beach babies

going to the beach is work enough, but add 2 toddlers and an infant to the mix and voila! you end up with two tired moms who keep checking their watches for naptime. although we had a fun time, heather and i agreed that this first weekend away with the kids (so that our husbands could have a relaxing weekend up in mammoth)was anything but relaxing.

we looked like the beverly hillbillies in my blue minivan stuffed to the max with everything including the baby's bassinet, the portacrib for Zeke, our suitcases, groceries, jogging stroller and anything else that would fit in the car, heading down to newport, with our toddlers sitting next to each other fighting almost the entire way (maddie kept saying, "no touching, Zeke!" and to this Zeke would reply with a hearty laugh and continue touching her). once we arrived, we unloaded the entire car and lathered up with sunblock and headed down to the ocean. the kids loved the water play time and we stayed out just long enough to poop them out. then we fed them and watched Zeke touch everything in sight, and listened to Madeline correct him saying, "Zeke - stop touching!" and "Auntie HeaVer - tell Zeke to sit down!"

we finally laid them down for a nap and heather and i just plopped down on the couches and tried to rest ourselves. and when they awoke we headed back down to the beach to repeat everything again, only this time we left grant with gigi and papa so our toddlers could have our full attention.

we took nice walks together and bonded only as mothers of young children do. another highlight was being treated for a boat ride from gigi, looking at all the beautiful balboa homes and delighting in the site of fat, sleeping sea lions.

we packed up the car in 83 degree weather (and what felt like 99 percent humidity) without any consoling breezes and headed back home - where it was 99 degrees at 4 o'clock in the afternoon.

will we ever do it again? of course we will, because it's the chaos and unpredictability that give us these most hilarious memories.