Independence Day!

We had a lovely Independence Weekend this year at Two Harbors on Catalina Island. This was the first time that the kids and I had been there and even though the weather never got out of the 70's for us, we were able to thoroughly enjoy the holiday there.

This picture was taken on the sail back because I was, unfortunately, in no condition to be taking pictures on the voyage over. Myself, Brandon and Marissa were all quite sick. But we got over it and were fine the rest of the trip. Yay!

Marissa loved climbing all over the boat and playing with all the ropes and pulleys and such.

As soon as we made it to the island, we went ashore to begin exploring. The first thing that caught the kids' eye was this swing set,

which happened to be part of the cute little one-room red schoolhouse on the island. Maylan was so jealous of the kids who got to go to school there.

After our initial exploration, the sun finally came out, so Maylan and Brandon blew up their little floaty boat and rowed themselves from the boat to the beach. It was pretty far and they didn't have any paddles, so they were a little worn out when they arrived on the beach, but they were proud of themselves.

Then it was time to climb on rocks,

and slide down rocks,

and joyfully throw rocks in the air. The beach was full of little pebbles instead of sand in some places, which was really fun and different.

On Saturday morning, the little town sponsored a bunch of 4th of July related craft projects for the kids. They painted rocks and t-shirts, made candy necklaces, got their nails done and tattoos all over and lots of other fun projects. We thought it was all fabulous!

Brandon working on his t-shirt, which had a shark and a sailboat on it.

Marissa showing off the little wavy thing she made and her candy necklace that she loved very much!

After the crafts, Marissa was all tuckered out. Maylan didn't want to take a nap, however, she still had a candy necklace to make.

We also enjoyed a few beautiful hikes all over the island. This was where it was nice that the weather wasn't very hot.

This is Marissa saying "4th of July" because she is showing off her "4th of July" shirt that she loved very much. She also loved the fireworks that went "boom" very much. The firework show was really cool. They lit them off from a barge in the ocean and we were able to sit on the back of our boat and watch them. It was lots of fun and very different.

Brandon and Marissa up on a hill on one side of the harbor,

and now on a hill on the other side of the harbor. That was a long hike for them. Maylan wasn't with us that day because she wasn't feeling well.

She did come with us on this little hike where we hiked from one side of the island to the other. The kids found this cool "shipwreck" on the beach at the other side and wanted a picture next to it to prove that we made it to the other side of the island.

And now for the dinghy race! The town also sponsored a dinghy race for kids and adults. We didn't know it was open to anyone to enter until last minute and of course Brandon and Maylan were up for racing! Marissa was fine to eat her Goldfish and watch.

They weren't even in their swimsuits when they lined up at the starting line with the competition (who all happened to be teenagers quite a bit older than them).

They got off to a good start heading into the water...

but things started to go badly when Maylan couldn't get the oars organized and Brandon just kept kicking forward...

in the wrong direction.

This is them coming back in defeat. Maylan was very upset that they just gave up and didn't finish, but they really didn't have a chance from the beginning. I was impressed that they were willing to try and the humiliation they suffered ended up being worth it because they were given the boat they raced in. It was a much nicer boat than the little one we already had and it had oars! Many more happy hours were spent rowing that thing around the harbor and they've definitely improved their rowing skills.

My three kiddies snuggling each other in the mess of sleeping bags and pillows on the boat.

And one last picture of a large and beautiful American flag waving proudly over a beautiful and peaceful harbor. Happy 4th of July! It really is my favorite holiday every year!