Beach Camp! (week 449)

Man, we were beat this week with spending all our days in the water, sand, and sun at the Long Beach Parks, Recreation and Marine Department Beach Camp.  It is one of the best camps of the year, but by the end of every day we are totally beat.  

This year, Christopher was a Belmont Pool with Mady and Emma, and had a great time every day.  However, he also slept until past 8:00 am every day to recharge his battery and make up for all the energy he expended in the pool and ocean.  My camp was all over the place this year because as the older kids, we got to kayak, canoe, and sail in addition to the standard swimming.  By the middle of the week, after a day of kayaking I was in so much chest pain that I had to ice my chest and take ibuprofen before going to bed.

Beach Camp was fun, but we also finally had a summer dinner with all our friends at our house for the first time this year!  With all the baseball games (54 since March), we have not had much time at home to have people over.  On Thursday, Mom cooked for everyone the vegetables and produce from our garden.  The big change this Summer is the introduction of the swing set.  In past years we always set up the water slide but with the new water rationing and drought going on in Long Beach, we have to cut back.  The swingset is always going in the backyard with someone--big kids or little kids--swinging side-by-side.  Chris is a particularly avid swinger and has been waiting for this swingset for a long time.

Other big news is that I cooked breakfast by myself for the entire family Saturday morning!  Pancakes, eggs, and table service for everyone with syrup for dipping.  I realized how hard it was to make everything at the same time (back and forth) and to get everyone to sit down and enjoy the food while it is still hot.  People just don't appreciate enough what Mommy tries to do every day with dinner!

This weekend was also Cheryl's annual slumber party for all the moms so Chris, Dad and I went to the Armstrongs for "man's tapas" which included tri-tip, poke, hot dogs, crescent rolls, peppermint ice cream, and mac and cheese...only the best.  

We stayed up late and slept in late--arriving at church halfway through the Sermon!  Pastor Dave said it was still worth full credit even though we came late and the service was shorter than usual.  The whole family went for afternoon pizza on Sunday afternoon to celebrate a good week.