Life is a Beach

We had an amazingly nice, fun and relaxing weekend at the beach. Sometimes I daydream about what it would be like to still live at Camp Pendleton now that we have kids with the beach right there and so much to do in North San Diego County. But the fact of the matter is that frankly it is too cold for my tastes, not to mention the traffic and high cost of living, which I can do without. That said however, I still love the beach and find it to be the perfect escape from the desolate desert, not to mention the heat.

We arrived on Friday afternoon giving the kids a chance to play on the beach and splash around in the water. While Jake's favorite activity at the beach turned out to be making huge race tracks with his cars in the sand, Jadyn on the other hand enjoyed getting dirty in attempts to make sand castles, most of which turned out to just be an excuse to dig giant holes. Our cottage was located on a marina with rock jetties separating the water from the rest of the ocean. This turned out to be perfect because the kids could play in the water without the fear of giant out of control waves. Later that evening, we drove up north to one of Joe and I's favorite restaurants from our time in the area, Sonny's Pizza and Pasta where I enjoyed a thin crust white pizza with an alfredo sauce to die for.

Splashing in synchronicity:


This is so precious. I only wish there wasn't another swimmer in the picture. Jadyn was scared to go too far out in the water so Jake took her hand and led her out into the water:

Running back in from the water:

There was probably one picture of the three of us that was a little better than this but I wanted to show everyone what we go through to get the kids to take good pictures. They were at the beach for goodness sakes. Of course they didn't want to stop and pose for pictures!

Saturday we enjoyed a leisurely day by the water followed by a BBQ at some old friends of ours who are currently stationed at Pendleton. It was so nice to see Cruz and Tara and I would be remiss not to mention their hospitality and thank them for such terrific food and conversation.

Early Saturday morning we made our first walk out the walk jetty. Here is the view of our cottage from the rock jetty:

Watching the waves crash against the rocks:

Back at the beach, Jadyn quickly started water runs to make a new hole:

With the help of Scottie and Daddy, Jadyn completed the hole quickly and promptly got inside:

Jake enjoyed the holes too, although not quite as much as Jadyn did:

Jake swimming with a kickboard:

Tired and cold afterwards:

Since we had Scottie and Ali with us, who have never been to San Diego we did the tourist thing on Sunday visiting the USS Midway, a retired Navy aircraft carrier that has been converted to a museum and took a harbor cruise in San Diego's North bay. While both were fun experiences, we were all tired by the time we headed back up to our beach cottage. We ended the evening with Chinese takeout and a bonfire on the beach during which time both Jake and Jadyn fell asleep after roasting some marshmallows.

The kids and I in one of the aircrafts on the flight deck:


The seals we saw during our harbor cruise:

A view of the city from the bay:

Sunday sunset before our bonfire:

Monday, before leaving for home we took a quick walk out on the rock jetty for the second time. This had to have been Jake's favorite part of our beach trip, which is pretty ironic. I guess all those hikes up in Joshua Tree are rubbing off on him. We then grabbed a quick breakfast at Ruby's on the pier in Oceanside before returning to 100+ degree temps at home.

To prove just how relaxing our little beach trip really was, let me mention that I was able to read Testimony by Anita Shreve while I was lounging on the beach and might I add that I would definitely recommend this book for anyone looking for a great quick summer read. It was truly thought-provoking and engrossing.

And shamelessly stolen from Laura C's blog post on their beach trip, I took the following pictures and although not the first time it does quite obviously reveal what the Funny Nose title is supposed to be covering up (like at this point who doesn't know our real last name anyway?)

Do you know what I loved most about taking these pictures? How easy it was since it does not require everyone to look at the camera and provide decent smiles. And that was how our weekend felt, easygoing and fun.

But wait, I would be even more remiss not to thank Scottie and Ali for allowing this trip to happen and joining us on our beach adventure. It wouldn't have been the same without you guys!