Go fly a kite!

A couple of weeks ago, when Davie and Chris were visiting us, we took a trip to Long Beach, WA for the International Kite Festival. This was really worth the trip. Not only did we get to see tons of amazing kites and performers, we also got to see the town with shops and attractions, ride in a horse-drawn wagon, walk the board walk, play on the beach, and fly our own kites. I really hope we can do this again next year!

Bryan and Andrew getting ready to launch their own kite.

Run Andrew, Run!

It was way too cold to get in the water, but the kids had a blast playing in the sand.

I really wanted a picute of thie kids playing in the sand with the kites in the background, so I took about a million pictures like this.

"Okay, enough pictures, Mom!"

The LoveBirds, Davie and Chris

I don't know what these giant ring kites are called, but they were awesome!

Davie, Chris, and Bryan, riding through Long Beach in a horse-drawn wagon.

This was the best we could do for an end-of-the-day shot. The kids (and grown-ups) were pretty pooped!

Ocean Shores, WA

Saturday was warm and sunny, the perfect day for the beach! The REAL beach, as in, THE PACIFIC OCEAN! It's only about 90 minutes away! So cool!
Silly kids! Logan and Hannah were a little scared of the water and ran away whenever a wave came in...
...but they sure loved digging in the sand!

It may have been a warm day, but the water was COLD! Bryan took the plunge anyway!

Beach Blues

Outer Banks, NC

We enjoyed a wonderful week in Outer Banks, North Carolina! Our beautiful home away from home on the beach! We shared the house with three other families - the Huffmans, Bettingers, and Shupes - 23 people all together! It was a BIG house! Heading out for a walk on the beach on Sunday.
Summer and Hannah enjoying a beautiful day!

Keeping the Sabbath Day Holy... this picture was taken about two minutes after we suggested to Andrew that we not swim in the ocean on Sunday. The soaking wet Andrew responded, "But I wasn't swimming...I was looking for sea shells!" Right.
Logan LOVES sand!!!

The Andersons, Huffmans, Bettingers, and Shupes all together for FHE. Cindy did a really fun lesson comparing Sundays and Sundaes. Good things to do on Sunday were yummy toppings (chocolate, caramel, sprinkles, etc), while not-so-good Sunday activities were not-so-yummy toppings (sand, grass, laundry detergent, etc). It was a huge hit! Treats were, you guessed it, SUNDAES!
The kids really bonded during the week! There were suprisingly few fights, condsidering that there were 15 kids (ages newborn-10 yrs) in the house! Since being home, Andrew keeps asking if he can have a playdate...with all the kids from the trip!!!

The water was FREEZING... but we all took the plunge anyway! You kinda get numb to it after awhile!

Our first day on the beach, poor Logan fell over in the water and couldn't get up, thanks to the waves crashing over him and pulling him down. It scared him so much that he wouldn't even get near the water after that without his Daddy!

Bryan and Logan watching the waves.