NEWS ALERT - BW HAS FINISHED SUMMER SCHOOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  As of 4:30 Monday afternoon, BW turned in the last of his assignments and has completed 12 units of seminary in 9 weeks!!!!!!!(He had scheduled 14 units, but wisely chose to drop a class on the Exegesis of Deuteronomy). 

So, we celebrated by going out to dinner at a REAL restaurant as a family!  With the exception of forgetting to keep their voices down, the kids did really well though Boy22 mths had trouble sitting in the highchair until the food came. 

Then yesterday, we hit the beach!!!  The weather was perfect and the beach was not crowded at all since it was a Tuesday.  In fact it was such a beautful day in Malibu that a film crew was shooting a movie (kept waiting for my kids to get discovered since they are so cute and all, but the talent scouts must have been too busy to see them). 

We actually saw a school of dolphins pass by and the kids found some sand crabs.  Boy22 mths carried his around saying "bug" and showing everyone until it died.  We made friends with a family who was "on holiday" from England.  Their daughter was Girl4's age and fit right in with our family.  I just love listening to little kids with accents! 

Boy22mths had been an infant the last time we went to the beach almost a year ago so this was his first "real" beach experience.  He had a little trouble as he didn't like the noise of the ocean crashing, or getting his feet wet or getting sand anywhere on his body.  Eventually, he found that he liked walking up and down the beach, avoiding the water. 

The rest of the kids had a blast in the water.  As I sat on the beach chair thinking about how wonderful the day was, I realized why I was enjoying it so much -- This was the first time in recent memory that I had been to the beach when I was not pregnant and did not have an infant to worry about.  The older kids are also are old enough that I don't have to worry as much about them being swept out to sea - when they fall under they just stand up, there might be some tears, but they are more water safe than they used to be! 

Praising God for the gifts of days like these.  This one will definitely be a fond memory for me.

-J