Beach fun

Traveling with little ones can often prove stressful and exhausting, but our recent trip was anything but. With the exception of a few sleeping difficulties (thanks to Miss Caitlin), our five-day beach vacation was relaxing and restful. I even managed to take a few naps and read a book!

The kids spent hours each day playing in the sand. The beach in front of our house was almost deserted, so they could run and play. I could relax, read my book, and not have to issue constant reminders about boundaries! If only we had a beachful of sand in our backyard... It was so fun to watch them use their imaginations. They built castles and tunnels. They found a big piece of driftwood and pretended it was their motorcycle. They got absolutely filthy by rolling down the sand dunes and making "sand angels."

Because of the extended sand play, the kids had (and still have!) sand in places I didn't know sand could reach! Ryan tackled Caitlin on the beach and she did a faceplant into the sand - resulting in this bizarre goatee/Fu Manchu look!

We stayed in a small town about 2o minutes outside of Ocean Shores, but made daily trips to the "big city" to mix things up. Ryan played putt-putt golf twice. The first round, he played with Grandma and Grandpa and got a hole-in-one! Here he is in his stance -- carefully coached by Grandpa Pat.

It was chilly and overcast our entire trip, so the kids didn't go near the water, but they could have cared less. As long as there was sand, they were happy. We're looking forward to our next trip to the beach -- hopefully Daddy can join us next time!