the day we saw dolphins {day 3}

this was the day we saw dolphins.

a whole pod.

there's something magical about dolphins being so close to you off the shore.

the surfers stop surfing, and just sit with their feet dangling off the sides of their boards, 

and they all flag each other down to watch the dolphins

as they come within feet of them going by.

time just sorta stops as the mystical creatures slowly glide in and out of the water,

and we all sat on the sand wishing we were the surfers sitting out there on boards touching the dolphins as the swam by.

every time their fins would come up my heart would skip.

it never gets old.

also, i tried to snorkel for shells like my brother in law kenny because he was finding some AWESOME necklace making ones, but about three wipe outs later i called it quits and went back to boogie boarding, as there is nothing more fun 

than getting a really good wave right in front of your kids.

i just remember it had me all excited? {day 2}

every single morning at the beach, 

except the last morning, 

maxine gave us the wonderful pleasure of seeing the ocean at 5am.

do you want to know what the ocean looks like at 5am?

dark.

it looks really dark:)

in fact, you can't really see anything until about 6:15am,

and then things start to get really beautiful around 6:45am.

this is what i learned about mornings on the beach.

also, paddle boarding time on the ocean is anytime between 6am and 7am.

by 7am, it's surfing time.

it reminded me a lot of high school and watching the surfers get out there 

before school in the morning.

BEHOLD,

I GIVE YOU....

the birthday boy!

birthday festivities 

went as follows:

birthday boy slept in, you're welcome sean

conference scones and raspberry butter were prepared and served for 19. have you ever tried to watch conference with 10 kids? yeah, we gave up halfway into the first talk. 

{sean and i listened to the saturday session in the car all the way home to utah. holey moley, i haven't gotten that much out of conference since before brennan was born, i kid you not.}

surprise paddle board rented for the birthday boy

getting out past three breaks and some massive waves was achieved

big hats and 4 bottles of spray sunscreen were worn

sand was firmly established in all crevasses of all gibsons 

{i am even still finding it in my left ear, and we've been home for almost a week--it's awesome.}

candles blown out and cake was had 

{i was SO PROUD that i got a picture with ALL of the kids in it. that is until my brother in law told me i was missing chase. mmm hmmm. dang.}

{above: i took about 93 shots of this with his pail just like this standing here. 

i wanted to EAT him he was so cute.}

i can't even tell you the kind of waves he had to fight to get out there this day because obviously this picture looks like a walk in the park, also, it's zoomed in so it doesn't show how far out he had to get, BUT i will say that he had a beach full of strangers and family, with their mouths and jaws dropped to the ground when he finally succeeded at getting himself, the board, and a paddle out into the ocean blue. it was pretty freaking fantastic to watch, let me tell you. he told me later he could hear me screaming and cheering for him. cheerleader voice, oh yeah.

{above: my super fine ocean paddle boarder returns from his sea adventures. someone pointed out something SUPER funny about the picture on the right...i just can't remember what is was...i just remember it had me all excited? hahahahahahaha.....sorry dad.} 

happy happy sean sean.

i'm so glad you were born:)

bloody max {day 1 at the beach}

about 2 minutes after getting out of the car max got a bloody nose.

and we aren't talking about some wussy bloody nose.

like it was full on someone just punched her in the face but they really didn't bloody nose.

and because there was lots going on she wandered around wiping her nose with her arms and on her shirt, thinking it was regular old snot, when really it was blood.

then it took almost half an hour to get it stopped.

and for the rest of the week every time her nose was running she would run up and ask me if it was bloody again.

and that is what i remember about the first day of the beach.