Grayland Beach and Cape Disappointment - Back to the ocean!

We ended up having two different camping trips to the beach this year.  That wasn't intended but it worked out okay.  Our latest camping trip involved Grayland Beach State Park for a couple of nights, and on to Cape Disappointment State Park for four more nights.  We went camping with Grandma and Papa G and all except for one day we got pretty lucky with the weather!

 

This is the observation tower in Westport, we had a great time wandering the shops there and climbing around on the jetty.

Daddy and Papa were on the lookout for sea life and managed to find a hermit crab for the kids to check out!

We packed up Sunday morning and headed off to Cape Disappointment (our favorite Washington state park by far).  The kids took every opportunity to ride around in Papa's truck, Dillon in the very back and Kayda buckled into her own seat in the very front (don't worry it was only around the park).  Dillon loved spending time outside by the campfire, Kayda preferred "RVing" and playing games in Grandma and Papa's big trailer.  The kids had a great time with a few long pieces of driftwood we found, they entertained themselves with those for hours over the course of our visit. 

 We spent an afternoon in Long Beach, on the board walk and browsing a few shops.  Poor little Dillon got carsick so didn't enjoy the first little while of the visit.

 Kayda has decided that when we're taking pictures of her she must pose, and for whatever reason those poses NEVER involve a smile... we'll have to work with her on that!

After Long Beach we headed to the day use area which is called Waikiki beach, we found that quite amusing.  Papa spent the first little while exploring before coming back over and playing in the waves with the kids.

Daddy was busy building a sand castle "For the kids to destroy".  Eventually he got out in the water too.

On our trip to California Daddy made Kayda a mermaid tail.  She remembered it and demanded to be turned into a mermaid again.

 Meanwhile papa was out in the waves (can you see his head?)

 Back at Benson Beach (The main beach for the campground)

 Grandma got very comfortable!

This day was pretty windy so we were worried about the kids getting cold.  They did, when they got out of the water.  They found some pools of water formed when the tide went out, with the sun out the water was actually pretty warm and they spent a good amount of time running up and down the pools and jumping into the deeper sections!

 We went up to Northhead lighthouse. 

Then Grandma, Papa, Daddy, Kayda and Dillon hiked up to Cape Disappointment light house (Mommy wasn't brave enough to try it 7.5 months pregnant).

Kayda saw another little girl riding her bike without training wheels so she decided that she wanted to try.  It didn't last long but she tried a couple of separate times.  Dillon actually spent a good deal of time riding around and around and around the little camping loop.  He LOVED being able to ride his bike whenever he wanted. 

We hiked up a short, steep hike to see where one of the big guns and a bunker were (It's also where Lewis and Clark saw the Pacific for the first time).  The kids had a great time playing in the bunker.

 The mosquitoes were REALLY bugging Daddy.

We took a picture in this exact same spot with the four of us three years ago when we were here.  So naturally we had to do it again, except this time I guess it's five of us???  Not that you can SEE the baby.  Hank was there too but you can't see him in the picture.

 This is the Cape Disappointment lighthouse which they hiked up to. 

We went out on the North Jetty.  The kids had a great time climbing around on the rocks again.  I even managed to climb around with them again.  Grandma and Papa saw an otter, unfortunately it was just a brief flash so the kids didn't see it but they did get to see a porpoise!

We headed home today, Kayda got to stay out another night with Grandma and Papa so Dillon is getting some special Mommy and Daddy time. 

Totally unrelated but important none the less, our newest nephew (Brett) was born today!

Kayda's last day of preschool!

Yesterday was Kayda's last day of preschool.  Daddy was able to take off work so that she could have both parents at the "parent day".  She had a great time showing us around... until she found these to color.  But she got Daddy to do it right along with her (he made one for Dillon).

They had caterpillars and watched them turn into butterflies.  Kayda was very excited about them!

 Kayda with Ms. Sandi

 Kayda with Ms. Laura.

Today was the preschool picnic.  The picnic was for all four of the different preschool classes, it was a VERY busy park.  This dog is a guide dog in training that used to be at the preschool every day, until somebody apparently complained and the school district said "no more animals at preschool".  Kayda was very excited to see her again!

 Here's the first small group to realize Ms. Sandi was getting ready to set the butterflies free.

Waiting, and waiting.  Unfortunately by the time some of the butterflies were out of the net a ton of kids had pushed in front of Kayda and Dillon so they couldn't see much. 

