4th at the Beach

It has been roasting hot here in Kelso, and we have been trying to keep cool by taking the kids to a little splash park.

When it is this nice inland, it is usually much more comfortable at the beach.  67 degrees and sunny?  I'll take it! So, we convinced the g-parents to spend the 4th at their cabin at Long Beach, along with some friends, and we left on the 3rd and spent all afternoon in the sand.

and you just can't make a trip to the beach without writing your name in the sand!

Sam did NOT run away from me this time.  :)

Sun going down at the beach, you just can't beat it!

Sam was so tuckered out from running all over the beach, that he took over Jayden's bed at bedtime. (sorry for the glowing eyes... :) )

On the 4th, Jayden could not way to light off some fireworks.  We stayed on the beach playing all morning until after lunchtime and finally went back to the cabin when the kids couldn't stand to be hungry anymore.  Then we went into the town of Long Beach to buy a few more kid friendly fireworks, stop by the bakery and then headed back to let off a few daytime fireworks, like parachutes and grow worms. 

On the way back from town, we managed to run across a garage sale and grandma let the kids pick out some toys.  Willow found a bag of random toys for $.25 and then found a dime in the bag itself.  Screaming deal.  Jayden found a package of face paint.  :)  And then proceeded to paint up everyone's face.

We then roasted some hotdogs and s'mores over the campfire.

Willow was still not very sure of fireworks this year.

Willow and Caden watched us light off our fireworks from the safety of the car where the sounds weren't quite so loud.

Long Beach has AWESOME fireworks.  One thing I can't stand about Long Beach is that you can drive on the beach so you have to watch for cars while running down to the water, but being able to drive on the beach means that tons of people come down on the 4th and set up camp and set off some fantastic fireworks.  I don't have any pictures because all I had this weekend was my phone and even if I had my big camera, I couldn't guarantee good firework pictures anyway.  :)

We woke up this morning, had our treats from the bakery, cleaned up the cabin and the kids and I took one more walk on the beach before heading back to Kelso.

Jayden made up his face for battle again this morning.  :)

Sand on your feet (and pretty much everywhere else at this point), you just can't beat it.  We are just missing Royal's big ole feet in this picture.