Catch Up: California Part V (The beach!)

Tuesday morning Rich headed back to North Carolina and we stayed for just one more day.  Since Oklahoma is land-locked I try to take the boys to the beach whenever I can.  Rich claims that we are beach snobs... but lake beaches are just not the same as the ocean no matter how hard you may try to spin it. A bunch of us headed down to Corona del Mar together--Nancy and Aaron headed down with my crew while Elise and Caden drove Amy's family.  While Corona del Mar wasn't my favorite as a teen, we've always loved it when bringing kids along.  The waves are smaller and the tidepools are easily accessible.  Once again we were blessed--the weather was perfect and there were minimal people.

Uncle Jeff helped the kids to build a sand castle and I tried teaching them how to catch sand crabs.  I caught one so big that I was startled, dropped it, and lost it before any of the kids could see it.

Despite what the pictures might tell you, Henry had a great first visit to the beach!  He crawled all over the place and even tried eating the sand and the seaweed!

The boys had a great time running around and playing in the sand and the water.

I'm so glad that we headed  down to the tidepools when we did because the tide started rising pretty quickly.  The kids loved seeing all the creature and touching the sea anemones.

Nancy even found a little crab for them to look at and hold.

When we got back from the tidepools, Jeff had a hole all ready for someone to hop into and be buried.  James was the brave volunteer.

And then William decided he'd like to hop in as well.

James loved it so much that he later decided to bury himself.

The coolest part was towards the end of our stay when we saw dolphins!  They were so close to shore I couldn't believe it!  We saw sea lions as well but I don't think any of the kids spotted them.

The beach was the perfect end to our California adventure!