Hay Happens and Hay's Happen

A good night’s sleep and a day ready for some oceanic pleasures. But first, we needed to celebrate our dinner last night: Laughing, kindness, and thinking of others. Daddy, you do the honors. (*PLOP!*)

Now we are ready for a walk down to the beach for a nice walk and some shell collection.

We are all bundled up for the foggy morning. This is my favorite part of the day!

Also, just look at the foliage. God’s creation is so colorful.

The Del. I’ve been crowned. I’m so happy, water is erupting from my head.

We arrive to the sand, Tot removes her flippies, and runs runs runs. She is like glue to the water.

In her happy place. (mine too, BTW!)

After sauntering along the edge of the water line for an hour or so and some fine shell collection (it’s always a “oh, look at this one!! completely perfect and unique”), we headed to the long line at Breuggers Bagels. Deliciously filing brekkie to energize us for the day!

We head down to the beach which wasn’t very busy since we missed the Labor Day holiday (it’s the Friday of the week after Labor Day). Honey had bought a wonderful beach cart which makes going down to the sand pleasant. We bring a bevy of toys and comfort needs. Doug would have been a supreme Boy Scout because he is Mr. Prepared! (love this!)

All settled. Now where is Tot!? Frolicking in the water already. The cold water was a non-issue.

We had fun posing for Daddy.

I always dress us in uber-covering for our body. The sun, even in the fog, is quite strong.

Ok, Tot. I’m getting warmed up for the water.

She is saying, “Let’s GO!” I’m almost ready.

I figured the only way she would Boogie Board is if I show her how it’s done. Time to suck it up and get in!

Now, your turn!! I got her set up and told her to wait for the wave to come. Now ride it in. You GOT THIS!

YEAH!!!

I wanna go again!

Ok, Daddy first. He is ready to go. Shirt removed, and he’s raring to go!

Yay honey!

We spent more time making sand castles and moats. The tide is coming!

Tatum decided we needed wet sand, so she fetched some the slow way because its’ more fun that way! Daddy and I had fun scooping and building.

After frisbee, playing and enough sun, we headed home.

Tatum had some homework to finish, so we worked on her food group project. I also had to do my GCU work.

Such a full fun day. After a game, we had our Chipotle dinner, read some books, and fell asleep! Tomorrow, we have another full day planned!

The beach is always calling our name. The call was piercingly loud this year due to the fact that we did not go last year, 2019. We had been visiting Coronado Beach starting when Tot was 3. (Doug and I were just dating then).

We went when she was 4 and 5. Now that she is 7 and that we are a family now, it was time to return. Plus, now we can get only one room which is much less money. We decided to stay at El Cordova. This was Tot back when she was 3. Oh, bestill my heart.

Ok, back to 2020. My honey got us all packed up. The back of the Mercedes became one big puzzle palette. Daddy? How?

By 9am, the goal, he had us all ready to go! Daddy, you ROCK!

Oh, but yes, we had to take Coopy to the Doggie resort. He was sure aware of this all morning as he whined constantly.

After a prayer for safety for our family (and other prayers), we were off!

The car ride was a bevy of surprises I had planned. As usual, I had Tot’s backpack filled with car-friendly toys. I am a big believer in real toys in a car vs. screens. (well, that’s my rule all the time but especially in the car). I packed her backpack full of drawing materials, etch-a-sketch type toys, hangman games, polly pockets….all kinds of fun. Plus, we had The Trumpet Swan on Audible. (Tot and I had just read this wonderful novel by E.B. White). Podcasts always keep us going too.

Then, it was lunchtime. Oh, yeah. We are in CA. There is no eating indoors due to the C-virus. We arrived in El Centro for lunch at Subway.

Eating salads in the car is no bueno; tasty but no fun.

Tatum was happy as a clam.

Around 3:30, we arrived in Coronado; our El Cordova hotel was waiting for us.

Tatum took our pic. The first time she could do this for us in CA.

Let’s head to the room and go to the beach! Go honey! (it looks like we are moving in with the amount of luggage).

There have been many wildfires, so the sun has been amazing! It looked like a big red ball in the sky.

We then headed to the beach to check it out (no mask needed BTW)…OH HOORAY it’s still there.

And the key was telling Tatum not to get too wet. Based on experience, when we go clothed, she finds ways to immerse herself in the water, and then OOPS, she falls into the sand and the sand is pasted to her body. We’ll see how it goes.

We ended up going to Chipotle for dinner since our favorite Mexican cafe was gone.

