Live in the sunshine. Swim in the sea. Drink the wild air. Ralph Waldo Emerson

It has been really hot here lately.  Like in the 90's hot.  I know that in some parts of the country that isn't "really hot" but for us Oregonians, 90's weather is really hot.  We are lucky to have air conditioning which makes it really comfortable but it also nice to get heat relief in other ways.  So, when my friend Jocelyn and I were making plans for a play date I decided to throw out an idea that we have been talking about for the last three summers but have yet to execute.

We loaded the car and drove to the beach for the day.

It seems like such a simple thing when I just type it out but we hadn't been able to pull it off...until this last Monday.We packed a picnic, lots of liquids, towels, blankets and an extra change of clothes and heading to Lincoln City.  Jocelyn has a daughter that is almost exactly 18 months older than Taelin but they have SO much fun playing together.

We often go to the beach but the most we play out there is an hour or so and then we head back to the hotel/campsite and then go off to do something else.  We haven't ever just dedicated an entire day to spending at the beach, which is why it was on my list!  When I first envisioned me completing. this, I imagined myself on blanket with a book and Joe and Taelin playing all day. But since we went on a work day Joe didn't come along and instead of a book, I had my camera.  And boy did I use it!

I promise I pared down these photos as much as I could.  I took a lot...well...because I could.  Here are my favorites from the day!

they spent a big chunk of time filled sand holes with water

we found a great place to put our blankets for the day.
we had this tree to lean against, a great little beach area in front
of us and a protected from the waves place for the the girls to play.
the girls were covered in sand like taelin is here for most of the day.  

this is the only picture i got of her looking at the camera

she just plopped down and decided to make a sand angel.
And I quote...
 "it worked in the snow.  i thought it would work in the sand and i was right!"

we were in a little bay of sorts, which is way we were protected a little bit .
across from us we had a great view of the waves and a huge amount of sea lions

there was a slight hill that she had a great time rolling down

the tide started to come in towards the end of the day
and running from the "waves" is always fun!

so happy

there was a perfect little shallow area for them to play in

i absolutely LOVE this picture.  this was right before we got ready to go.
they were so worn out and all they could do was sit.

They played for hours and had so much fun.  We were on the road for about 5 minutes on our way home when they both fell fast asleep. It was a day well spent!