Life . . .

Life in the Marsh family has been fun and full and fabulous . . .

In no particular order, the last week and a half:

1. My sweet little sister got married!!! She is now proud and beautiful Mrs. Melissa Miller . . . it was a beautiful ceremony and great weekend full of family visits, nail appointments, rehearsals and dinners and memories . . . CONGRATS.

2. I finally got to see Eclipse . . . need I say more?

3. Travis and I celebrated 9 years of marriage. My wonderful in-laws kept the girls overnight while Travis and I went down to Seattle for the evening. We ate at Taste of India (YUM), went to the beach we went to the night we got engaged, then went to see Man of La Mancha at Taproot theater. I can't believe it's been nine years . . . I love that man!!

4. The girls and I went berry picking . . . we were dirty and tired but proud of our work and anxious to get them on a big bowl of vanilla bean ice cream. Could anything say summer more?!

Happy summer . . .

HOME SWEET HOME!!!

We made it!!! Two more solid days of driving, a stop for lunch with family in Oregon, taking Grandma and Grandpa back to their house and smothering them with hugs and thanks and we arrived HOME!!

I love going on vacation but to me, nothing is as sweet as coming home into my own space and my own bed and my own pillow . . . home sweet home . . .

Vacation Book Review number two . . .

I finished another book on vacation . . . always a satisfying thing to me . . . to put down another book completed cover to cover.

This book, The Shack, is an interesting read. Previous to picking it up, I'd read conflicting reports - those who loved it and those who didn't . . . those who thought it brought great clarity and thought on the trinity and other issues of God's love and those who felt it tried to hard to be another biblical interpretation . . . so where did this book leave me? Somewhere in between these two camps of thinking.

There were moments in this difficult story of a family's great loss of a child and the aftermath that followed in which I felt uncomfortable with an author trying to put words into God's mouth . . . and other moments in which I found myself pondering "what if ?"

Overall, I'm not necessarily disappointed that I read this book . . . my favorite line says something about the past - you can learn from it but only for a quick visit . . .not an extended stay. It was a good reminder not to dwell in the past of which you can do nothing to change. It also had some challenging thoughts on why forgiveness is such an important process - not for the person who did the wrong but for the person left to deal with the pieces. But, I didn't feel as though it should be read as the gospel truth - just taken as one person's opinion of what it'd be like to have a conversation with God in a face to face in person. But again, that's just my opinion . . .

Day Fifteen . . .

This morning Travis and I set out to golf the par three course here . . . yes, I know how to golf . . . sort of. We were having a great time . . . even both got par on the same hole . . . when I was visited by my dear friend Asthma . . . sucky . . .

We stopped playing after only seven holes and headed back to the villa where the nebbing commenced . . . not fun . . . it made me realize just how much I dislike this "thing" I have and just how nice it was to spend two weeks NOT thinking about it . . . or going to doctors for it . . . or worrying about it . . . what a crash back to reality . . .

Which brings me to today . . . Day Sixteen . . . feeling a bit like I got run over by a truck after all the meds yesterday but happy that I conquered a flareup in one day.

We're doing the last bit of laundry, eating leftovers, and packing up for the big drive home tomorrow . . . we have had a fabulous time . . . part of me feels a little sad that the end is here . . . but the other part of me is excited to be going home - to the people and places we love . . . to our sweet little abode that is just the right size for us . . . to our own beds (nothing like your own bed after being gone!!) . . . Haley told me today she wished we were leaving today because she misses being HOME . . . what a complement and sweet sentiment - to have created a space loved by our family and ready and waiting for our return . . . pray for safe travels and a quick return . . .

Day Fourteen . . .

This morning we headed out for another day on the ocean . . . yes, we have the same ocean in Washington but NOT the same beaches . . . nothing beats the soft sand and amazingly warm waves to jump and play in . . . the girls were covered from head to toe with sand and sea water . . . as were the grown ups.

We made sand castles, buried our feet, and made a sand wall that didn't last very long against the crashing waves . . . we ate some "sand"whiches as our hands never truly got clean but no one minded the extra grit looking out at the incredible view.

After showers, the girls were off to play in the villa. They are enjoying running around outside and playing with their little Sea World penguins. It has been such an incredible vacation . . . I can't believe we have been away from home this long . . . and keep having so many fun experiences . . . Travis and I are off for a date tonight - dinner at the resort restaurant and a movie at the local theatre . . . I don't think I can convince Travis to go with me to the new Twilight movie . . . you ladies back home - and you know who you are - better be ready to go see it again with me when I get back!!

