Beach vaca

We had a great time at the beach this year. It was a real treat to get away and spend some downtime near the ocean. This year we went to Long Beach, WA. We stayed in a ginormous house which was great--and if you can believe it--I was actually happy to get back to our smaller home. So much room was making me a bit nervous. But the extra bathrooms were nice. Just don't want to have to clean more than two.

Two of the days it rained non-stop, which I personally enjoyed. Nothing like laying around reading all day. We went on some hikes in the State Parks there. Really amazing.

The long drive, especially home, is still a teency bit painful. I volunteered to drive the boys and Adaecia. Bektu bravely volunteered to be my co-pilot. I think it went better than the last time we attempted a long drive. Bu the way home is always more antsy--and it was 8+ hours.

This year was especially nice as my Aunt and Uncle from Los Angeles joined us for a few days. The kids just loved having them. They took part in our s'mores roast and ate dinners with us. It was really nice to have all the kids meet them.

Unfortunately, our niece, who was housesitting/petsitting for us, didn't fare as well. The dogs were kind of butts to her, barking at all hours of the night and generally being difficult. She even lost a pair of shoe to Burt the Terrible Shoe Chewer.

So it was nice to get away and it's really nice to be home. 

Here's some pics of our adventure.