We took a Family triP to the PaciFic Science Center with our Friends the Fernandez Family. There aren't a lot oF Pictures but a Few stories. We decided to venture and see our First Laser show, they were doing it to Christmas music so we thought it would be Fun 4 the whole Family. Everyone was excited until the lights when comPletely out and then desPite the really cool Pictures on the ceiling that danced to music Tyler and McKenna both went a little bizerk-clinging to their Parents and crying almost hysterically. I was able to calm Tyler down, as long as I held her, and well McKenna-I think she may have cried the whole time. I think there is a Fear oF the dark we were unaware oF, well that couPled with loud noises, not a good combination. We survived though and John and I thought it was Pretty great, as 4 Tate I don't think he was quite sure what was going on, but he survived and was a bit more stable.

The butterFly house was by Far the Favorite sPot oF the day. What's not to love? little bundles oF haPPiness Floating around.

Sadly that butterFly didn't last too much longer aFter this Picture was taken. I think John told me he looked uP and at that time Tate Fell on it?

This butterFly must've like McKenna's hair, cuz she decided to stoP and take a closer look.

One also landed on Tate, and then kids tried to coax the butterFlies to choose them next

Tyler Finally got lucky when this one liked the design on her dress.

last but not least, the Picnic table in the background-as I sat at it a short time later a 'runaway' cockroach was Found crawling uP the back oF my jacket. EW!!!

Other than that we had a Great time at the PaciFic Science Center with our Dad and Friends.

8/18-8/20 La Push-2nd Beach

Slideshow of the pictures-it's a lengthy blog:

We waited all summer, a little longer than most years and finally it was time to go CAMPING!!! We decided this would be McKenna's birthday party since she LOVES this trip and it didn't disappoint any of us. It was fantastic!

We left Thursday morning and made the 3-1/2 hr drive to La Push. There was some construction just after Crescent Lake but other than that the drive went by pretty quick.

We strapped our packs on (even Tate had a backpack and his buckets in hand) and hiked the 3/4 of a mile in to the beach.

Tate was so excited that he was quite the trailblazer there at the beginning, until his sisters couldn't handle being beat.

They are a bit competitive, although they each handle it a bit differently-Tyler runs ahead, and McKenna commands Tyler to halt and to let her pass and be the leader. It's really interesting to watch and then "try" to help out.

Once the trail heads downhill the excitement grows and then when you walk out of the trees and see the ocean ahead of you...we all go a little crazy. I love that every year the kids can't wait to get in the sand-I only wish I shared in their enthusiasm. Instead I spend the first night coming to terms with the sand and learning to let the control go and let them just be kids.

For the Love of Sand!

John was thrilled that although it still took him an extra trip to get the rest of the sleeping bags and water-there was less stuff than last year. Apparently we are getting more efficient. Mostly I've learned that you don't have to pack as many clothes-just swimsuits and then jackets for the cold.

It was a beautiful afternoon for setting up camp, and after a dinner of hot dogs, crescent rolls and a MRE of Vegtables and Pasta the Sunset was absolutely gorgeous!

It never disappoints!

As the sun went down we noticed the sky fill with clouds at a visually rapid rate. The girls also decided to have a lil photoshoot while they waited for dessert....

of Popcorn! YUMMY! Is this really camping?

After a rather rough night (since Tate broke his binki on the drive in-and he woke up several times in the night, angry his binki didn't work anymore) we woke the next morning to fog along the horizon and the beach and a bit cooler weather.

While we waited for the sun to come out we decided to do a bit of exploring. The tide was really low, leaving a section of water only 6 inches deep, shallow enough to wade through to a lil island (in the background of the picture above) and do some exploring.

Look closely can you see John Tate n McKenna

Further down the beach the tide brought in some lil sardine looking fish-the gulls thought us mean to be playing with their food.

Go Scatter the Gulls One More Time

Once we got back to camp we had a little more fun...

SandCastles

Kite flying...and swimming (even in the cold)

and then my camera died....

And the Sun came out. Figures. Jorelle and her 3 kids arrived just after the Sun arrived and although we thought we'd had some fun the real fun began.

There was more sand rolling, wave jumping, digging, exploring. We set up her tent and then started on Dinner making TinFoil dinners with canned stew meat, potatoes and squash...pretty yummy! Then we topped it off with our birthday Smores' which basically meant singing to her.

It was a pretty great evening....as for the night...well after enjoying the stars and grown up conversation we expected to have a well rested night. Unfortunately Tate wasn't quite weened off his binki and woke up several times during the night. Once landing himself in time out on a log.

The next morning John, acting as Peter Pan took us all over to the island for exploration to show us the hidden cave and all the starfish. The water was FREEZING but the experience was awesome! One of our favorite moments of the trip.

The rest of the day the kids played in the sand and in the water as long as possible.

(I remembered the cell phone camera making a few pictures possible.)

We finally got everything packed and sadly headed back to the car. Another fantastic trip to the beach! Until Next year...