Dad's takes

A few pictures that John has recently captured on his iPhone. I love that he does stuff with the girls and sends me snapshots like these throughout the day.



Tahlor is upset about some sand fleas at the beach.





Lauren has buried her hands.



The beginnings of a grand sandcastle.

Swings

Blue skies, swings, sisters and a cool breeze - what could be better?

All this and a park by the ocean complete with sandy beach :)



Sunshine and sandy cheeks

Huntington Beach. summertime. perfect weather. Ingredients for a spectacular sunny vacation. California is a convenient destination getaway, perfect for us desert dwellers (and many from the rest of the nation I am sure). This is the first leg of our summer vacation. It was so nice to be able to enjoy the sun (without melting), ocean breeze and our family.

Tahlor enjoyed running through the beached tides. One caught us by surprise and ended up taking her out while mom hung on tight. She even played nicely with little sis and all of the sand toys.

Lauren enjoyed many attempts at making sandcastle components. She was intimidated by the ocean but even though she did not hang out at the shore, mom made sure she at least gave her little piggies a dip in the Pacific. Lauren expressed to me a couple of times that she was dirty because of the sand that was sticking to her skin - so cute! I assured her that we would clean off after our visit at the beach.

John and Tahlor shore side.

I took a bunch of pictures while Tahlor played in the surf...reminds me of the last time we were at the beach. I can't explain the pose(s) but she is such a cutie.

Lauren - don't you love that smile?

Oops! :) Don't you hate it when sand ends up in places it shouldn't be?

Time out and away

Over the last week or so John and I have had some time to stay at home and get things done. Even though we worked at home we also managed to get away for a bit, spend lots of time with the girls and enjoy some time together as a family.

Unfortunately, the sand and ocean were not friends of Lauren. She very much disliked them. So, she sat on the towel and played with seashells, toys and some sand (she would not walk on it but it was kind of okay to play with). I am hoping we break her in on the next trip. Speaking trips, I have determined that Lauren is not fun to travel with for more than a couple of hours. She likes to have a lot of interaction (with mom and dad), gets bored with toys after a while and needs physical contact otherwise she is restless and cranky. However, this probably won't stop us from taking another road trip :)

Tahlor? A completely different story. She loved the ocean and she spent a long time running around in the waves as they came in and then receded. She and I collected many seashells as she was playing in the water and I was snapping pics of her. I am not sure exactly what she is doing in this picture but she looks like she is doing the Thriller dance.

Newport Beach was gorgeous! The water was clear and a beautiful blue. The day before we were on the beach in a little alcove off a residential neighborhood and the water looked like we were in the tropics. The weather was perfect and we enjoyed it all!




Lastly, I am pleased that I have finally completed a refinish on the furniture piece I got for use as the kitchen island. It turned out great - now, we have to purchase a new counter top for it.