Mermaids & Marshmallows

Mermaids at the beach Friday afternoon

 I am so in love with this picture!

More buried kiddos

The wind was pretty crisp that afternoon, despite the sunshine, 

so the kids felt warmer buried under the sand

Dessert in the backyard:

Tide Pools

 

So much to discover on the coast—things we never get to do at home in the desert. On Friday morning the crew headed out to Natural Bridges Beach and State Park. Olivia, Luke and I sat this adventure out (a much needed break for my little ones). Luke took an amazingly long morning nap and Livs and I cuddled up in bed and watched a Baby Einstein and then played happily without any distractions.

I contributed to the morning bustle by doing Caroline and Sisi's hair. They made sure I copied the exact hairdo they wanted from the American Girl catalog.

I should have Joseph write this post since he knows all the details—but the pictures speak for themselves pretty well too:

 

I love being in Cali when the fog burns off and the sun shines on the water!

Beach!

We haven't been to the beach with our kids since Olivia was a tiny babe. It was time. The children had so much fun! Olivia was so gung ho and ready to play in the waves, but early on a wave knocked her over as she was filling up a bucket—made for a sad face plant in the water. Needless to say she was not a huge fan of beach time from there on out.

 

 

This cute beach with all the sailboats and the lighthouse is called Twin Lakes and was about a 5 minute drive from our beach house (we were actually in a little town called Capitola, 

just outside Santa Cruz).

 

Luke's first time at the beach! It was rather windy so I was trying to keep him under wraps.

 Livs recovering after her fall in the waves.

Once she calmed down I took a turn snuggling her and she fell right to sleep in my arms.

   

Jack had a similar "water fall" as Livs and needed some recovery time too.

 cute cousin Porter

 Luke playing with Aunt Krista (or mostly just drooling on her :)

Lots of "kids" loving the water

Monterey Bay Aquarium

 

Have you met my Bentley? 

A huge draw to northern California was this exact spot.

Luckily, our family vacationing with us was eager to explore it too.

4 hours was barely enough to see most of the exhibits 

(but long enough for my kiddos little legs...and temperaments)

Highlights:

The Kelp Forest:

The Touch Pools:

The Open Sea Exhibit:

I can't accurately describe how amazing this huge tank was. It was filled with sharks, sea turtles, and tuna all moving so beautifully in the water.

Mesmerizing jelly fish:

Lunch on the deck overlooking Monterey Bay:

Fun seahorse exhibit:

 

and just a few more cool pics

 

Such a wonderful place! And after our morning visit we still had a good part of the day left for beach play back in Santa Cruz. Have I mentioned that I love California?