Happy 4th of July!

We had a great 4th of July doing our favorite things -- going to the beach and spending time with people we love. We had amazing weather in Long Beach and everyone has me and Nicolas to thank. The three day weekend started with some iffy weather and on and off showers. Nicolas and I did a rain dance to make the rain go away. After that, the weather was perfect for the entire weekend. Friday afternoon, we took Lyla to the pool in our building. It was so nice, we felt like we were at a resort! Friday night we went out with lots of cousins. Michael and Danielle were visiting from Florida with their cute little Hailey and it was Eileen and Brian's anniversary. We got home way too late and had to rally on Saturday morning to prepare for a day at the beach. Dan, Liz and Kaia came to spend the day with us on the beach and we had such a good time. Kaia was a little skeptical of the sand at first, but warmed up after a heart-to-heart with her daddy. In no time, her and Nicolas were fast friends. When Mark and I were food shopping that morning, we were deciding on what kind of sweet snack to bring to the beach. The choice was between freshly baked cookies or whoopie pies (which are kind of like giant soft oreos). Is there any doubt as to which we chose? How can you go wrong with a name like whoopie pie? And of course, the kids loved them. Both Nic and Kaia were talking about whoopie pies the next day. Hooray for whoopie pies! On Sunday, we went back to the beach, this time with Shannon and Kevin and their cutie twin girls Elle and Francesca. Wow, one year old twins are a lot of work. But Kevin and Shannon are amazing and manage to stay cool, calm and collected no matter what. The girls enjoying a cold bottle on the beach. We tried to get a good shot of Shannon and the girls, but it is tough to get two little ones to look up and smile at the same time. Nicolas impressed everyone with his uncanny ability to carry at least half a dozen shovels at once. He can do it with forks, buckets, cars, dinosaurs, anything -- you name it. He is a "collector", so to speak. He also reclaimed the beach tent he lent to Lyla, which he grew out of last summer. In all fairness, he invited everyone in the tent with him. "Mommy in the tent." "Aunt Laura in the tent." Meanwhile, Lyla just sat back and enjoyed the beautiful day. She did start to get fed up with all the picture taking and tried to swipe my camera. We ended a great weekend with a barbeque at my parents' house. Dina decided to give Nicolas an outdoor bath. It started out great. But went downhill quickly. Nicolas recovered like a champ just in time for some cousin lovin' I hope everyone had a great 4th of July!!