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!