Fun in the California Sun

Last week my mom and dad and my 2 sisters, Pam and Bonnie, and their families came to Newport Beach for a little vacation. This is one of the perks of living in LA. Everyone comes to visit! I love it! Anyway, we had a great time at the beach. We went to Newport Beach one day and Huntington Beach another day. We spent hours there and had a blast! We made sand castles, found all sorts of shells - even a couple clams that were still closed together. That was pretty cool until Ben threw it and broke it on the pavement :( We also found TONS of sand crabs. The best ones were at Newport Beach. We found some huge ones. Ben wanted to bring one home for a pet. I think that might be illegal so we just kept them in their home.

I have to say it is soooo nice to go to the beach when there are other people there to help with the kids. Usually when I go it is with a playgroup with other moms who are busy keeping track of their own kids. But this time there was a great adult to kid ratio. There was also their 6 cousins who they had a great time playing with. Cousins to play with and lots of adult eyes watching makes for a very relaxing and therapeutic (for me) time at the beach!

Maybe one day they'll actually use the boogie board the way it is intended to be used. But for now they are just enjoying the ride! I actually got out there on the boogie board but too bad there are not pics to show. I'm really disappointed about that ;) Especially since the waves definitely got the best of me. But at least I gave it a try.

We had fun building sand castles. Something about digging in the sand really is therapeutic for me. I loved it!

Here are the little architects. They were great little helpers! It took us a couple hours to put this together but it was fun!

So for the whole year that we've lived here, Ben has been pretty terrified of the waves. He pretty much kept his distance and just enjoyed staying close to the umbrella digging in the sand. This is how he started the first day we went to Newport Beach. He would inch up a little and as soon as he saw the wave coming he would bolt for the sand.

But he got much braver as the time progressed. Once he let the water hit his feet a few times he realized that he actually likes it and he had a great time after that. Thank goodness he's over that. However, that means that I will now have to keep my eyes open wide when I'm alone with the kids at the beach. Especially because Luke will run into the water in about 2 seconds flat. He doesn't bother waiting for me. Here are some pics of Ben getting more comfortable with the water. He's kind of hard to see but he's there.

I think my boys probably brought home about a pound of sand each in their hair, skin, and shorts. Thank goodness for baby powder. It works great at getting sand off of skin. I wouldn't dream of going to the beach without it!