Friday, July 30, 2010

La Jolla Vacation - Day 10 - When Merrilee And I Cried, But Not About Something The Kids Did

Another visit with Merrilee and kids. This time in La Jolla. Here she is wrangling both at the beach house.

I have a new love. Dane. Her youngest. PURE TODDLER CRAZINESS. Just look at this.....you know it didn't end well when he has a huge chunk of sand that close.

Mer took charge. I like her style of motherhood. Look at him laughing. Little stinker.

Only persistence works with kids like this. I know. I've raised 2 of them and am thinking our sweet daughter is starting to follow the boys' leads.

How could you not love him?

Kids ran wild.

Sweet Ellery.

Jack tended the showers.

Suddenly, we started to see people jumping off their bikes and running to the water. Triathlon, we're thinking.

We watched and wondered.

More people coming......

Instead of swimming some obscene distance, they jump and cheer and celebrate. We didn't know what it was, but we knew it was big. I started to tear up.

Lainey was clearly moved.

Cheers, applause, people running to take pictures of these men and women in the water.

You know I wasn't about to leave it alone.....so I asked. These fine folks started out in Nags Head, North Carolina and rode their bikes for 3 months across the United States. They stayed in churches, camped, etc........and on the way worked with Habitat for Humanity building homes.

Can you imagine? 3543 miles. Website here.

And, we were lucky enough to see them touch the west coast water after starting out on the east coast. Amazing. Inspiring. I'm tearing up right now recalling it all!

While Merrilee and I stood wiping tears and discussing the event, the kids kept on being kids and carried on.

Not exactly the picture I was going for.

Nice booty, Laine.

Goodbyes. Ellery gave Lainey her nightgown while we were in Encinitas. I'm pretty sure that means something big in the 2-4 year old capacity of friendship.

The Libby fam headed back home for naps and we stayed at La Jolla Shores.

My favorite grumpy old man rode his bike down the beach, honking his horn and fussing at people to get out of his way. I love him. Saw him almost every day. Picture Jack in 60 years.

Speaking of, our children got so comfortable with the beach, Jack took a nap one day. "Cubber me, Mom." Done!

The usual spot.

My sweet, little mess of a grumpy old man tied up in a 4 year old's body. Could a Catholic Preschool be ready for this?

Beach food.

Beach kids.

Lots of seaweed this day and those after. Something about the tide. I don't know. I'm a Midwesterner currently.







Our dainty little girl. And, this is NOTHING compared to the sandy mess she becomes in the days after. Stay tuned.

Dinner that evening in San Diego.....



We took a pic in this tree last year. Post here. Tried to re-create it. Nice move, honey. You do look fine, though, forcing our daughter to pose. White polo + khaki shorts + glasses = beautiful Blake.

Can't remember where Jack sat to get his booty wet.

Calling it a night.


Only a few days left, folks! Then, we're back to the day-to-day monotony of our little fam. I'm working all weekend. Blake and kids will be soaking up the pool if the rain stays away.

I'm finally catching up on blogs, but if I've missed something, leave me a comment or email me. I hate writing something and wanting specific people not to miss it and then it goes unread. Let me know!

23 comments:

If the shoe FITZ said...

love it all.
jack's wet booty..makes me laugh!
dang it took me a bazillion times to type this without typos don't get me started on the visual verification.
just back from gloria's and drunk from black bean dip...or it could be the margs....yup the margs...adios!

Kim said...

WOW! I can imagine I would have the same reaction to reaching the Wesrt coast from the East on a bike, very cool.

I think our next raod trip needs to be to the beach, so relaxing.

Pam Bowers said...

I just adore Lainey's swimsuit. So cute. I love how your kids are not afraid to dig in and get dirty while playing. That's what childhood is all about. I bet they were exhausted at bedtime each night.

Love the biker story. So neat you were there to see it.

Cassie said...

I got chills seeing the people running before I even found out why!

merrilee said...

I didn't even know you were snapping pictures of me man-handling Dane.....Carrie will laugh at those pics! Ellery just asked me yesterday if she could go on an airplane to see Lainey.....she loves that girl! The bikers were so amazing to see, I was just telling my friend that story last night.....I feel so fortunate that we happened to be there at that exact moment.

The Luis Family said...

i love your vacay re-cap! You guys did it right and had such a good time. You all look cute as every too! I think I need to go up and re-pack for our trip tomorrow! Have a great week!

The Soladay Family said...

How cool that you were able to see that celebration on the beach. Awesome.

The grumpy old man on the bike. Awesome.

My drunk ass phone call to you last night. Awesome.

Carrie Darney said...

Mer...you are right. I am DYING that Casey caught that in pictures! The one of you man handling Dane and him laughing at you is PRICELESS!! Framer for sure!

I want some beach food now...

Coco said...

Love this! Love the boys matching little outfit. So cute.

starnes family said...

Merrilee, when you pick up a child up by his shirt and swimsuit, you know I'm going to grab my camera. Blake and I were dying laughing. You were so eloquent! Loved it.

Dee Stephens said...

good times.!! That group of people made me tear up too!!

Sara said...

That's so awesome that y'all got to witness those bikers. 3,000+ miles?!?!?! C-R-A-Z-Y!

Love Lainey's flower in her hair - and especially when paired with all that sand. Precious.

Jack and the grumpy man - love it.

Carter/Jack's matching outfits. Adorable. Such fun!

I like Merrilee's style of parenting too!

FROGGITY! said...

that is SO cool. such a wonderful experience! and to top it off, the children are also wonderful! y'all rock.

:)

The Lenzers said...

what a touching story about the bikers!!! and what a great family you have. you are such a wonderful wife and mom....you did good Case!!!

Monica said...

Lainey's sandy booty made me laugh. Precious thing. I teared up reading about those people too. I can't even imagine. What an accomplishment. WOW. Also, that oreo looks so damn good while I'm sitting here eating my Lean Cuisine. Damn.

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