Beach Bums

We spent the entire week last week at the beach. Some friends of ours were unfortunate enough to have to go to Spain for two weeks, and we were fortunate enough to get to house-sit for them for one of their weeks away. My parents spent a couple of days with us, and since Marc had work projects for the first part of the week, he joined us mid-week.

The days we were there were gorgeous and absolutely perfect - blue skies, warm air, cool ocean breeze.

We played in the sand...

we chased seagulls...

we tried to tackle waves (which never worked out in our favor!)...

we explored all the fun stuff on the beach (Hugh tasted every last object he could get his hands on)...

The waves were inviting - in fact, a little too inviting for my two little boys. If ever there was a question of their fearlessness, it has since been washed away along with any hopes of my sanity past the age of three. Maybe four. Are boys just born without fear?

It was the perfect time to spend a week at the ocean, just after passing the twins' birthday, with my thoughts turned a little more tenderly toward feelings and emotions in my heart. There is no place like the ocean to process some of those feelings, as those waves seem to know all too well the ebb and flow of the heart's emotions.

And, as I watched my boys run full-speed toward those impressive waves, with determination and unmatched courage, I realized how much I have to learn from these little guys. It was so clear to observe that there is a joy that comes when life is embraced and faced head-on, lived like it's meant to be lived. I left the beach last week with a new perspective and renewed desire to live life a little more fully and to not be so afraid of life's ebb and flow.

April's first half - Photo Essay

Day at the beach - finding treasures, chasing waves, exploring a lighthouse:

Day at the lake  feeding ducks:

Visit to the cemetery with Mandi and Audrey:

Easter lunch with my parents and Yui:

(The most delicious chocolate cake, innovatively made over skype.)

Easter afternoon at the cemetery:

We found that some anonymous angel(s) had left four new bouquets of flowers for our girls.

So simple and so sweet.

We left some fresh tulips and lupin, sure to attract the deer to come visit.

Happy deer, enjoying their own Easter feast.

Glass Beach and Kaleidoscopes

Two Saturdays ago, when my sister was in town, we spent the day on the coast. There is a beach we always visit. Glass Beach. Its name comes from the tiny pieces of broken glass that are mixed in with the millions of small pebbles that cover the shore. There is some sand further up the shore, but right along the water's edge you'll only find the mixture of smooth rocks and colored glass pieces, that are equally smooth and polished. 

I don't know if my memory betrays me, but every time we go back it seems that there are less and less colors to enjoy. I admit I may have something to do with that... somewhere in an old box, I probably have at least a dozen camera film containers filled with colorful rocks that I collected during my childhood (well... and beyond). Blues and Purples, Reds and Greens. But, sometimes the colorful rocks did get used, rather than collecting dust. Once my dad rigged up some homemade kaleidoscopes, using the colorful glass bits. Seriously amazing.

Anyway, I think this trip may have been the first visit to Glass Beach that I only admired the rocks and left what colors remain to be admired by all the other visitors. 

This past weekend I wasn't at Glass Beach. But, I had this strange sensation that on a different sort of plane, I was wandering down a similar shore. And just like the Glass Beach from my childhood memories, this shore was covered with the most beautiful stones, even mixed in with pure gems and the most valuable of treasures. For two full days, among a limitless array of treasures, I collected as many as my hands and pockets could carry... filled to over-flowing. Now, the task - to arrange them into something beautiful and useful, a sort-of kaleidoscope.

These treasures are much too valuable to sit in an old box, under my bed.

Staples

For the last nine and a half days I've been spending most of my waking hours with my parents, (who finally returned from a long, two-month road trip to visit the rest of our family) and with two of my favorite girls: my Little Sister and her Little Miss Sweetness.

As you can see, the weather has allowed for diaper-only, dandelion-picking afternoons. 

We've been busy planting a garden in my parents' backyard, going on walks, eating lunch in my new backyard, making gravy pitchers on my dad's pottery wheel, going on more walks, getting boxes unpacked, building bookcases, filling those bookcases with all our favorite books, and so much more. My parents invited a friend of theirs from Sydney to come stay with them for a while - she arrived on Wednesday. I hope she's enjoying all of our little adventures.

