Sun, Sea & Sand

The boys are here now, as is my sister Kathy and her daughter Krystyna.   The remodel on the beach house last year appears to have been a success as Kathy and Krysia (Krystyna’s nickname–her father’s from Poland, thus the spelling) love their little suite and are enjoying their visit very much.

I love having my sister here.  Never get to see her enough and my favorite vacations include her.  Two and a half years ago we took the kids to Europe for two weeks and five and a half years ago we took them on a Caribbean cruise after four days in Puerto Rico.  My sister and I grew up traveling quite a bit and it’s been important that we continue that tradition with our kids.  I’ve always said that I work to travel.  I’d rather spend my money on exploring the world than on fancy cars, clothes or jewelry.

Since Surfer Ty’s working a lot right now Kathy and I decided to take kids to Sandy’s Beach but I was worried about long hours in the sun for Mac, so we stopped off at City Mill, bought an Easy-Up tent, strapped it on the top of my little jeep, and headed to the beach with the kids, beach chairs and picnic lunch.  The great thing about my sister is that she’s fearless and strong.  Not afraid of anything.  I’ve always wanted a portable tent for the beach (I’m not a sun goddess…can’t read if I’m sweating…) but was always intimidated by the idea of actually lugging one onto the sand and trying to get it up.  Kathy says they do it for soccer games all the time so there we were, popping up our tent, burying the stakes in the sand and creating a perfect little oasis for our beach chairs and towels.  The only negative about our tent–a cool red one–is that it advertises City Mill in huge yellow letters on all four sides.  Not quite the image we were going for.

On the positive side, it was Mac’s first real outing to a proper beach and he loved the sand and hanging out on the beach towel playing with whatever objects he could find in my purse.   Kathy read her James Patterson novel on her Kindle and I was a tad envious of her Kindle and dropped a couple hints that a Kindle would be a great birthday present for me come February.  But in the meantime,  I was so happy with our patch of sand and our shade and the gorgeous sparkle of sun on the breaking surf.   I’m so lucky to have my family here.  It’s the best Christmas present I could hope for.

Did you get what you wanted for Christmas?  Was there something not in your stocking that you hoped for?  Fill me in and you’re entered to win a big box of Hawaii treats—coffee, chocolates, Macadamia nuts and much  more.  I guarantee you’ll love this gift.  Contest runs through midnight the 29th and I’ll announce the winner Thursday morning. 

(Important info:  The winner will have one day to send me his/her info because I must mail box on Friday as I leave over the weekend to return to Seattle.   And by the way, my last two blog winners never sent me their addresses so if I don’t hear from them by Wednesday, I’ll add their amazing goodies to the pile and give their prizes away, too.  Please make sure you check to see you’ve won and if you do, it’s your job to email me.   With the kids, the travel, the writing and the blog updates I’ve found I can’t track down every winner, so please check back if you hope to win!! And get me your info.  Happy Holidays!!)