On Sunday, we got home from four days in San Diego.?? Jim and I LOVE San Diego and we had such a wonderful time with our kids.?? We haven’t been to the beach in quite some time and Mission Bay was calling me.?? Last year we had a baby.?? The year before that we were saving money for baby.?? FINALLY we got to get away and it was all that we hoped for.?? Troy, thoroughly enjoyed his very first vacation and we were glad to introduce him to the ocean before he was a year old.

I was born in Los Angeles and both my parents were raised in Cali.?? My Dad loved the beach growing up and spent lots of time surfing and fishing.?? I was younger than Tori the first time I ever surfed.?? Dad laid me on his board and surfed.?? Wasn’t he gutsy??? LOL.?? I loved it.?? Loved it so much that the ocean got into my blood very young and it still is one of my favorite places to vacation.

While we were there, Dad couldn’t help but notice the look of envy upon my face watching the body boarders.?? I was trying to be a responsible mama and play with my kids but I really wanted a board.?? Turns out my Dad wanted to play with his kid too so he went and bought me one.???? Papa taught both Tanner and Ty to body board too and they LOVED it.?? Tanner looked pretty terrified when Papa put him on it but after one go at it he was hooked.?? Ty thought it was amazing.?? It’s the first sport I have ever seen Ty truly enjoy.?? I think it is because he didn’t think to pull up on the board so his natural tendency to “hang loose” helped him submit to the water and he therefore boarded further up the beach.

I was a little worried that Ty would struggle with a beach vacation but he did AWESOME.?? Being a sensory seeker, the sand and the rush of the water fed his senses enough that it really seemed to calm him.?? He would bury even his face in the sand smiling the whole time.?? Tanner spent his time digging for sand crabs and body boarding.?? Tori loved chasing the waves and the sand castles but was very worried about me body boarding.?? She asked her Papa if I was going to be okay.???? Funny girl.???? Amusing that she was worried about ME because the child has no fear and that caused me so much anxiety.?????? I caught her walking on top of a wall that had a 30 foot (at least) cliff down one side.?? Where she was at, the drop was probably 10 feet but she was headed for the center when I grabbed her.?? My heart nearly jumped out of my body.?? Before I could emotionally recuperate from that event, she stepped between a gap in the fencing on the sea wall where the seals were.?? The drop was probably 8 foot straight to seals on the beach.???? At that point, I wanted to throttle the little munchkin and I high tailed it out of the area before I had a nervous break down.?? What to do with her?

Troy was so cute.???? Troy was very hesitant about the sand and didn’t want much to do with it at first and he never did care much for the water.?? Sensory overload for an 11 month old.?? However, early on, I caught my little genius using his sister’s flip flops on his hands to crawl across the sand.?? I was shocked that he thought to do that.?? Once he got far enough out on the sand, he determined it was okay and let go of the flip flops and was okay playing after that.?? He was such a good baby.

Papa and Sweetie came with us and the kids switched off staying in their hotel room at night.?? They loved that.

We also spent a day at the San Diego Zoo but by that time, the kids were so tired out from 3 days on the beach that I am not sure they enjoyed it much.?? At one point Ty told me “I am not enjoying the animals but I really like this bus.”?? (The tour bus at the zoo).?? I had to laugh at that.

I had big plans for beach pictures but when it got down to it, I just wanted to play so I only took the above snapshots.?? It was the right thing to do while on vacation.

Recently Liza and I had a discussion about how to raise children uniquely.?? I thought in my mind that I did that because I think I was raised that way but sometimes I am not sure we see ourselves “rightly”.?? On this trip though, I enjoyed watching Jim with the kids.?? Have I told you what an amazing husband and daddy he is lately????? He spoiled each of them based on their unique needs and desires.?? At Bennigan’s, I noticed that Ty got a special ice cream dessert (as well as cotton candy at the zoo and funnel cakes at the beach).?? Ty spends vacation time planning every meal and dessert.?? That is what he loved the most and Jim knew that.?? Tori got beach toys.?? Tanner got shrimp appetizers and pier fishing (that actually never manifested because it was FREEZING on the pier).???? Not once did any of the kids comment on the individualized gifts that the others got.?? I assume that they too realized the individual needs and it didn’t occur to them to ask for “fairness”.?????? I loved seeing that.

Got me thinking about my relationship with God and how lovingly He treats me.???? He is patient with where I am at on my journey and He tells me only what I need to know and am ready to hear right now.?? He gives me gifts that are unique to what I need and desire.?? He teaches me lessons in ways that I will understand.?? In all of these things, He is a tender Daddy loving me in a unique way.?? That, in and of itself, is such a beautiful picture of His love to me.

While at the beach, Jim commented on how blonde Troy’s hair looked.?? I think there is a very good chance that Troy will end up blonde with green eyes.?? Before adopting our fourth child, I had daydreamed about the possibility of God giving me all the colors of the rainbow.?? I already red hair/blue eyes, black hair/black eyes/ brown hair/brown eyes.?? The only combination I didn’t have was a blond hair and green eyes.?? Does God have a sense of humor or what??? Even in the little things of life, He delights me and I know that He delights in doing it just as I LOVE showering affection and gifts upon my children.???? Pretty cool.