Today we did a little shopping - found some cute fabric to add a little {persimmon-like} color to our life in the form of new curtains, some new curtain rods on which to hang those curtains, a large chunk of Parmigiano-Reggiano (since I just ran out yesterday... and it's a staple in our house), and a few other random items. We ended the day with gelato at this Sweet Shoppe. Afterall, gelato is also an important staple in our life.

Tomorrow we are all headed to the coast... a place that has been a source of healing. I'm looking forward to another day with those I love, in a place I dearly love. These staples of my life keep me going. My day with them surely will not disappoint. 

Beach Camping

Marc is right - our two day beach vacation was a much needed break. We needed the rest and relaxation. I also finished reading a book and started another one, dozed off under the warmth of the sun, waded into the cold ocean water, enjoyed the feeling of sand between my toes, and ate some yummy food. I've decided that planning good meals is the best part of camping. Of all the good food we had, I think the highlight was the dutch oven peach cobbler. It was heavenly!

It was great to have my parents there with us, too. While Marc was taking one of his much needed naps, I went exploring with my parents. We found a little river running into the ocean, where the water was significantly more tolerable. I really enjoyed spending that time with them. They'll be leaving for Australia in just a couple of weeks and I am grateful to have this time with them. I'm sure the year and a half will go by fast, but it's hard to think of them being on the other side of the world.

Marc and I also had some quiet time together, while we took a stroll down the beach at sunset. Life needs more of those moments... to slow down and just be in the moment. We even found a private little cove to sneak a few kisses!

The big disappointment of the weekend was not being able to try out our new 9-person tent. We bought it last winter, at a really good price. We were excited to try it out, but it was so windy on the beach that it wouldn't stay up. Check this out:



Luckily we had brought our other smaller tents, just in case we would need them. Overall, we had a fantastic time!

-Megan

Two Ways to Vacation at the Beach

There are only two ways to vacation at the beach, if you really think about it.

The first way is to soak it all in and act like you're on mental holiday. This means you do whatever comes to mind - napping, reading, exploring, eating, floating.

The second way is to make a list of things you want to do at the beach and work your way through the list: Playing in the water, flying a kite, going for a run, eating s'mores, doing a crossword puzzle.

This weekend, I did things the first way. I finished a book I was reading, but I didn't do any sketches at all. I ate a hotdog (even though I don't really like hotdogs anymore), but I didn't take nearly enough photos. I took a long nap, and I let other people explore the rocks.

I could tell I just needed a break. Rest, relaxation, no planning.

Now that I'm home, I feel like I can sketch again, make plans again, and be hyperactive again.

Marc

Sketching and the beach

We're getting ready to go camping on the beach in a week or so, and I'm excited. I love going to the coast - it's a break for the mind, and camping on the beach is lovely. If you feel like you're laying in an uncomfortable spot, just wiggle back and forth a bit until the sand beneath you is like one of those contour matresses. :-)

When we go to the beach, I like to take my sketchbook along to record places, things, and people. Since I do commercial illustration work as part of my job, it helps me keep in practice, too.

There is a really magical cottage on part of the northern California coast, and I love to look at it. Here's a sketch I made of it, then scanned into the computer:

Isn't it cool how it's perched right there at the edge of a cliff? How awesome would it be to vacation in a little place like that? I didn't have much time to complete the sketch, so here's a photo of it that I took earlier:


Crashing waves...sharp rocks...wind-blown trees. Maybe nobody lives there - maybe somebody just built it so they could get rich selling calendar photos of it? :-)

In my sketchbook, there's a huge portion of that page missing. Before I sketched this cottage, I drew a boy and a girl sitting together on the beach, talking. Later that day, the father of the girl in the drawing asked if he could pay me for it! I guess it was a special moment for the girl and he and his wife wanted to give the drawing to her, framed, as a birthday present. I thought it was such a neat idea that I was happy to cut the page up right there. The gap in the page reminds me that even a little drawing can make someone happy.

Someday I'll have to share my airport drawings...some of the people who were at the airport would probably be pretty surprised to know that they were captured on paper while they talked on their cell phones, or drooled all over themselves during a short nap in the terminal. ;-)

Can't wait to go to the beach!

-Marc