The Place

I have always loved the beach.  I grew up on the Persian Gulf.  As a little girl I would go down to the beach just to watch the waves and think. For me it is a place of peace and reflection.   Little did I know after moving to California that my love of the beach would be surpassed beyond my wildest dreams by my husband.  Now I'm seriously concerned I'll never get him to explore anywhere with me that is not connected to a beach with decent surf.  So... the first week in August we planned Justin's dream vacation.... A week at the beach with absolutely nothing else planned.  We invited my parents and brother (and my sisters, but they wouldn't come... lame), scored a nice and cheap hotel on priceline and we were off.  And serendipitously we happened to be at the beach during the US Open surf competition.  Double dream come true for Justin.   We also attended the free Jimmy Eat World concert one night - It started at 5 so we figured we'd bring the kids..... don't know that I would suggest that (way too much pot floating in the air), but they had a blast.  Josh was dancing his heart out, and even got a 20 year old girl to join him.

It was really cool to watch, and free - double bonus.  You can see the surfer in this picture.  The number 1 surfer was named Taj - Mom thought we should name our baby that after that week.  Surprisingly enough Justin was not on board.

Spent tons of time just chilling at the beach.  Anna and I taking naps in the sand.  I struggled a little bit with being pregnant and not being able to do much in the water, but I figured there is always next year:)

 Eating lunch by the pool at the hotel.   Josh celebrated his 5th birthday the last day with breakfast at Dennys, lots of presents ( a razor scooter chief among them) and dinner at Rainforest Cafe with the Kays. Despite going out to eat twice on Josh's birthday we kept the trip amazingly cheap.  The highlite may have been sneaking a camping stove into our hotel room and making Carne Asada tacos right there:)  

 After the beach we headed up to our favorite Marsh hotel for a couple of days and got to hang out with some more of our favorite people.  starting at left:  Caleb Puente, Beckett Roberts ( happened to be in from Australia for just that day), Josh, Ava and Alex Marsh, and Julian Puente.

 
Before the other friends arrived Josh Ava and Alex decided to get into Ms. Natalie's thread and make a " trap for the babies in the backyard".

 They were successful...

Caleb wasn't too thrilled either.... but it kept the three of them entertained for a very long time.

 Anna and Addy also loved each other this trip.  We would just hear them giggling randomly throughout the house.  It was precious.

 Chilling with Wil watching a show.

 Ready for the Eagle Court of Honor.

 One of Justin's old scouts had asked him to attend his Eagle Court of Honor and awarded him with a mentor pin.  It was a beautiful night, and so fun to see what a man Brandon has become.