2019 Summer at the Beach

We spent two beautiful weeks at our cottage on the coast smack-dab in the middle of summer. Absolute bliss! The first week was the annual Marshall family beach week. The kids absolutely LOVED the time with their cousins and we are grateful for the many happy hours spent digging in the sand and splashing in the waves together!

Sun drenched, sand covered bliss. I’d like to go ahead and freeze this moment right here.

“Come on, Mommy.” Then he reached up for my hand and marched us both into the waves.

Cole could not get enough of his cousin Morgan (or “O-gan” as he calls her) while we were at the beach. He was completely enamored with her and wanted to be with her all the time! I couldn’t blame him, as this sweet girl dedicated so much of her time to playing with him.

Charlie thoroughly enjoyed his time as a beach kitten!

Sweet good morning kisses for bear.

Buttercups. These sweet little flowers bring me right back to the summers of my childhood. I’d spend hours picking bouquets and admiring the velvety petals as they’d shimmer in sunlight.

Isla and her cousin, Morgan, spent one morning picking wildflowers, designing bouquets, dreaming up their own floral business (“Unique Flowers”), and then painting their arrangements. Goodness, I love their creativity and entrepreneurial spirits!

Charlie loved the flowers too!

The kids spent hours upon hours splashing around in the waves!

“The wheels on the bus go round and round all through the town!”

Charlie is loves watching the kids draw and paint. Those little kitten ears peeking up over the table are just too much!

Can’t turn your back on this little dude for even a second. Such a mischief maker!

“I pick?” Cole asks and points to just about every single flower we pass by. When the answer is yes, boy is he pumped!

“Cole, I think this boat is 135 million years old.” We’re not sure how or why someone pulled this old rowboat clear up the hillside into the forest, but we always enjoy inspecting it when we pass by on our hikes.

Life with Cole in two frames.

“Friends! No a touch a dump truck!”
“Friends! No a play a shovel.”
Cole is all about playing with his sand toys. He is not so much about sharing.

Isla and Morgan helped me make sprinkle bark for some special birthday cake inspired s’mores and a curious little brother took great interest in the process.

Brother wouldn’t stop filling in the holes she was digging, so she started piling sand on him. Seems like a reasonable retaliation.

Cole is absolutely crazy about his cousin “Say-yuh” (Selah)!

We enjoyed a shrimp boil and birthday cake s’mores on the beach to celebrate the June birthdays of the family.

We whipped up a tasty popcorn treat for our first summer viewing of The Sandlot.

We had an eventful trip to Oceanside that tested our patience and resourcefulness, but ended up being one of our favorite family experiences this summer!

Family collecting fun! Cole was especially excited to find his first agate!

Our little collector, hard at work. We are super excited to have these collection bags available in her Etsy shop soon!

Bath time and a curious kitten.

Cole decided Charlie needed a bath too! Charlie was not so sure…

He recovered quickly from his first bath experience, however, after some snuggles with his mommy.

This big-hearted, critter-loving girl of ours. Man, we love her so much! While on a morning beach stroll we found a live sand dollar- only we didn’t know it was alive when Isla first picked it up, so when its little legs started moving it gave her quite a scare. Being the curious little scientist she is, Isla recovered quickly and immediately began examining the sand dollar. Before continuing our walk she made sure to place the sand dollar back where we had found it (in feeding position). When I suggested she put it out into the surf to help prevent others from picking it up, she voiced her concerns about sea stars predation (literally using that term), so we agreed to keep it on the shore. This kid. She’s something else!

Love, love, love the little pools left behind by summer low tides. They are perfect for hours of running, jumping, splashing, and playing!

How each kiddo does sand castles… one builds ’em, one tears them down!

In addition to all the beach play time, there was quite a bit of work happening at the cottage. Isaac primed and painted both bedrooms, and the McD’s helped us replace all the windows and light fixtures in our bedroom. Hooray for progress! This sweet little place is feeling cozier and more like us every day.

Our little firecrackers on the 4th of July!!! I saved these adorable pullovers from The Wishing Elephant for the kids to debut on the 4th and I couldn’t love them more! They are super soft and snuggly and I think they promote a pretty great message for any nation, wouldn’t you agree?

Cole was super excited about the sparklers for about 0.4 seconds. Then they were “Too hot, too owie.” He enjoyed watching the big fireworks, however, from the safety of Gruncle’s lap.

He’s my favorite.

Toasting with Gruncle-inspired whiskey-butter toast s’mores. Say that five times fast.

Even though all of these happy moments took place just a few weeks ago, I am already looking through these photos and feeling an overwhelming sense of nostalgia and gratitude. We are so very thankful for our loving family, the summer sun on our shoulders as we splash in the waves, the feeling of sand between our toes while we walk along the shoreline in search of treasures, and a sweet little cottage that allows us to experience all of these wonderful gifts together.

Favorite beach moments from last year are linked below:

July 2018 at the Oregon Coast

August 2018 on the Oregon Coast