A Spontaneous Trip to Seabrook!

When Chris called me up a few days ago and asked if we wanted to join them out at their beach house in Seabrook for Conference weekend, I was surprised to check the calendar and learn that we could actually go!  Since Lia's soccer game was on a Sunday this weekend, we were already not planning on her playing in it.  As a result, all we had was Logan's first soccer game and a friend's birthday party that ended by 1 p.m. making the rest of our Saturday free to pack up and leave.  So, after thinking about it, I called Natalee back up a day later and told her that the kids and I would join them and that we would just plan on skipping school/preschool/piano lessons on Monday.  So, we left Saturday afternoon, and made the 2 plus hour drive out there without any problems or traffic.  Since Natalee and Chris were both arriving in different cars with different kids coming from different activities, the kids and I had the place to ourselves all evening long.  We unpacked, made and ate dinner, and enjoyed a quiet evening before heading to bed around 9 p.m.  Natalee and their three oldest arrived after Brynn's basketball game around 10 p.m. and Chris and their two youngest arrived at almost midnight after camping/hiking the past three days (yes, he's crazy).
We then had a relaxing Sunday morning watching the first session of conference before heading to their wonderful, neighborhood indoor pool for a funfilled, swim session.  After returning to the beach house for lunch, we watched the afternoon session of conference before bundling up and heading out into the rain for a walk down to the beach.  The rain managed to slow down to a sprinkle by the time we arrived at the beach which made spending an hour or so down there a bit more pleasant.  We then headed back up the house for a delicious dinner prepared by Natalee in honor of Chris' birthday which was the following day.  We finished off the evening with Chris opening some gifts and some hide-and-go-seek before heading to bed.  On Monday, we enjoyed a walk to the Seabrook shops and around the neighborhood in the  morning before heading back for lunch at the house and a second round at the pool in the afternoon.  By the time we got back and packed up the van, we pulled out around 5:30 p.m.  The kids and I stopped for gas and dinner in Hoquiam before making the drive home in the dark by ourselves.  It was a relief to get home by 8 p.m. and we were happy to be greeted by papa who we hadn't seen since Saturday!  It was a fun and fast get-away, but such a fun break from life and a great chance to spend some quality time with Chris' family.

Ella getting ready to jump into the pool.

And they're she goes!  My flexible girl striking a 'star fish' pose while in the air.

All three of my water-loving kiddos together.

Long-legged Lia jumping into the pool.

Flashing me a smile.

Crazy Logan striking a wild pose while jumping into the water.

Ella enjoying the hot tub.

The cousins posing inside the awesome, tree stump at the beginning of the path to the beach.

Mama and her kiddos.

Logan, Trenton, Ella, and Lia exploring the awesome, gnome houses while walking through the forest.

Logan and Trenton with a giant mushroom.

Ella in the gnome forest.

Crossing the "troll bridge" on the way to the ocean.

Ella and Logan running to check out a fort made out of driftwood on the beach.

Logan and the fort.

Crazy Garrett decided to go skin boarding in the freezing weather and freezing, Pacific Ocean.  Here he is posing for me before taking off.

Boarding along the shoreline.

Oh, to be that young and carefree again!

Ella, Logan, and the grey Pacific ocean.

All of the cousins minus Garrett and Callie.

Best buddies showing off their whole, sand dollars that they found.

Mama and kiddos braving the rain and the cold.

Chris getting ready to open his birthday presents back at the beach house after dinner.

Logan looking on from his perch on the banister before Chris blew out his candles.

Logan and Lia were so excited to sleep in the adorable, bunk bed room with Trenton and Riley.  Here is Logan all tucked into bed with his cool, nautical sconce light on above him.

Lia smiling down from her top bunk before reading in bed.