Monday, August 29, 2011

SLO it Down Now

We decided to end summer with a bang. We rented a beach house in SLO for the weekend with our friends, The Andersens. It was warm, beachy, and the perfect end to a fabulous summer.

The house backed right up to the Oceano dunes. We had our own private little dune in the backyard. I can't lie--I would have been fine playing in that patch of sand the entire weekend.

The private dune. You can't play with us unless you rent a fancy house.

The kids played well together. Kai has mastered the art of the chase. He acts like he could care less about Beezie, and she pursues him relentlessly. It's pretty cute.




Beach babies busy in the sand







Lance and B taking a stroll along the coastline


B found some tasty sticks and sand to chomp on



The boys did some modeling for the girls. We were impressed.



Carly decided to wear as much white as possible before Labor Day deemed her unfashionable.


B continued to create a gigantic mess with her food. This kid is a total pigpen!


She also got some snugs in with Pops. I love family snuggletime.


We gave B a makeshift bath in the kitchen sink since the only bathtub in the house had black sludge coming up through the drain.



B decided that being nekki was the best way to enjoy the beach house, and spent a good deal of time wandering around without britches.


She had so much fun in the big, spacious house. She climbed the stairs over and over...usually supervised. She made a few quick breaks.

After packing up, we hit the road and headed down to Solvang--MY FAVORITE FAKE TOWN EVER! I love this faux little Euro village. It's such a delight.


We started off at Paula's Pancake House. It was a home run.


I had the eggs benedict, and Lancer had this monstrous Dutch pancake


He shared with B, who ate up a large corner of the fluffy delight

Some of it may have ended up on the floor



After brunch, we walked around the town, shopping and munching on caramel apples.




Begrudgingly, we headed back home to face reality. The laundry, dishes, and sandy blankets were worth the weekend of fun, though.

Once home, B dazzled us with her newest bag of tricks. They include:

Playing with the water dispenser


Climbing into the dishwasher

Stealing washcloths out of their bin

Pulling the dishes out of the bottom rack

And my new favorite trick....pulling every single book off her bookshelf.

So long, summer!

5 comments:

Molly said...

That is the biggest pancake I have ever seen. Mmmmm.

Looks like a fun trip! Those sure are some cute kids!

Elizabeth said...

Renting a beach house is my idea of a holiday. It looks like you guys had a ball and I agree with Molly... I have never seen a pancake that big.

Em said...

I read "eggs benedict" and my heart filled with jealousy. Ditto with the pancake.

I am also quite jealous at family snuggletime...Mita won't snuggle to save her life. She is much too busy and I have to quarantine her off on her own in the dark in order for her to get any sleep. :)

brooke said...

They are so busy at this age...I love B and her boyf. Looks like the trip was a blast!

Molly said...

Em-- Me, too! Our boys will not snuggle. From the minute we started sleep training, they won't sleep if we are anywhere near or in sight. We are in the process of reverse sleep training Graham so he'll sleep with us if need be.