a week of beach fun with the Birbari's

We just got home from an amazing week at the beach with this precious family, some of our dearest friends.  They graciously invited us to stay with them for A WEEK at a beach house in Watercolor.  I don't think they really knew what they were getting themselves into. :)

We arrived last Sunday evening and came home yesterday.  The week flew by way too fast!  We all stayed in this amazing 4 bedroom home...2 master suites downstairs and 2 bedrooms and a playroom upstairs. Kids were upstairs; parents were downstairs...and Oliver fit quite comfortably in a pac'n'play in our closet.  The house also came with 4 adult bikes, and the Birbari's rented a couple extra kid bikes, as well as a bike trailer for the kiddos that can't ride a bike yet.  So, bike rides ended up being a big time favorite of the week for everyone! 

Most of our days were spent either at the beach or the pool or both.  Some days we packed lunches and snacks and ate near the water, and other days we just ate lunch at home.  Most of our dinners were at home, except for one evening when we had been at the beach and pool the entire day, we decided last minute to eat across the street at a delicious pizza place.  We also had a couple of nights where we did a date night switch.  Tuesday night John and Lori had their date night, while we grilled hot dogs and played monopoly with the kids.  Thursday night Brian and I got to have our date night, while the rest of the crew stayed in for spaghetti and charades. We went to Bud and Alley's in Seaside and split the crab cakes.  We got to walk around for a little while (and splurge on chocolate peanut butter fudge) before heading home to watch the end of the NBA finals and visit with John and Lori.  

A couple of mornings Brian got up super early with some of the boys, and they rode bikes down to the beach to fish.  Both Henry and Nate were able to catch some fish! Friday night-our last night- after dinner we all went down to Seaside to take some pictures on the beach before it got dark (we were a little late on the timing...oh well), and then stayed for the outdoor movie night on the green. So while eating ice cream and shakes, we enjoyed "Happy Feet 2." 

I cannot even begin to express our gratefulness for such a wonderful week with sweet friends!  The entire week was a vacation we will always treasure.  Wonderful fellowship and great conversation with dear friends...watching our kiddos play so well together...surrounded by beautiful sand and seas...so, so thankful!!