Day 9, Beach Day

On Friday morning, we went to Bolsa Chica State Beach in Huntington. This is the beach that I always went to as a kid, so it was great to take the kids there with my dad. Dad tried several times to find some sand crabs, but there just weren't any to be found. Oh well. Helen was happy to chase seagulls.

Henry had a full blown tantrum about wearing his bathing suit... long story short, he wore his pajamas to the beach. It all turned out fine because we were the only people there and his p.j.'s served as sunblock.

Here's Henry running "on the treadmill". As the waves receded, he said it felt like running on a giant treadmill. I thought that was pretty funny.

I loved the way Helen made this heart with her name in it, and ran out of room for the "n".

Later that day, we went to the tide pools in Laguna Beach with Molly, Brian, Aunt Jenny, Grandma and Grandpa.

This place, called The Montague, was setting up for a wedding. It was such a beautiful place, the photos don't really capture it.

All along The Montague, there are these beautifully landscaped paths, leading down the beach to the tide pools.

I had my eye on Henry, turned around, and just like that Helen, Brian and Molly were 15 feet up!

So happy with her cousins. I love the way Molly is holding on to Helen in this picture. Thanks Molly!

Some mussel shell babies and other stuff.

An anemone and a hermit crab.

Look at all of these pelicans! This was such a treat to see a large group like this.

Walking back up the path to find a picnic table.

Here are the cousins having a nice lunch overlooking the ocean.

Nice picture of my mom and dad, with the Montague in the background.

Here is a bunny that Helen and Molly spotted.

We walked through this cave. Aunt Jenny found a beautiful shell here and gave it to Helen. by 10:00 that night, this place would be under water!

Looking for life in the tide pools.

My camera actually got wet earlier when a rogue wave came upon us! We were exploring a bit further out than we should have and we all got splashed pretty good. I herded my kids toward the rock and Brian and Molly helped hold on to them. We made it back to the beach without a scratch, but we were a bit more cautious after that.

Anyway, the reason why this photo looks gauzy it because my camera was a little steamed up.

This was such a fun day. I can't believe I lived so close to this for the first 25 years of my life and never really went here. Now that we're in Boise, trips to the ocean are so special for the kids.