Birthday beach bums

On Thursday, July 29th my sweetheart turned 29 years old. I woke early that morning to pack for a "birthday campout" I planned in leu of Mark's special day. As I gathered our camping gear I began to reflect upon my life with Mark. I thought about all of the fun adventures we've shared - the places we've gone and the things we've done. I thought about all of the smiles, winks, belly laughs, locked hands, back tickles, inside jokes, footsies, hugs, kisses, and "I love you"s that we've shared over the last 13 years. I thought about how safe, secure, and confident he makes me feel. I thought about the passion that runs deep within our relationship - when we love and when we fight. I thought about the way we fight - sometimes ugly but always fair. More importantly I thought about how easily we forgive and forget. I thought about the life we've built together - dreams we had as young teenagers now being fullfilled. I thought about the little girl upstairs sleeping - how she has stretched our capacity to love, helped us become more vigilant in doing good, and brought us closer together in ways that I think only a child can. I thought about the probability that had I never met Mark none of this would be my reality. I thanked God for sending him my way, for guiding us to the point we're at right now, and for His grace that granted us our Grace. Then I finished packing...

Gracie and I woke early Friday morning and made the 2.5 hour drive down to Shelton to pick up Mark at the WSP Academy. When we arrived I opened up the back of the Jeep to let Parker stretch his legs. I was horrified when I saw all of Mark's neatly wrapped birthday presents chewed up and spit out into tiny little peices!! Everything was fine except the most expensive item - a Blue Tooth headset - this was of course the item Parker chose to chew on!!! One of the charging cords is completely shredded. I literally had to "find a happy place" because in that moment hitting him mercilessly over the head with a brick sounded like a good idea. Anyone want a dog?

After my temper flared down a little, we hopped in the car and drove another hour to Twin Harbors State Park. We set up camp and made our way to the beach...

Grace LOVES the beach! She runs on Washington sand (tiny rocks) like an olympian, she rolls in it, and digs in it without any fear of getting too wet or dirty. She's our little beach bum!

This next picture is a warning to anyone who wants to live - if you see Mark's tongue out - RUN!!! This is a tell-tale sign that he means business! :) By the way, he's getting ready to playfully throw Gracie up in the air - no need to call CPS. ;)

Mark's dad arrived in the evening. After he set up his tent we had dinner and then we went for a night walk along the beach. It was an awesome experience standing in the pitch black darkness and hearing the waves thunderously roaring.

Saturday we went to the Tokeland Wood Fest - unfortunately it turned out to be a "snooze fest". We came 'home' and spent a couple more hours on the beach...

Mark and his dad Lynn with their "perfect angels"...

Family photo...

Late Saturday afternoon we walked the town of Westport. We browsed the gift shops, ate icecream and climbed a tower overlooking the water. While Mark and his dad were standing on the tower I decided to snap a few photos of them. Mark saw that I had my camera so he took it upon himself to create a "special moment" with his dad by man handling his nipple...

As you can probably tell Lynn was not impressed with Mark's "caress".

Late Saturday evening we decided to sit by a fire on the beach, so we bundled up and prepared to do so. Here's our little bundle of joy...

Minutes before Dusk we made our way down to the beach where scouting skills were put to the ultimate test as Mark and Lynn tried to create a bonfire despite super strong gusts of wind. The scouts won, and we enjoyed hot flames well into the night.

A few things tainted my plans (ie: Parker eating Mark's presents) but overall it was a nice weekend get-away. Mark, I love you. I'd be a beach bum with you any day. Happy Birthday baby!