The Beach

I. Love. The beach. My whole family does. I think it brings back magical childhood memories of Grandma Rikalo and tide pools. I love it all, the smell, the sound, even that it's always cold. (at least, in northern california:). When I'm there I feel this peace and calm like a weight is lifted. I can't explain it.

Right after the big family reunion but while Lora and John were still here, we decided to take a trip to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. We had annual passes that expired in June, and we wanted to squeeze in one more trip. My kids love it there, and with good reason. It's really cool. So, I pricelined a hotel that ended up being a block away from a beach, yahoo!!! It was really cold, but we didn't mind.

Well, at least Sam didn't mind. Aunt Crystal was such a good sport to play with him, though she pretty much failed at keeping his shorts dry. I, being his mother, knew that wet shorts and underwear and shirt and sweatshirt were an inevitability for Sam, and was prepared with spares.
Max loved the sand.
It was pretty cool. I tried to stop him from eating too much of it.
Sammy sam. Will I ever stop thinking he is so cute? Hopefully for his sake, no!
Pearl was COLD, so she settled for sitting on the blanket with her Fun Dip.
Crystal took this one. Pretty awesome, huh!
Lora got these shots of me. I don't really like pictures of my backside, it's depressing, however, I thought it was kind of fun to see myself from another perspective. This is how I live my life lately - up close and personal with a camera in my hand:)
Me and my boys. Yes, I did take a turn in the water with Sam. It was fun:)
This trip was right after Jared left for Korea. Now, a month later, I'm getting around to posting it and he'll be home soon. Maybe I'm feeling nostalgic, but we missed him. It was freezing there. He would have loved it:)