Our Labor Day Traditions

Thanks to our friends Jeff and Jodi who have had an annual tradition of a San Clemente beach trip for Labor Day, we too have followed suit and taken part in their tradition. With 3 kiddos under our belt (we first started going when Emily was only 4 months old) and Taylor only being 5 weeks old, we weren't sure what our weekend was going to look like. Thanks to my AMAZING hubby who took charge of Emily and Jakey, I was just left to hold Taylor under the umbrella and make sure everyone had plenty of snacks and drinks. I definetly got the better end of the deal. Many people have asked how we managed to get all of our stuff down to the beach AND all of us too. Well, once again, my AMAZING husband did it all. He took all of the chairs, blankets, beach bags, snacks everything down, set it all up for us as we waited in the car. As we waited, I lathered the kiddos up with sunscreen so we would be ready to play as soon as we got down there. And upon heading home, we did it the same way, I cleaned the kids up at the car while Rex was the work horse getting everything back to the car. Emily is at the perfect age for the beach. She loved going in the water and played it very safe so we really didn't have to worry about her too much. She played in the water and sand for HOURS!! Jacob on the other hand was a real challenge. He just isn't big enough. Even if the waves came up to his shin it would knock him over, so poor Rex had to shadow him all day long. Taylor did amazing sleeping most of the day enjoying the sounds of the ocean. It seems that whenever Rex and I are worried about how the kids will do, they always surprise us. After 10 hours at the beach over 2 days, I came home feeling so excited for the many beach days that are going to come and all of the fun that our family is able to have now, and is going to continue to have being only 20 minutes from the beach. Driving home from our long weekend, I was so grateful to the Moreno's for always extending an invitation to their family tradition, to the Johnson's who allowed us to stay at their house making sleeping for our family a success and for my amazing husband who always goes above the call of duty to maintain a happy wife and a GREAT time for the kids!