I missed Flashback Friday, so this is my make up post, plus a new post all in one!

Each summer for the past 5 or 6 years with Austin's family we've gone beach camping in San Clemente. We have a blast! It is the perfect place for the kids and a perfect opportunity to get everyone together all in one place for an entire week. At the San Clemente State Park they have a group campsite that allows for 50 campers and up to 20 cars. With as big as Austin's family is, add a few cousins, aunt and uncles, and friends, we definitely hit capacity each year! We love going to the beach and look forward to it all year long. It practically takes a year to plan this annual trip. We pick a theme, plan meals, have activities committees, decorating committees, games, and talent shows. Some of the themes we've had are luaus, hoe-downs, camo, baseball, and this year superheroes!! It is so fun, and funny, to see what everyone comes up with to "dress-up" the campsite and themselves. The year we had the hoe-down we had a horsey clock that would gallop on the hour for every hour that it was. It was priceless. Last year for baseball we each picked a baseball team to represent throughout the week and played over the line, homerun derbies, and good ol' fashion baseball. Everyone has a lot of fun. Here is a flashback to our family, the Phillies last year!

The best part is being on the beach for the whole week. We're all originally from CA but all live out of state now so going back to the beach is going home for most of us. The kids love playing in the sand and water and by the end of the week they are way to brave for me to even stand to watch them play in the ocean. I'm the sunbather, Frisbee kind of girl...the waves make me a little nervous. I'm the aunt who holds the little kids hands who are too tiny to go out very deep and let the waves and sand bury out feet.

Well, the past few years it has been very difficult reserving out favorite group site. The reservations open January 1st and you can reserve all the way through July. We love to go in the middle of the summer to break up the Arizona heat and to enjoy the beach at it's best. Reserving has become harder and harder, and even though we have many family members on the internet and calling in, we ended up only being able to get the first week of June last year. For you non-Californians, the month of June is known as "June gloom". Even though we had a blast as always, we were all determined to get our traditional week in July reserved for this year. January 1st came and we were all geared up to get the week we wanted. Within minutes the entire campsite was booked and we were left even worse off than last year, the last week in May. Yuck!! We were all so disappointed. Our only hope was the shoot for August when the month was open for reservations starting February 1st. So Friday, we were all at it again and luckily we ended up with 5 days in the middle of the month! Not our full week, but we're praying there is a cancellation and we can add the few more days that we are used to. We are constantly talking about the beach around here. Whether it’s the planning of our beach trip, talking about home, going to Oceanside in September with my family or watching Surf's Up (a new favorite of Dax's), we all love the beach! Yesterday Dax made me proud.

With all the commotion going on about the reservations, the beach was definitely on his mind. He was in back helping Austin dig a whole for a new orange tree and he looked so cute. I asked what he was doing and he said, "Dig! Beach!" The little man decided he was going to dig his way all the way to the beach! I couldn't be prouder of my little beach bum!! Now only if his hair would grow a little faster we'd have the cutest little groom in town. That's beach lingo for mini surfer...and I think he fits the bill perfectly!