finn goes on vacation.

all i wanted for my birthday was a little family escape. our first family weekend trip. to the beach.

of course.

it's no secret that i love a good road trip. and it was nothing short of awesome having our little stowaway, finn, in the backseat.

we stopped for some diner food. at fremont diner. oh. my. word. and another stop at lagunitas.

naturally.

and then we arrived.


i used to daydream about bringing my baby to the coast for the first time. i couldn't believe it was really happening! and just as we predicted...he loved it.

mr. kelly got us a room with a view! fancy!

and a heated pool!

finn came prepared with swim attire.

i can't tell you how obsessed with these pictures we are. it is close to dangerous. but i mean, c'mon - don't the glasses just send you over the edge? what is it about a baby in sunglasses? it gets me every time.

finn wasn't so sure about being in a large body of water for the first time. but he slowly came around when daddy started blowing bubbles.

finally, we hit the sand. it was gorgeous and i couldn't believe that it had been almost a year since my last visit.

seaside nursing session. perhaps a bit silly, but it was a pretty special moment for me. just about as spiritual as this girl gets.

and our baby. his first beach picture.

it was kinda windy and neither finn or i are big fans of the wind, so our stay was short...

but pretty memorable.

mr. kelly couldn't leave without finding a few shells to take home. i love his silhouette.

we ended our adventure with sunset at bodega head trail...

and then, pizza and cookies in our hotel room. and we were all asleep by eight thirty.

perfect.

seaside sunday

this past sunday funday, we stuffed our backpacks, stopped for sandwiches and headed west. to the water's edge. at dillon's beach. ahhhh.....

thanks be to my trusty co-pilot, trevor, a.k.a. the man maid, for the beautiful scenery shots.

queen anne's lace will forever remind me of my own mum.

at long last. we made it!


immediately, shoes came off.



and baby berry was happy. i know because i am baby berry's mother. and any baby of mine must either be born to love, or grow to love the beach.


many sandcastles were built and then in typical little boy fashion, smashed to smithereens.


sandy hands,


sandy toes,


and sandy bums.

this next image will forever make me laugh. even if i am alone.

beachy beautiful.

handsome and funny...what a package.

happy girl.

and before we packed up our bottlecaps and empty sandwich wrappers and glumly put our shoes back on, a group picture with the camera haphazardly placed on rock, as a little toddler runs away.

i love it just the way it is.

beach day

last week i took another trip to the beach. i can't get enough of this place in the winter. it is sunny, and so relaxing and lately, both of those things are pretty enticing. it really is my perfect place.

this time my companions included erika, ever and trevor. one of my favorite combination of humans.

in accordance with tradition, we stopped at genova's for food and drinks and chips. i always like chips at the beach. well anytime if we are being honest.

*ummm...isn't erika's hair color to die for?

ever loves this place as much as we do. we always wondered if he would. and he does. thank the stars.

i wondered what he was imagining as he played that stick. was it a sword? a baseball bat? maybe binoculars? or perhaps it was just a stick he found at the beach. fun in its own right.

we played with sand (some of which ended up in uncle trevor's pasta), played kickball, wrestled in the sand and watched the kite flyers.

and of course, the finale, a bit of beach ballet.

soon it was cold and damp and we headed to the car.

on the long ride home, ever and i shared an apple and then took a nap together in the back seat. usually the rule is that all adult passengers must stay present and a part of the conversation, but trevor gave me a pass this time. thanks to the wee babe growing in my tummy.

what a dreamy ending.

down by the seashore

last weekend, my mr. kelly took me on a very lovely getaway. i needed it. bad. we have hardly had a day alone together in weeks, let alone two days in a row. and this lack of sunshine and the bitter cold have really been getting to me. maybe you have noticed my blog has been feeling less than "inspired".

the beach. with ryan. was just what the doctor ordered.

both possess such restorative powers for me.

*we ate out. i ordered pesto. surprise, surprise.

*we ate chocolate covered strawberries. fancy!

*we watched television in bed for hours. which is quite a luxury if you don't have a television in your bedroom at home.

*i blogged. fireside.

*i took a lazy bath and read magazines.

*we strolled on the beach at sunset.

*we hiked bodega head trail.

*we had a picnic lunch, complete with the most delicious deli sandwiches and kettle chips.

*and then we drove home and watched eclipse. yes, my man will watch twilight movies with me.

day tripper

saturday we woke with the sun and jumped in the car. the night before we had whispered about getting away for the day...i am so crazy for a spontaneous car ride, leaving with no real destination in mind. it speaks to me. and makes me giddy.

what's a road trip without some brew...of the coffee type, of course.

we headed southbound passing crops and cows and soon we passed this sign: and because i have no sense of direction, this is when i realized we were headed west bound...or as i call it, seaside bound. the giddiness only escalated.

the clouds began to part...

blue skies smilin' at me, nothin' but blue skies, do i see...yes, i sang. not well, however.

i am all for a cloudy day at the beach, i may prefer it in fact, but only when rain does not limit the amount of hours i can stroll, prance and comfortably rest in the sand.

to help the miles pass, we played twenty questions. i still laugh remembering how ryan guessed abraham lincoln in five guesses and then for his turn he chose a "thing" for me to guess. and he picked a "litter box". wow. needless to say, i didn't guess it in twenty questions but we laughed for a long time. maybe you had to be there.

we made it! self-portrait number one:

we walked slowly, no where to be..and we breathed deeply, enjoying the heavy sea air.

we stopped at this little gem of a store and we bought two new latte bowls in "ocean blue". ryan said that every time we eat cereal out of those bowls these we will be reminded of our day by the sea where we celebrated four years of us. well said.

i nearly died at this packaging and stopped myself from buying all six...christmastime is my happy place, but not before halloween.

a stop to rest our dogs and sip some blue moon...





and then onto the beach for the sunset show.









self-portrait numero dos:

ay, ay captain!

don't be fooled by this tough guy stare...he is just one big softie.

did you know? big foot ale is back!

i will never have good beach hair- i have begrudgingly accepted it. but i like this picture only because ryan thought to take it and i think i look how i felt at this moment...complete peace of mind.

we could hardly pull ourselves away...but the long car ride home beckoned.

and we turned our backs to the sinking sun refreshed and with that feeling of enough- like we had done everything we came for and it was ok that it was over. that is rare for me but when it happens - i love it.