Vacay #2

My mother-in-law, June, rented a house at Stinson Beach again this year, on the lagoon side.  She had various members of the family over during the week. We came for four days and brought our paddle boards up, plus there were kayaks at the house to use.  There was a hot tub and a sand box for the kids too. Adam's brother stayed in a house down the street, owned by a member of The Grateful Dead, which was beach side so we could have access to the beach.  We also had beach cruisers at our disposal. One night, after getting all the kids in bed Adam and I cruised into town and had a little dessert date at the diner and then warmed up in the hot tub when we came back. 

 The first morning we were there I did an 8 mile trail run on some incredibly steep, wet trails. It was so beautiful.  The mountains were almost always fog covered so the thick forest was just constantly wet.  It was like a rain forest, only it was cool.  The views from up high were gorgeous.  Some of the slopes were so steep there were stairs and ladders built into the sides.  The first 1.5 miles is almost all up hill.  Then I traversed the mountain for another 1.8 miles, then there rest of the way was mostly some rockin' down hill.  It was tough on the quads.  When I descended back down toward the beach on the famous Dipsea Trail I came out of the fog and there was the whole ocean and beach before me -GORGEOUS. I am doing a 30K in November there and I'm super excited.  After that day I just enjoyed some short runs around the island and the beach.(These pictures are all borrowed from the internet.  I don't run with my phone or a camera.)

 

The weather never got warm, mostly high 60's, a little warmer when the sun came out.  We stayed mostly covered up at the beach but really had a great time. Adam's brother had some wet suits we borrowed and went boogie boarding two days.  Olivia loved it and played for hours and hours in the cold water. I went on a lot of walks with my M-I-L and sister-in-law Amy, whose son, Jackson is Ben's age.  Sometimes they got along and sometimes we had to watch them.  Jackson's a toy snatcher and Ben's a hitter. I've actually always hated Northern California beach vacations because of the cold, but the heat in Sacramento has been awful so the cool weather was great.  I actually enjoyed wearing a sweater the whole time. Adam celebrated a birthday there and I made him a fun cake, yes my hand still hurts from piping it. Olivia just got back from her solo vacation and for some reason there are not as many pictures of her.

 Happy Birthday! Adam celebrated a birthday there and I made him a fun cake, yes my hand still hurts from piping it. All of our teeth were stained blue for the rest of the night!

Nana and Ben and Baby Saylor (new cousin)

Rachel has pretty serious stranger fears.  By the next day she loved Nana.



 









Lots of walks!

This is the view from the top of the lagoon. The next one down is Adam taking in the view from the houses deck.  It looks dreary, but it's so green and lush. The lagoon is only about 5-6 feet deep and you can see to the bottom. There are a few small fish, but we did see a small otter family.  I think we paddled at least twice a day.  I love it!

Goofing around

One thing these two boys really have in common is they love playing on Jackson's IPad.

Ben and Jackson.  Ben wanted to play "paddle" but I was afraid they were going to brain each other.

 This girl was so happy.  She loved getting dirty!

 The only bit of sunshine we got.

Ben, our climber, fell and scraped his cheek on a cement wall outside on the deck, but all smiles.

 June (Nana) treated us to the beach side snack shop for lunch.  Mmm.  Fish and chips! and ice cream! What a fun time-way more fun than our Squaw trip.  I think hanging out with family and having so much to do really made it so much dang fun!