The Beach

Yesterday, along with a couple of friends, we ventured out to Alameda and hung out at Crown Memorial Beach.  It is in the bay so the waves are not much more than a lake would be.  It was a great place to go and not stress about the dangers of the ocean.  Don't get me wrong we watched the kids like hawks but there was no huge waves to pull the sand out from under their feet and pull them away! 

It was windy but sunny.  The view was pretty cool too.  You could see the fog rolling over the hills into the bay.

The kids had a blast running around, I was reminded why I hate the beach.  I wish there would be an invention to keep the sand off the kids hands, as well as blankets and really far away from food.  Luckily it wasn't about me but about the kids and they had a good enough time that they even said they would enjoy coming back.

The boys loved playing on the rocks and the girls laid down in the sand and collected about 1,628,158 broken pieces of shells.  Sadly, ahem, we left them in their natural habitat.  As well as the feather...don't tell the girls they haven't asked about it's whereabouts yet! 

Jackson was free for about 30 minutes.  In that time he ventured around the rocks, tried to pet a chipmunk (or are the ground squirrels?), tried to chase ducks, pet geese and really wanted to take home a cute little dog!  So mostly he just stayed in the stroller.

Since we finally got our car cleaned from our cross country trip last summer, I was a little hesitant to get my beach babes into the car, so we headed up to the nearby park/play structure.  The kids surprisingly wanted to play in the SAND.  By then they were all dry so the sand fell off of them.

After a long day we headed home and 5 of 6 kiddos fell asleep in the car.  When I got home this was the most precious reward for a great day.

The kids really love each other and I want to treasure these memories so when they get to be teenagers and everyone is always in their space I can remind them of these moments.

And a quick reminder that she is precious:

She was telling me she didn't like the sand...or maybe she was picking her nose, the face would work for  either situation!

This is what summer vacation is all about!