Take me back to overcast days and a bike ride to Balboa Island…
We took our bikes with us across the ferry.
It’s a really short ferry ride to Balboa Island.
We met up with cousins and grandma who had driven the car to the pier and then walked on to the ferry. Layla got out of the bike and Harper got in.
We pretty much went straight to Sugar N Spice for balboa bars and frozen bananas.
YUM.
This might be the best picture of the day. Yep, this is us. Nothing less than real.
Brinn loved having her grandma there.
The Schlink girls and Allred girls are always twinning.
Macie shared her hat with Eric for awhile.
And so after we ate our treats and found a bathroom, we headed back. Ha! We just weren’t the right group to spend too much time on the island, but we loved what we did!
When we got back, Perry was having a bit of a sensory meltdown. Too much going on and too tired. His behavior was out of control so I took him on a walk. He was shouting threats and super upset. We found a nearby park. He walks to the sand and I sat on the grass to give him some space to calm down. He knew what he needed. He spent the next 10 minutes scooping sand and letting it fall over his head and legs. He dug into the sand and really let it cover him as he threw it up into the air. It was some intense sensory work. But afterwards, he was ready to walk back and get a drink and was completely calm and himself again. This is a glimpse of life with autism.
This picture was probably taken not too long before a big wave washed Brinna out of uncle Josh’s hands. She slipped under the water and rode the wave up the sand. She was done with the water for awhile after that one!
Grandma came to the beach and played with Perry in the big hole he had been working on that day. I will redeem Josh here from letting Brinna slip away by saying that he was a big help in building this cool base for the boys.
K was always so pleasant on the beach. It did get cold some of the days so we bundled her in blankets and towels.
Sweet hugs for her baby sis.
She wasn’t so sure when I laid her down in the sun…
She was soon right back to happy beach baby.
And this is mom life. I was tired, my arms were tired, but I scooped up my crying girls and carried them home from the beach. Eric met us as we were approaching the house.
That night Eric and I got out on a date night for a taco crawl. And donuts. Sancho's Tacos and Seaside bakery for the win!
The next day, some of us rode bikes down to Huntington Beach.
Then we were back at the beach in the afternoon.
Both of these girls took so many naps on the beach. What a sweet place to fall asleep.
Maybe it was just a whole big group nap time.
We cleaned so much sand out of little heads because of games like this.
Austin showed us how it was actually done so you can last longer than one minute.
We couldn't believe when he stuck his head under!
Then Austin dangled the carrot of $20 to anyone who could last 4 min.
I think they almost killed themselves, but both boys went 4 min!!! They said 4 min of torture was worth $20. You would've had to pay me $1000.
These boys needed to warm up their popsicle skin after that.
I love that my cousins still have this merry go round. I remember playing on it when I was little girl. So much fun!
On our last full day in Newport, Gray got his baby snuggles before we headed down to the pier.
It was shops and corn dogs for us. Perry picked out this cool hat.
We saw a whole pod of dolphins.
I love that Perry pulled out the toilet paper roll binoculars that he made at vacation bible school to help him see better.
If he can always make a face, so can I.
We ended our time at the pier with Handels ice cream for the kids and AMAZING açaà bowls for the rest of us. Tru Bowls was my favorite thing ever!
We met up with Aly at Tru Bowl and I gave the girls a ride bike home in the bike.
We spent one last afternoon at the beach.
I’m so glad we got this week together with family! I can not wait to go back to Newport Beach.
We took our bikes with us across the ferry.
It’s a really short ferry ride to Balboa Island.
We met up with cousins and grandma who had driven the car to the pier and then walked on to the ferry. Layla got out of the bike and Harper got in.
We pretty much went straight to Sugar N Spice for balboa bars and frozen bananas.
YUM.
This might be the best picture of the day. Yep, this is us. Nothing less than real.
Brinn loved having her grandma there.
The Schlink girls and Allred girls are always twinning.
Macie shared her hat with Eric for awhile.
And so after we ate our treats and found a bathroom, we headed back. Ha! We just weren’t the right group to spend too much time on the island, but we loved what we did!
When we got back, Perry was having a bit of a sensory meltdown. Too much going on and too tired. His behavior was out of control so I took him on a walk. He was shouting threats and super upset. We found a nearby park. He walks to the sand and I sat on the grass to give him some space to calm down. He knew what he needed. He spent the next 10 minutes scooping sand and letting it fall over his head and legs. He dug into the sand and really let it cover him as he threw it up into the air. It was some intense sensory work. But afterwards, he was ready to walk back and get a drink and was completely calm and himself again. This is a glimpse of life with autism.
This picture was probably taken not too long before a big wave washed Brinna out of uncle Josh’s hands. She slipped under the water and rode the wave up the sand. She was done with the water for awhile after that one!
Grandma came to the beach and played with Perry in the big hole he had been working on that day. I will redeem Josh here from letting Brinna slip away by saying that he was a big help in building this cool base for the boys.
K was always so pleasant on the beach. It did get cold some of the days so we bundled her in blankets and towels.
Sweet hugs for her baby sis.
She wasn’t so sure when I laid her down in the sun…
She was soon right back to happy beach baby.
And this is mom life. I was tired, my arms were tired, but I scooped up my crying girls and carried them home from the beach. Eric met us as we were approaching the house.
That night Eric and I got out on a date night for a taco crawl. And donuts. Sancho's Tacos and Seaside bakery for the win!
The next day, some of us rode bikes down to Huntington Beach.
Then we were back at the beach in the afternoon.
Both of these girls took so many naps on the beach. What a sweet place to fall asleep.
Maybe it was just a whole big group nap time.
We cleaned so much sand out of little heads because of games like this.
One evening we met up with cousins for some hot tubbin'.
And a few crazies went into the ice bath.
And a few crazies went into the ice bath.
Austin showed us how it was actually done so you can last longer than one minute.
We couldn't believe when he stuck his head under!
Then Austin dangled the carrot of $20 to anyone who could last 4 min.
I think they almost killed themselves, but both boys went 4 min!!! They said 4 min of torture was worth $20. You would've had to pay me $1000.
These boys needed to warm up their popsicle skin after that.
I love that my cousins still have this merry go round. I remember playing on it when I was little girl. So much fun!
On our last full day in Newport, Gray got his baby snuggles before we headed down to the pier.
It was shops and corn dogs for us. Perry picked out this cool hat.
We saw a whole pod of dolphins.
I love that Perry pulled out the toilet paper roll binoculars that he made at vacation bible school to help him see better.
If he can always make a face, so can I.
We ended our time at the pier with Handels ice cream for the kids and AMAZING açaà bowls for the rest of us. Tru Bowls was my favorite thing ever!
We met up with Aly at Tru Bowl and I gave the girls a ride bike home in the bike.
We spent one last afternoon at the beach.
I’m so glad we got this week together with family! I can not wait to go back to Newport Beach.
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