Lazy Days

You all are probably getting tired of beach pictures (just think how Shaun feels by this day- I had to bribe him with unmentionables just to get him to agree to go to the beach again)... but I just love them.  I could live at the beach if it wasn't for all the sand that would be in my house all the time... I guess it's just better for me to visit once in a while so I can just appreciate the beauty of it.  

Strike a pose HeeHee...

This became Kate's favorite game at the beach... but only if I was playing with her.  She never quite got brave enough to do it on her own all the way down to the water.  That's okay- I still like running from the waves... she just gives me a good excuse to do it!

Jer and HeeHee...

Grandma Janet...

Ryan was NOT in the mood to play in the water today...

He's even handsome when you can't see his face!

On this particular day- we had company out in the water... good thing it was a couple dolphins and nothing else with a big dorsal fin!

Frisbee

When we got to the beach in the mornings- it was always just a little too chilly to jump right in the water.  So the kids would usually warm up by playing a game of frisbee or smash ball.  Shaun had the camera one of these mornings and went crazy taking pictures of the boys playing frisbee... but he caught some HILARIOUS faces!  

 And we decided that Ty CANNOT catch a frisbee without opening his mouth.

Carlsbad

For those of you that don't know, Shaun served an LDS mission when he was 19 years old in Carlsbad, California.  It was a LONG time ago- and we have never had the opportunity to take the kids down to his old stomping grounds.  So we took a day off from the beach (much to Shaun's relief) and went for a drive down south.  I forget how truly beautiful it is all along the coast.  

We spent some time on the Oceanside Pier...  A lot of time actually.  It's a big fishing pier and we sat and watched people pull in some crazy things.  We even got to see a baby Manaray!  

Shaun took us all over Oceanside and then showed us some of his old apartments in the Carlsbad area.  It's amazing to me that a bunch of 19 year old kids survived in some of those places.  All I can say is that the Lord HAD to have been with them.

After we spent the day reminiscing we drove up to Dana Point to do a little shopping and to have dinner with my parents.  We eat at this tiny hole in the wall restaurant ("restaurant" may be a stretch) that is located in the marina itself.  So while we were waiting for dinner the kids loved sitting and watching the fish and the birds all around the ships.

Kate got bored and played with the rocks...

And even though we were getting ready to eat dinner... Ryan needed a little pre-dinner snack...

The crew at John's Fish...  And even though I secretly hoped my mom would choke just a little on her fish and chips (since I can't eat them any more... little tiny gluten-ous nuggets of yumminess), my grilled swordfish was absolutely to die for!  Ty and Kate wolfed the same and Ryan ate an enormous amount of halibut.  Gotta love it when you can take your kids ANYWHERE for dinner!

Major League

Another one of our favorite things to do in Southern California- is to catch a baseball game.  It's usually either the Angels or the Dodgers since they are so close to Newport Beach- and this time- my dad scored tickets to an Angels game!  My boys were beyond excited!

What's a baseball game without a hot dog?

Beach Babies

We spent about four days on the beach... four too many if you are Shaun- but we're not and the rest of us actually wished for MORE time on the beach!  This was our first day- which you can probably tell by how white our skin still was.  By the end of the week- the back of Ty and Ryan's necks were BROWN!  It was crazy... and I couldn't help but be a little jealous of their gorgeous skin!  

Kate was a little leery of the water, so Miss and I played down in the sand with her.

She still wasn't too impressed...

Ryan was though!  He loved digging in the sand!

And he became Chief Sand Crab Watcher for his brother.  Ty went crazy digging those poor things up!  He would bring them up to us by the handful and put them in this little blue bucket and Ryan would promptly sit down and start stirring them up.

Grandpa JB found a new boogie boarding buddy this year... We really couldn't keep Ty OUT of the water this year!  Quite the change from two or three years ago when Grandpa had to drag him INTO the water.

Jer got talked into becoming the most beautiful sandy mermaid...

Ryan wasn't too sure of the water either.  My kids love the swimming pool- but it's a little different when that water starts crashing down on the sand and chasing you!

Digging for more sand crabs...

Grandpa and Jer built a sand shark...

Ryan thought about riding the waves for about two minutes...

And Ty just rode the waves like he was born to!

Kate and I built a sand village one day...