Yes, Will took these pictures.  Yes, those are my feet…I’m well aware they look like Vienna Sausages.

We took the kids beach camping for the first time this weekend.  We headed up to Camp Pendleton with some friends.  Roasting marshmallows and making dough boys were just the beginning of it all.  Besides, time is always better spent in the company of family and good friends.  And for the record I constructed and deconstructed the tent all by myself.  I just had to make sure I can still be organized and efficient if needs be.

The kids went crazy in the water…both ocean and shower.   The tide did come up around the fire pit at one point and gave us all a nice feet washing.  Some of the little kids got more of a foamy bath.

I forced myself to get out of the house today.  I have been a bit of a homebody lately, not really feeling like going out.  The less I do, the less I feel like puking my guts out.  But when the beach calls, how can I NOT answer?  I felt the cosmic tug and rodeoed my kids into the car.  The waves and sand didn’t disappoint.  Besides my burned kneecaps, I consider the day restful.  And then Hudson and his friends have taken up the beginnings of boogie boarding so that was very entertaining.  I stayed beached…to conserve energy.

I think Hudson has really enjoyed his Spring Break.  We were needing to get out of the house so we took a little trip to the beach.  I can’t complain about the sunny 80 degree day we had.  Talk about the beach at it’s finest – great friends, great food and a great place.

We stayed and played for several hours; finally forced to go home to wait for the internet people to come set everything up in the new house.

Wills parents came into town over Easter.  We had so much fun while they were here.  The kids are always so excited to see their Nana and Papa.  We visited the harbor, watched Conference, went out to dinner among other things.  Our trip to La Jolla was fabulous and no, we didn’t feel that 7.2 earthquake while we were there.  I know…it’s a shocker!  Anyway, we walked along the beach enjoying that salty breeze and the beautiful sights.

The seals were pupping so there was an abundance of little ones.  I couldn’t help notice one mama seal who seemed to have her flippers full trying to help her little guy out of the water.  He would get a foot from the beach and get pulled back in.  After awhile I started wondering if he was doing that to her on purpose.

Poor Will partly ended up in a tide pool after having a tough time with his bad foot.  He did manage to keep his stitches from getting wet and remained good- natured about the whole incident. Yes, I know Hudson is in his soccer outfit.  I let him dress himself that morning.  He did put on a matching outfit…technically!

Annie on the other hand about gave me a massive coronary.  There were several times where I thought she was going to go diving right off the cliffs.

We needed a little break from everything so the family headed to the beach for a little meander this past Sunday.  That salty airy and cool beach breeze reminded me quickly why we love living here.  Searching for sea shells and enjoying the view.  The company by far was the best part.  You can’t see him in any of the pictures though.  He is hidden behind the camera.

I quite enjoy the days when we get the beach to ourselves.  The tourist season hasn’t quite made it into full swing yet so the beach is all ours…for the time being.

Anyone need to get away?  Come down for a visit.

The weather has been fabulous here lately.  That was reason enough to pack up the kids and head to the beach.  Really, any excuse would have sufficed.  It was so nice and relaxing having those waves lapping onto the shore.  We did have a bit of a scare when the waves were getting a little too close.  Poor Will got a worried call from me asking him to google the tide times.  He was good enough to humor me in my quest.  I guess that is what we get for showing up a few minutes before high tide.  Sorry to say, we don’t have any exciting stories of children or random items being swept out to sea.  It was just a good day.

We couldn’t let my family leave without seeing Coronado Island.  Off we went and enjoyed part of a beautiful day checking out the sights and letting the kids play on the dunes.  Honestly, there wasn’t too much sand playing on the kids part due to the temperature of the sand.  We tried to convince my parents to book the haunted room in the Hotel Del, but it’s booked out several years…maybe another time.

I finally picked up this hat that I have had my eye on for quite some time. I have nver been able to find an excuse to get another one.  A week at the beach was excuse enough for me.

Hitting the Pier over in Oceanside was a must.  Several fisherman had catches of stingrays and other ocean critters flopping around on the pier as we strolled that peaked a curiosity from a few of us.  How can you not stop to sneak a peak?(I don’t know why I have that expression…mid-sentence maybe?)

The sightseeing concluded with a trip to the San Diego temple.  I almost added the picture where everyone was actually standing still and brightly smiling, but that just wouldn’t be the real us.  This is a much more accurate representation.  Although I have seen it countless times, I never cease to be awed by its beauty and overcome by the peace that it brings.  I love having the daily comfort that my family and friends will always be with me – now and forever.

After spending a week at the beach as a family we are finding that our children have changed a good 5 or so shades darker.  Because the amount of time we spent at the beach, we found that we gave a lot of time to ocean as well as the sand and got a bit creative.

My dad, brothers and Will spent plenty of time in the water and I even joined them for a little bit.  We were lucky and had perfect beach going weather the entire time.

I think my brothers enjoyed exchanging their normal mountain scenery for that of the beach.

And…maybe I felt a little bad about not getting my little brother a rash guard…oops!

My brother Casey seemed to very much enjoy burying my youngest brother.

My brother didn’t want to be a Mermaid so we created this tenticled and clawed creature instead.

Annie and my mom just enjoyed the sand and the shade.

Annie did have a few first while we were there.  She found a new love for seaweed, pulling it up and down the beach.  She is also now no longer afraid of the water.  She splashed and played the last day we were there.  A fearless 2 year old and large amounts of water are enough for an anurism in my book.

My brother and sister in law came into town for the last couple of weeks with their kids and we were able to meet up with them a couple of times.  We chose to spend our time together at the beach.  Is there really a better place than that?  Will and our niece, shown in the picture above spent  quite a bit of time in the water boogie boarding.  I was impressed with their dedication.  The water was FREEZING.  I’m a little embarrassed to say no more than a toe of mine ended up in the water.  Hudson spent a large amount of time being chased or chasing his cousin…6 hours worth.  Annie and I chatted, dug holes and relaxed in the sand.

Our friends Carmen and Ryan came to visit us.  We were so excited that they carved time from their trip back to North Carolina to come see us.  They brought the kids this amazingly huge blow-up whale slide/pool with a blowspout and crazy sprinkler hose.  Let’s just say we spent quite a bit of time in the backyard watching the kids enjoy the water.  We did all of our usuals.  We went out to dinner, hit the beach, did some sight seeing, played games and chatted into the early morning, all week long!

Del Mar was the beach of choice.  With the overcast weather, we enjoyed having the beach to ourselves.

I don’t know who liked the beach more?  Carmen and I walked the beach.  Hudson seemed to enjoy his recent aquisition.  The muscles didn’t last long though.

The boys spent most of their time out in the waves.

We had to hit up Balboa Park.

We just wandered and enjoyed the sights.

This is what happens when I ask my kids to smile…note to self…don’t ask my kids to smile.  They did enjoy having Ryan read them stories.  All in all, I deem the week a success.  Thanks for the memories!