Vacation, All I Ever Wanted

As I sing along with the Go-Gos, I recall the fabulous week we spent at the beach house up in Solimar thanks to our friends, the McCalisters. Liv and Malia lived like true beach bums, waking up to the sound of the waves crashing and heading straight out for the water. The weather was less than ideal; fog every morning and wind in the afternoons, but it didn't keep our water girls out of the ocean. Plenty of goose bumps but the laughs and shrieks assured us they weren't ready to get out just yet.

We stared out at the ocean as we ate breakfast, lunch and dinner and the kids loved playing on the deck, hopping in and out of the warm kiddie pool and standing on the "stage" to perform ballet dances. During our daily beach walks, Liv collected hundreds of shells and spent her days washing and sorting through her shell collection. She found lobster tails, lots of sea snail shells and even a completely closed clam or oyster shell, with the animal still inside. And Malia did her best to win the sand-eating contest, of which she earned top prize, every time.

And although it's hard to believe, we were able to grudgingly convince some friends to join us for a few hours at the shore. Candice and the boys came out for dinner along with Grandma Yolie and Sandy; Livy loved sharing her temporary beach home with Luke and Jake, and it looks like the Imbler boys enjoyed their time as well http://mytwoblondeboys.blogspot.com/


Uncle Jon joined us for a few games of horseshoes and some kayaking, and later that afternoon our happy-hour friends Amy and Tracy and their husbands and kids came out for a happy hour bbq. Liv had a blast with Kate and Hayley and the girls ran wild, eating junk food and heading into the ocean fully clothed after dinner.

A perfect ending to a perfect beach retreat...