Saying goodbye to summer in Long Beach!

Hard to believe one week ago today we were just heading off to Long Beach, In for a few days with Gramma Ellen and Grandpa George and now tomorrow I'll be walking Cameron into his first day of Kindergarten.

It was a truly wonderful, relaxing and beautiful week in Long Beach with great company that included many fine family members!

Grandpa George did a great job holding his title as Captain Adventure, growing up my father would take us on many "excursions" all memorable in their own way and some a bit off the wall which always led to a good story. So in typical fashion, Capt. Adventure schooled Connor in trying to trap and then play dodgeball with the beach seagulls as you will see below:

"So you take this crate and..."

Gramma Ellen was not to be left out of the fun as she took some pretty big risks letting their bird "Rodan" out of his cage on many occasions, much to the delight of the children, Connor in particular. Good news there was no dodge ball with Rodan, and after some time Connor and Rodan came to understand one another, despite the stick Connor was repeatedly poking at him. Cameron would squeal with delight anytime the bird flew around, it's amazing how children connect with animals.

Connor is holding the "stick" yet Rodan has decided to proceed with caution

Uncle Ed arrived a few days into our stay and he's likely thankful for this seeing as Connor, Cameron and Maureen busted into his room early one morning and jumped up and down on his bed. As I walked into this scene I felt really bad, and said so. Which Capt. Adventure piped up "Oh don't worry about it, I put the kids up to it".

The boys had a great time with all of the Conway family. While it took Cameron quite a while to fall into a routine every day, when he did feel comfortable he had a really good time. I imagine he'd say his favorites were playing "Build a Bear Workshop" with Maureen and swimming in the lake late in the day playing wipeout in the waves. All in all it was a great way to say goodbye to summer. The boys are already asking when we can go back...

Many, many thanks to the Conways and Hanleys for letting us share in the adventures

!