Dec 13th The Beach!

This was our third day of vacation.  Our kids were so good in the car all the way out there!  I had packed a bag with books, and little activities but everyone was so enthralled with the "journey", I didn't even get in to the fun bag!  David and I held hands in the front seat and had a wonderful time just re-connecting!  I think that Trey being the oldest was the most impressed with the whole experience, he kept saying, "Breathtaking, simply breathtaking!"   We hadn't been further than Steam Boat Springs in the last twelve years!
Monday afternoon my mom texted and said, "We have a surprise for you, stay on the road you're on all the way until the end", then she gave us crossroads to park at. On the way we crossed a small bridge, we told the kids to look out, "That is a small part of the ocean!", of course they were thrilled!  When we parked it was warm and sunny, so we all got in to our swim wear, and waited for mimi and papa.  Just seeing mimi and papa would have been enough for our kids, but then we all walked across the street and up a little embankment.  (Can I just pause here a minute?  You could not tell from our perspective what we were fixing to see, and it was just a wonderful surprise! Good job, mom and dad!)

Our kids had so much fun!  I think at first they were a little intimidated but as you can see that quickly wore off.

David had all of our three in the water, letting the waves wash over their feet. Trey of course wanted to know how it all worked.   David grew up in Oregon so this was like coming home for him.
Alex hated the water, but he liked the sand so soon enough there was a sand castle being built.  My dad even taught the kids how to make little towers of wet sand, that you let slip through your fingers. (I won't tell you what we called them, my family knows)  ;-)  

It was a wonderful, wonderful way to say "Hello" to California!

Thank you again, Mom and Dad!