Happy 5th of July!

Since the 4th was a Sunday, Derek got Monday off for Independence Day, much like many of you I'm sure. We went to the Windward side (Kailua and Kaneohe) to look at a few houses and then headed to the opposite side of the island for Ewa Beach. There's this great little playground there next to the beach and the beach is a lot of fun with some great waves.

Roman's still generally very nervous about the ocean in general. He likes it when Derek or I carry him out into it and he likes the feel of the waves crashing into us. But he's not very happy when the waves hit him on his own. And by waves, I mean water lapping at his toes.

So he hangs out on the beach getting all sandy. No one can say sand's not fun, though, so I'm not too worried about him.

Meanwhile, the girls love the water and run right out into it, especially Avril. Xandri's still hesitant to go out very far,

she doesn't quite know how to read the ocean yet and the waves often catch her unawares...

like this:

While the girls run around and play in the waves, Mister is still....

A good beach run was in order. We tried to outrun the waves... parallel to the ocean! They loved it.

After a while, everyone was sandy, cold and beached out. Plus I had water in my ear and it was hurting. So we headed on over to the playground: Roman's territory!

This is Xandri's patented Silly Face. You'll probably be seeing a lot of it. They all say they like the playground more than the beach, and I believe it from Roman and Xandri... but Avril... well, she laughs and screams and plays an awful lot on the beach. I'm not convinced.

Meanwhile, I decided to catch some rays. Cause, you know. Playing on the beach in a bikini doesn't catch very many rays. Also, this is a nice way to relax, warm up and dry off while letting the hubby take care of the kids. Or take pictures of you.

And then I realize I need to start worrying a little bit more about what I do... how many 6 year olds lay out?

Luckily, the age thing is on my side. Laying out is boring.