just another day at the beach...

Ever since the big storm hit the coast earlier this week, Andrew and I have been wanting to get back to the beach and see how our log cabin project is faring - especially since we remembered that the storm of February '06 wrought havoc on local driftwood arrangements. Though our log cabin seems to fairly safe, we thought that since today was relatively rain free, it would be a good idea to see what state exactly it was in.

Of course as soon as we were ready to head out the door the rain started falling. But since we were all bundled up, and the kids were probably going to fall asleep in the car anyway, we decided to go. We could always take turns getting out and scouring the beach.

When we got there, Andrew and Davey decided to do the first walk:

As you can see, most of the cabin's foundation is still there. In fact, the entire first layer of logs seems okay. The second layer seems to have broken since last weekend.

And as you can see in the above picture, a LOT more driftwood has been deposited all around our pile. That's actually a bonus though, since it means we have more lumber to work with and less far to drag/carry it.

It was really, really windy and cold at the beach. Davey insisted on getting out of the car, but once out, he was really too cold and too tired to do much.

...other than yawn.


(is that the cutest picture ever, or what?!) Meanwhile, Elisabeth and I stayed in the car.

She doesn't like wind very much. Though I can't say I blame her, I hope she learns to like it eventually since the rest of us usually like playing outside no matter what the weather.

Davey got back in the car and we watched these crazy guys who were out in the water doing some sort of windsurfing involving parachutes. Looked fun, but very, very cold.

Then I decided I wanted to go look at all the piles of driftwood, so Davey insisted on coming too. I had no idea it would be soooooo cold.


When we got back, Andrew was no where to be found and tink was getting ready to drive home.

and the innocent face she made when we caught her in the act....

We got to watch the most amazing sunset.

Then we took a detour on the way home...here's what the waves looked like at Whiterock's beach.

The pier was absolutely soaked. Would have been an amazing day to be out for a walk...if we didn't have two tiny, tired babies who would probably have been way too cold.


Pretty much a perfect day by our standards...

Davey and Mumma at the park

Happy three month birthday Elisabeth!

Happy Birthday Emma!

Six years ago....what a cutie!



Three years ago...she just keeps getting cuter!



And now she's turning into a beautiful little girl.
Happy birthday Emma! Hope you had a wonderful day!

Today at the beach Andrew continued working on his log cabin to the amusement of most of the old men on the beach who were really just wishing they

could play with the big logs too.







oh, and our Christmas pictures are ready for viewing.

Ahhhh the plight of a second child...Today marked a first in Elisabeth's life: her first trip to Costco. Davey's first trip was documented in film and duly scrapbooked AND blogged. For Elisabeth's we didn't even bring the camera. Didn't even think about it actually. But here she is after we got home. Davey wanted to play outside in the rain, so we sat outside with the camera. We got a ton of cute pictures of him, and one non-blurry picture of her. Here it is.

She looks so serious. Maybe it's because she knows that even though she's the girl, and even though she's incredibly cute, and even though she has ten million adorable dresses that she's growing out of faster than I can get her into them, we still take more pictures of davey than of her. Nah, she's not the jealous type. She must just be wondering why we're sitting outside when we should be eating (well, she should be eating).

Meanwhile, here's the cute and much photographed David Andrew:

He was so excited to have me outside with him - it doesn't happen as much as either of us would like. But he's really good about it. If he's really missing me, he'll climb up on to my lap, on top of Elisabeth, and give me a hug or a quick kiss then squish himself in beside me and watch some tv while I nurse Tink. Or if I'm on the computer, he insists on climbing onto my chair behind me, complaining all the while that I don't scoot forward further so that he has plenty of room, then wraps his arms around my neck for a good, long, leaning hug. Or if I'm trying to work in the kitchen? He'll come and attach himself to my legs till I either sit him on the counter or grab him a chair to help. In fact, he even helps me do laundry these days. I guess he knows that I don't get to actually play too often, so he'll help me so that we can do stuff together. He's a good kid.

Tonight, once we pried his cold, wet little self out of his car, and brought him in to warm up, he came and climbed into my chair again while I fed his sister. This time he squished himself in beside her head. I turned the TV to Treehouse while he put his bottle in one hand and adjusted himself so he could stroke his sister's head. Every once in a while he'd take the bottle out of his mouth and reach down and tenderly plant a kiss on her head. Finally I had to put her in his lap so he could share a real snuggle with his sister. He wrapped both arms around her waist and sat cheek to cheek with her.

I feel like the luckiest, most blessed person on earth to have been given two such precious babies.

On a completely different note, we had family pictures done last Sunday by Katy Sinclair. She is an incredible photographer. Born to take pictures of kids. I've had pictures done by several different photographers since having Davey. Tried taking hundreds, probably thousands of pictures myself. It's hard. They cry, they make faces, they move. They don't want to be posed. Katy made us feel completely at ease, completely comfortable. And even when the kids wouldn't cooperate (we had my kids and my sister's kids there) she just kept that camera to her eyes, snapping away, talking calmly. Our pictures aren't ready for viewing yet, but I can't wait to see what magic she's created. For those of you with kids, I really recommend checking out her site (follow the link from her name above).