there.
Penny and Pete the Penguins.
Stella may or may not have been terrified of the shark tunnel.
She was entirely too tense to pose for a picture on the moving sidewalk, but was happy to pose in a dead shark's mouth.
We sort of wanted to eat here at Mama Stella's, but they weren't open.
I think the Sea Lions may have been my favorite this time.
I think Stella liked them too.
I remember Shamu being spectacular, but now the trainers don't get in the water with them anymore. The thought also ran across my mind that they don't ever really say "killer whales" . . . well, that's what they are.
However, Shamu (or whatever it's name was) swam by us while we were almost the only ones left and even smiled at us.
Stella got a little happy after lunch and started posing by everything and asking me to take her picture.
Did you know that Sea Turtles can't stick their heads in their shells? These Sea Turtles were all sleeping, but Stella thought they were dead. She's sweating.
Did you know that flamingos are pink because they eat shrimp? It's true . . . unless that kid with the microphone was full of crap.
I remember the dolphin show as being my absolute favorite! I was really disappointed. The dolphins swam and jumped around 4 times and then the rest of it was people in tights flying around like birds.
Since Stella was bored and my buck teeth stick out when I'm squinting into the sun, we had a challenge to see who could have buck teeth the longest. Stella won.
The Cirque de la Mer was a new attraction, but sort of hard to see even if you were sitting close. These guys were not human. Who does that? After the other disappointments, I thought for sure that this one would be Stella's favorite due to her interest in gymnastics . . .
. . . as you can tell, she's thrilled.
We stopped in to harrass some of the starfish. Of course, I asked the lady with the microphone how the starfish reproduce, because that's how I am. Interestingly enough, they reproduce in the same way that some girls in college thought they got pregnant.
Stella is about the same size as a tuna fish.
Stella was ready to go back to the beach, but another churro would tide her over until it was time to go.
"Hey Stella, it's time to go back to the beach!"
The kids were perfectly happy to sit in the van and watch a movie together until bedtime.