100th Post

Wow, the 100th post on this blog. Seems like I don't post too often, but I guess I do :) What can I say? I love my kids and hope one day they can look back on their life and the things they did through this blog.

Yesterday we decided to head to the Pacific Ocean for the 4th of July. We decided to take the scenic route, thinking it would be about 3.5 hours .. how wrong we were! It was a 5.5 hour drive (including a short stop for lunch on the side of the road). Aside from Carlos getting a little over heated and a bit car sick for a moment it was a nice drive.

We saw a wild herd of Elk in Sequim. We saw 2 deer drinking from the Sol Duc River. We drove by the biggest lake ever, Crescent Lake and enjoyed the views it had to offer. And Julian exclaimed "Look at that fat horse" and when I looked I noticed it was a llama. I said "uh, that's a llama" and he was silent for a few minutes then says "oh, what a fat llama" LOL

We saw many of the beaches along highway 101 and couldn't wait to arrive at our destination. Once there I was ready to go home. It was overcast, the fog was hiding the ocean, it was cold, and there were so many fireworks going off that it was hard to breathe with all the smoke. But, the boys loved the ocean. I got all kinds of happy faces on camera.

Carlos loved everything about it. The noise of the fireworks, the faint lights you could see through the fog/smog of the fireworks, the sound of the waves, the open beach that he felt like he could run all over on, and the kites *telling bubbie about them in the pic to the left*. The beautiful castle that someone built and left for all to enjoy *see pic at top*. Chasing his brother while his brother rode his bike.

Julian loved the ocean too, he was so happy to finally see it, afterall it was his first time. He rode his bike all over the beach and was so happy to have so much space to be free. He wished we had gotten there earlier, and that it was warmer but understood that we can and will go back before long.

I couldn't resist the lure of the ocean, shoeless I walked in the crashing waves and flowing tides. I expected it to be much cooler than it actually was. Oh how I wish we would have arrived earlier. But, even with a long drive, and our day being pretty much shot .. it was all worth it to see how happy the boys were. So, after ample time of running up and down the beach in the cold (which in our book is about 2 hours) we headed home. The non-scenic way. We were home by 10 and able to sit in our front yard and watch the fireworks all over the city. Carlos adored them, he would yell and clap and jump at every pop, boom and pow and point to wherever he saw light. Excitement all around. Julian has always loved fireworks, but wasn't overly impressed last night. He was more excited to get into the house and on to animal crossing. I think the long day in the car took its toll on him. Carlos fell asleep outside to the loud noises and bright lights. He fought it for as long as he could but managed to see fireworks until the moment he fell asleep in my arms on the porch.

At the Ocean I was watching my boys play and I saw how hard Carlos would try to keep up with Julian as Julian rode all over. He would chase him and chase him and never give up.

Eventually Julian would slow down, or stop and Carlos would catch up. And then Carlos would give him a push and get him going again.

I thought about how much their lives will be like that. Carlos, the little brother will always be striving to keep up and once he finally does succeed in catching up it will be the push Julian needs to get going a little faster, or a little farther. I see it already. Carlos is really good with the soccer ball, which makes Julian work and play harder, to keep his little brother from getting as good as he is. I suppose at some point Carlos will find his niche in life, the thing that he was born to do, and perhaps then, Julian will have to chase him a bit.