Beach Weekend

So...the bad news is Kaylen is sick and Stephanie and I are both feeling less than stellar but pretending like crazy we are NOT getting sick.  The ever increasing sore throat and general body aches are trying to convince us otherwise.  Who will win?  Time will tell. 

Kaylen was...well...especially whiny and hard to be with this weekend.  It built as the days rolled by until it all started making sense last evening on the drive home.  For two days she had complained of a headache - which she NEVER complains of.  I figured it was the excitement of the weekend with family and dosed her with Motrin as needed.  Then, about halfway home last evening, she started complaining of a sore throat and then crying because she missed the beach and wanted to be with everyone still.  The sore throat complaints continued at increased intervals.  Stephanie and I looked at each other.  Uh oh.  Another round of strep throat?

Thankfully Kaylen isn't running a fever and assures me her throat does not feel as yucky as it did when she had strep this fall.  So - it's rest, fluids, Tylenol, and throat spray for today.  Hopefully this will be short lived.  For all of us.

The good news....WE WENT TO THE BEACH!  Last Thursday we travelled to Long Beach and joined my sister, her husband, my brother, his wife, and their daughter for a family weekend of fun.  The weather was so-so but honestly, it didn't matter nor did it keep us from doing things.  The kids and Stephanie were caught in a hailstorm both go-kart racing and swimming in the pool.  The rain and hail moved in quickly and moved out almost as quickly each time.

We had homemade family meals, a birthday celebration for Kelton and Kaylen, meals out, time together, and time not all together.  We played ping pong, pool, air hockey, and arcade games.  We swam in the pool and soaked in the hot tub.  We shopped, we walked and some crazy folks played in the waves.  It was freezing cold and windy but it was also really pretty and sunny.

We had some meltdowns and we had lots of laughter.  And we have pictures to prove it.  :)

It was a great weekend and I loved seeing my family.  I would have loved more time all together but I'm really thankful for the time we did have.

We said good bye to James, Cara, and Madeline Saturday afternoon as they had prior obligations for Sunday and yesterday afternoon we said good bye to Lannon and Arne.  None of the five of us were ready to return to real life so we drove down the coast for about an hour and ended up in Seaside where we spent the afternoon.  It was a great way to end our time on the coast and we finally arrived home around 7:30 last night.

And now - for your entertainment- some photos of the past few days.  :)

PS...I don't know why some aren't flipped the right way.  I corrected orientation and it looks right from my file but when I upload, the uploaded takes them as uncorrected.  Grrrrrrrrrrrrr.  Oh well.  You get the idea.  :)

The living room and breakfast bar in our amazingly cool room.

Ping pong and pool on the rec room.

 Outside Marsh's Museum.  These are the same types of poses Kelton did when he was 4.  Cracked me up that he was willing to reenact it.  :)

 Birthday party craft time.

 Present time.  With help from Baby Madeline.

 Cake time!

 Air Hockey at the arcade.

 Long Beach Go Karts.

 

 On the second go around, Kaylen was brave enough to drive her own kart.

 The resort from the beach.

 The view from our patio.

 Kaylen digging a hole.

 Crazy kids in the waves.

And now THREE crazy kids in the waves.....

 And now....FOUR crazy kids....

 On the Boardwalk....

 And now....Seaside!

 Kaylen picked out a Peace hat.  Of course.

 The boys who swore up and down they were too old for the merry go round and yet.....

 Kaylen on the seahorse.  A favorite of hers since she was two.

 Only at the beach do you see something like this:  :)

 Seaside go karts.

My silly girl.  :)

Awwww...aren't we cute?  :)