And completely random... last weekend we decided to try the drive in's with the kiddos to see Kung Fu Panda 2.  It worked out fine for Daddy, Kayda and Dillon but my prego belly would not allow me to lay in the back of the explorer so I ended up reading.  The kids had a great time except for a certian part of the movie where the mommy panda has to leave the baby panda and Dillon got VERY upset about that.

Another completely random tidbit.  I realized I never announced Dillon's successful potty training!  It took over a month of making him wear underwear regardless of if he was getting to the potty, and me dragging him in to make him try but he now goes in on his own and doesn't seem to miss his diapers at all! Hurray Dillon!  Now he'll be able to go to preschool with Kayda next year!

Copalis Beach and Seabrook for Memorial Day Weekend

Uncle Pat and Aunt Sarah decided to rent a cottage over in Seabrook, pretty soon most of the family was going.  We got a campsite just under 10 miles away and headed off.  Saturday morning we headed up and everyone was getting ready to head out on a scavenger hunt so the kids got to load up in the back of Grandma and Papa H's truck (an opportunity most kids don't get now days)!

 Part of the scavenger hunt was to count the stairs down to the beach, the kiddos were being pretty silly in this picture and it made me smile when I saw it.

 Here's Daddy at the playground showing Nathan "how it's done".  Kayda got a kick out of it.

 We finally headed to the beach with our only purpose being playing at the beach on Sunday.  The kids flew kites and helped Daddy make a sand castle and then destroyed it for him.

 Hank had a blast running free at the beach. 

 Later they got the chance to play with their cousins at the beach too. 

 There was a little shop where they could paint "pottery" each of the kids chose a sand dollar. 

We won't have the completely finished results for a few days.  They're being mailed to us when they're done in the kiln.  The kids had a great time with their cousins!

Dillon's first dentist appointment!

Today was Dillon's first dentist appointment.  He got to lay snuggled up with me while Kayda and I got our teeth cleaned, he watched very attentively and spent almost the entire time asking about the different tools and things, maybe we have a future dentist in our midst.  They gave him a ride in the chair, he got to wear the shirt protector/bib thing and sunglasses (which he thought were pretty cool).  They counted his teeth, checked his bite (they said he's got a pretty deep overbite so he'll probably have braces later on), he even allowed them to polish his teeth and rub the fluoride on.  He had a great time with the suction thing (they call it Mr. Thirsty) I think that was his favorite part... well that and choosing prizes at the end!  He did an awesome job and did exactly what they asked him to do, I may be biased but my kids are FANTASTIC!

Mother's Day

Kayda has been super excited about Mother's day since she brought home her "mother's day surprise" from preschool (Tuesday).  So this morning she came running in saying "It's mother's day!  Happy mother's day!"  Then she left.  I was hoping for snuggles or something but she ran away!  Next thing I know she's singing her own little song which was basically "It's mother's day" over and over again.  She was very excited to give me the horse "card" she made for me with Daddy and wanted me to open her preschool surprise but I told her she had to wait for Dillon to wake up.  When I heard Dillon moving around I sent Daddy away so I could get some good morning snuggles.  Next thing I know, without Dillon realizing it was mother's day, Dillon and I were in a "I love YOU very much" battle.  Then he had a truck "card" he had made for me.  Kayda's preschool surprise was a picture of Kayda in a frame she decorated.

We had an early dinner with Grandma H and that whole side of the family, then we headed over to visit Grandma G for mother's day. It was a good day!

Quick lake trip in the SUNSHINE!

Today was a GORGEOUS day so we gave the kids a handful of outside options.  Surprise surprise they chose to go to the lake.  It's only about 60 degrees out but they wanted to wear their swimsuits.  At first they were a little hesitant to even get their feet wet but every time they went to fill up their buckets they would go in a little deeper.

We brought Hank along with us, the kids and Daddy had fun attempting to play fetch and Daddy had a great time trying to get Hank in the water, though Hank got pretty close to getting Daddy in the water instead.

They made a path for the water to make a river and Kayda kept deciding to make it longer and longer, which meant a lot of work for Daddy!

 Hurry Daddy!

Dillon decided he wanted to swim.  That didn't work out so well, the water is VERY cold so he spent the whole time in the water with this shocked look on his face.  Not that you can see it with all that splashing!

Kayda decided to brave it too, about two seconds after this picture Daddy let her go, then her face and Dillon's facial expressions became very similar.