Also, we decided to do some incentives for good behavior for ALL of us.

We included FTO (first time obedience), Gratitude attitude, Kindness toward each other, STP (stop think and pray), and making things FUN!

Tot got the first coins for truly exhibiting gratitude and kindness on the road and on our arrival. We can’t wait to go tomorrow!

We have not had an official HH meeting in quite a while. It was time for some teaching, blessings/prayers, and some discussion.

I created the agenda:

And off we went: Mission statement:

our verse (1Thess 5:15: “but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone. Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. “

And prayer.

Then, we added to our Blessing and Prayer box. Daddy’s cards:

My cards:

Tot’s cards.

She numbered her’s: (6: oxygen, 7: nature).

I love her’s: 1. Austin’s Heart for God to grow; 2: Me and God’s relationship to grow. 3. Mama’s health; 4. Covid to die; 5. Cooler days. AMEN!!!

We shared and then it was teaching time; Tatum wanted to be in charge today. Then she would sing for us.

Tatum shared on Faith and Obedience.

Quoting from 1 Samuel about Hannah praying for a son.

We did have to have a timer because she just gets so enthusiastic about Jesus.

What a great meeting. We ended with our goals for our trip to CA next week. Stay tuned for more on that.

I love you, Hay family.

Doug and I are spoiled. Tatum is constantly surprising us with little love notes or cards. Now it must be said that this is part of our family ethos. I put a love note in Tatum’s lunch every day. I also put up notes on the chalkboard daily for her to find. Daddy? He puts notes on her mirror often and sometimes you can find a card on her chair before dinner. My HHH also surprises me often with post-it love notes and cards.

Well, Sunday morning, I strolled into the kitchie to make breakfast, and there it was.

Hmmmmm what’s this?

How cute are the two of us. I love my long flowing ponytail that matches Tot’s!

Then, Daddy went into his office and Voila!

The sneaky Tot.

Oh, now we are really ready for the beach! Coronado here we come, BTW!! (next week).

We love you and your heart, sweet girl. Let’s always live this way. Grateful and giving.

Tatum and I love to do art together. This all started back when she was four. The art cart

started it all. Fast forward to now at almost 8 years old, and she is constantly making things. But, the difference is now she is thinking of others when she creates.

Just the other day, on her 1/2 day Friday, she wanted to go to As You Wish and paint a plate for Daddy.

She worked so hard on it. Stay tuned for the final product!

Then, on Saturday, we decided to paint on the wooden pieces that were given to me for my birthday this year. I painted a cross for Tatum, and she made a unicorn for…. she has not decided yet. It’s quite colorful.

I love her heart. She is always thinking of others. XXOO.

OH, the Tot. She has been through so much with her allergies and then feeling just yucky. She had to stay home from school one day last week, and this week? Three days.

What do you think she does when she is home?

She grabs a pile of books. This day, it was Bernstein Bears. She plows through them with laughter and joy. Guess who eats it up?

Coopy can’t get enough of her. He just wants to listen and be a part of her day.

It was a tough few days, but we got all caught up with her work.

One of her assignments was to write about what the flag means to her. HALLELUIA! I love this school. When the country is falling apart with this “fear”demic from the C-virus, and we are in the middle of an election to keep our president in office (Oh, please Lord. Keep Trump safe and healthy), she has this awesome assignment.

Tatum and I discussed this in-depth, so she is getting the RIGHT information about our amazing country. Let Freedom Ring!

And let Tot get better. Amen.

Oh, the mornings. I just love them. We always have a nice breakfast and enjoy the little Coopy. We also pray, read the devotion, and spend time conversing about how we can SHINE today.

During the week, Mrs. Phillips brought Tatum to the car. Every day, she would say Tatum is truly a leader in the class. She is kind and helps. Now, the leader part can be a negative if she is doing the wrong thing. So, we talk about using this gift for good. How would Jesus act?

One of the cool things they did in the week was make a Friendship Fixer Journal.

Look at the wonderful way they work things out with each other. I also LOVE Tatum’s drawings. She captures the emotions. Being proactive…going to the friend. This is being a peacemaker.

She also had to stay home one day just because she didn’t feel well. They take her temperature when she gets to school, and it was at 99.9. This warranted her to stay home to be on the safe side. She spent the day drawing, reading, and building. My kind of day as she made the most of it!

It’s such a blessing to have her back in school. I will continue to pray for you, Tot. To be a leader, to be kind, and to be the biggest servant!
I LOVE YOU!!!