Oceanside 2008

This year we were very lucky to go to the annual Hall Family Oceanside, California beach house vacation. We actually weren’t sure if we were going to make it for awhile. We knew it would be close to the end of the semester for Trever, and didn’t have his schedule for awhile. We finally got his schedule, and then realized it was going to cost quite a bit to fly from Missouri to California, and just didn’t think it was worth it. We decided to sign up for “Ding” through Southwest, and watch to see if any “good” deals came up. Luckily, a decent deal popped up, and we decide to bite the bullet and go!

Aside from having to drive 3 hours to and from the airport (and having the big move hanging over our heads the whole week), it was definitely worth it! We decided to stay the night in Kansas City the night before our flight left early in the morning. We chalked it up for celebrating Trever finishing his 2nd year of medical school. We celebrated that night by going to Texas Roadhouse for dinner. Trever just loves their steaks!

We flew to San Diego early Sunday morning (the rest of the family had gotten to the beach house the previous day), and arrived around noon. We got to the beach house shortly after, and got settled in. Trever’s parents just happened to be in San Diego, so they picked us up from the beach house and we went to breakfast at a VERY tasty local joint. (I forgot the name of it.) After a long wait, and a tasty “brunch” we headed back to the beach house.

The rest of the week consisted of lots of fun time on the beach, great food, a lot of relaxation, and fun with the family. One thing we traditionally do, is each individual family is assigned a day to be in charge of the food. Mostly we cook in the beach house, and we do an occasional ordering out of pizza, fish and chips, etc. One thing I really enjoy about this vacation is playing games at night. We played several rounds of “Liverpool” and Mindi taught us a new version of Scrabble. Another tradition we continued was getting Thrifty ice cream from Rite Aid, just down the street. Unfortunately, the time Trever, Liberty, and I walked there, they had closed the ice cream for defrosting! Luckily, they had my favorite (which I had been thinking about for weeks), Chocolate Malted Crunch, in a half-gallon box, so we bought some, and then ate plenty of that during our stay. We also took the traditional trip into Old Town for Mexican food, and then shopping at Fashion Valley Mall. It’s fun to get a little taste of the city, but the beach is really where it’s at! Liberty absolutely loved the beach this year! She loved playing in the sand, and was always asking to go down to the “wa-wa” (water). She was so serious about playing in the sand with the trucks, shovels, etc. The only problem was, when her hands got too sandy, she had to wash them off in the ocean. Needless to say, between Trever, Becky, and I, we made several trips to the water to wash her hands, only to go back just a couple of minutes later! Liberty loved playing with Aunt Becky and her cousins, who were usually pretty nice about Liberty messing up their castles and putting handfuls of sand into their water buckets. As usual, Trever enjoyed a lot of time boogie-boarding with the guys. Between Trever, Jeff, Matt, Troy, Doug, and Nathan, they have a blast out there coming up with new moves and seeing who can catch the biggest waves. Trever also was able to enjoy several morning runs on the beach. I think it was a little more motivation to go for a run when you can enjoy it on the beach!

Another fun little memory was towards the beginning of the week when Trever and I cruised on bicycles “downtown” to run a couple of errands. We couldn’t stop talking about how amazing the weather was! Later on during the week, we joined Heather, Becky, Adam, Megan, and Nathan for an evening walk down to the Pier. Heather bought some frozen coconut bars for some of us. I took a couple of licks of mine until Liberty wanted a taste. She ended up eating the entire thing! She must be her mother’s daughter! I’m not sure what part of the walk Liberty enjoyed the most: 1. Seeing all the fish people were catching on the pier 2. The frozen coconut bar 3. Seeing all the dogs on the way back. She had a blast!

The absolute best part of the beach house this year, was that this was Trever’s first 100% beach house vacation! He was totally done with studying and classes, and besides waiting for his board scores, he didn’t have any kind of classes, tests, or studying to worry about! He was on vacation this time! It definitely made for a great week!

The unfortunate part about the trip this year, was that at the beginning of the week, we received some very sad news, that my cousin Andrew had passed away. He had struggled with Cystic Fibrosis his entire life, including lung transplants, and his body held up until he was 19 years old. Our hearts and prayers were with Bill and Jennifer and their family throughout the week. My parents left a couple of days early to attend his funeral.
As always, thanks so much to Dad and Mom, and the rest of the family for making the annual beach house vacation a success! This year we had 13 adults and 14 kids, which always makes for great time! Until next year…