This has been the most incredible time for all of us . . . a wonderful balance between family time and couple time and swimming and amusement park visiting and eating amazing food and seeing amazing things . . . we will be happy to be snug in our own beds upon our return but will certainly be dreaming of our fabulous time here in sunny California . . . couldn't be nicer!!

Day Thirteen . . . Cabana and Comedy

Today Grandma and Grandpa rented a cabana by the new pool here for half a day . . . we packed a lunch, brought our books and swimsuits and had a fabulous time relaxing and swimming and enjoying the California sun . . . the girls are getting so tan, they look like little surfers! The pool is complete with a water slide and a splash park with jets and squirts from the ground and fun structures. . . we had a wonderful time . . . and Grandma and Grandpa even took a turn playing with kiddos so mom and dad could lay out in the sun and rest . . . what a treat!!

Tonight, after dinner, we went to the Magic/Comedy show here at the resort. It started out with Kevin Johnson - a hilarious ventriloquist that was on "America's Got Talent" and made it to the semi-finals . . . he was a hoot and incredibly talented with his silly bird characters . . . then we were in for a treat with Anthony the Magic - who did amazing tricks and was wonderfully family friendly. He pulled many kids from the audience to help him out with tricks. The girls were amazed as they've never seen anything like this and the adults were equally entertained with the humor and tricks.

After the show, the girls had their pictures taken with both the performers and Grandma bought them their own magic wands . . . they have been "Abra Cadabra - Cala Mazoo" -ing everything in sight ever since.

It was a great night of family entertainment that had us all smiling as we drove home . . . another fun memory!

Day Twelve . . . LEGOLAND!!

Today was the day we'd been looking forward to for a whole year . . . a visit to LEGO LAND!! Grandma and Grandpa stayed home to have a day of rest . . . we missed them at the park but had soooo much fun!!

The girls rode in motorized cars . . .

Participated in a joust on horses . . .

As a family we tried the fire safety challenge (in which three families enter these adorable fire trucks, use hand pumps to drive it across the track, hop out and spray with water cannons until the "fire" goes out, jumps back into the fire truck, pumps back to the other side again and the first family back is the winner . . .) and  the Marsh Family WON!!

Visited Mini Land - an entire city built out of Lego blocks . . . complete with the Las Vegas strip, a Mardi Gras parade, the White House, Lincoln memorial, the capital building with a real marching parade and much, much more . . .

And we didn't get many more pictures because we were so busy riding every ride in the entire park . . . from airplanes, to boat rides to big dragon roller coasters . . . we had so much fun and stayed till they closed - much longer than we thought possible with a seven and a four year old . . . the girls spent the whole day bouncing up and down, laughing and having a fabulous time . . . and so did mom and dad!! This is such a cool amusement park made for younger kiddos and a surprising amount of fun . . . we hardly waited in any lines, every ride we went on was more fun than the next, and the Lego theme is so family friendly - we had a great day!!

Day Eleven . . .

Today we ran some errands in Escondido to set us up for another week and while at the local grocery
store, our rental car was hit by a less than friendly elderly woman named "Joan" . . . I'll save you the adult dialogue that she proceeded to have with my husband (after doing the hitting?!) and the steps we had to take in order to report the whole thing to the rental agency (whom we thankfully got the limited insurance plan from) and just say that it was a bummer . . . but we moved on . . . (the damage was not huge - a scratch that they can probably buff out - just not part of the vacation plan . . . )

We all had lunch at a French restaurant that was fabulous. Travis had the beef bourguignon which reminded me of Julie and Julia and inspired me to try to figure out the recipe upon our return home . . . it was INCREDIBLE!! We bought some almond pastries to enjoy the next morning at breakfast.

When we got home to Lawrence Welk, we noticed a Farmers Market that was set up within the villas . . . the girls got to have a pony ride, we bought some yummy local fruits and vegetables, and even ate some African food for dinner . . . quite a world wide eating day!

The grand finale of the day was a bit of fishing in the Lawrence Welk stock pond . . . unfortunately, the fish are to smart to the whole process and preceded to nibble off all the bait and run away . . .

We didn't catch a thing but had a great time enjoying the sunset by the pond . . . and Hannah became quite the little caster by the end of the evening . . . another great vacation day!