It's a Wonderful Life: {beach house}

Ah...the beach house. What I'd give to be back there right now chilling on the beach with no worries in the world besides keeping my kids from drowning, applying sunscreen, and trying to finish a novel. We so look forward to this vacation every year and are so grateful this is the 5th year we've been able to go.

We sleep in, eat breakfast, and then spend pretty much the rest of the day on the beach. We build sandcastles that eventually get knocked over by the tide every night, collect million upon millions of shells - especially those with a hole in them to make into necklaces, we go for walks in the warm sand, take naps in a beach chair, fly kites in the wind, and play games and chat with family all day long. It really is lovely.

We're all usually pretty tuckered out. Elle never failed to take a stellar nap every single afternoon.

Addison usually fell asleep somewhere besides her bed every night. When that girl is tired she's not afraid to just pass out somewhere. The couch, someone else's bed, the kitchen table...

Sad to say but the girls would probably say their most favorite part of the beach house is going to the dolphin store - it's just a local souvenir store with a bunch of cheaply made junk that we let them pick one thing from each year we go. Between mommy and daddy plus nana and pubby taking them - they made out pretty well :)

Elle didn't end up being the biggest fan of the beach. She was a little scared of the waves and would only venture into the water if someone was holding her tight. She much preferred to spend her time swimming around the hot tub instead!

One day our neighbors caught sight of a huge hawk devouring some small animal on their back porch. We all huddled close by to catch a close up of the bird.

Just like all vacations we were never in short supply of good eats. Elle's favorite - sgetti's as she likes to call it :)

All the kiddos piled in a little boat raft trying to catch some waves while Justin pushed them out...

We always attempt to get some beach pictures of the family but it seems like we're always wet, full of sand, squinting, and have wind blown hair - oh and this time plus a 30 week pregnant belly as well!

Brooklyn's diligent shell searching found her a shark's tooth - she couldn't have been more thrilled! She loves sharks and shark week on the Discovery Channel is just about her favorite time to watch tv :)

The kids love getting the seagulls to come. I'm sure everyone sitting anywhere near to us on the beach probably hates us but we always take at least a day to let the kids go crazy feeding the birds leftover bread or crackers.

Can't get a better view than that. One of my favorite parts of the beach house was waking up early and going for a run/walk then coming home and getting a little quiet time in sitting on the back porch looking out onto this while reading a book - pure bliss!

Aunt Mizuki never fails to catch a fish or two while we're at the beach house. This year Mizuki, Jarrod, and Johnny caught enough that we actually got to cook them up for dinner one night!

I love that my girlies aren't afraid to catch/hold any animals they can get their hands on!

Sisters catching some waves together...

The kids most favorite place to be...

Elle found this bouncer in the house and had a ball getting bounced by everyone - she's getting as much time as the baby before the real one actually arrives!

Brooklyn loved joining in on any sports the boys were playing. Here she is playing lacrosse with Uncle Jordan but she loved getting in on a good game of frisbee as well!

Addison loved playing and building in the sand.

Trying their hand at ocean fishing with Pubby and daddy's help...

And one of my favorite scenes to watch - Justin and his dad and brothers out playing on the beach together. When we met and were first married and still now I love seeing him interact and enjoy the blessings of being part of a large family. I look forward to having these same experiences with our own kids as they grow older!