Seabrook

Two weeks ago, we took our first family vacation. By first, I mean our first trip without any grandparents or friends along to help. We went to a little beach town on the Washington coast. In the 28 years since Tommy's family moved to Seattle, Tommy had never been to the Washington coast (it is more common to vacation on the Oregon coast from here). Seabrook is a relatively new little town - it was developed in 2004 and there are many houses and businesses still under construction. The kids had an absolute blast. The best part of the trip for them were the bunk beds in their bedroom, so I guess we could have gone anywhere? Ha! They also enjoyed riding bikes, making sand castles, swimming in the indoor pool (it is not warm enough for an outdoor pool!), and playing outside. We had a nice time and dare I say it is getting a little bit easier to travel? I am looking forward to many, many more family getaways to explore the Pacific Northwest.

This picture was taken the day before our trip - at Rattlesnake Lake near our home. It is our new favorite summer spot!

This kid cracks me up. He was engrossed with the honey containers (bears, of course!) at a lunch stop on our way to Seabrook.

Ranch House BBQ - the best BBQ in Washington! The kids, as expected, loved the giant pig more.

Seabrook - the entire town has this "look" to it. Many say it looks like the "Truman Show." I've not seen the movie, but the town has a very distinctive look. I thought it was adorable. All of the cottages are named - we stayed at the Koa Surf and Board - but my favorite name was "Gone Coastal." As we rode bikes through the town, I enjoyed looking at all the cottage names and wondering what I would name mine.

Tommy's inaugural ride with our new Burly Bee bike trailer.  

The boys LOVE it.

See?

Morning snuggles

Hiking down to the beach. Note that this is not the beach attire I grew up wearing - jeans, sweaters, and fleeces. I need to adjust my thinking of a beach vacation in the Northwest. This is not what I had in mind when we planned this trip!

Nonetheless, the kids enjoyed the sand.

Brayden ran and ran and ran along the beach. See below.

Lunch time - PB&J with plenty of sand to boot.

Popsicles after dinner

I still love snapping pictures of B while he's sleeping. He never sits still during the day, so bedtime is my only chance to marvel at him.

Silly Matty

The kids made some friends and played hide-and-seek and mom and dad were able to enjoy two whole glasses of wine! Victory!

Smores

Brayden had so much fun that he fell asleep while eating Pringles in the car. Who falls asleep while eating chips? How I love him so...

That's a wrap on our family vacation! It was a success and I am already planning our next one. I think we'll try Lake Chelan (in Eastern Washington) next...