Day 2!!

Well, after our first actual play day in California, everyone was pretty wiped out. So we slept in LATE on Day 2. My parents had brought a few names with them to take to the Newport Beach Temple, which was just minutes away (BEAUTIFUL, by the way!). So my parents and brother Devin and sister Madison took those names to do baptisms for the dead (want more info on temples or baptisms for the dead, go here) while we stayed with Maren at the condo.

After lounging around a bit, we ate breakfast and headed to the beautiful condo pool, then headed back to the condo around lunch time.



Jack, all snugly after swimming.

We meant to go one way, but apparently my dad wasn't paying attention, so we just took the ferry over. The kids thought it was so great that the cars got to drive up on the ferry. And even though the ride over takes about a minute, we hopped out of the cars for some pictures :)

Devin, Jack, Madie, and Payson on the ferry in front of Balboa Island.

Jack saying "Cheese!" with Uncle Devin. The sun was a little bit in his eyes.



Pretty Payson.



Madie, Jack, Devin, and Maren with the old ferris wheel in the background



After the ferry ride, we parked the cars and just played on the beach by the Balboa pier all afternoon. Those are three of the cutest bums I've ever seen.



If you've never been to the beach, or if you're crazy, you might think two days in a row at the beach could get boring. You're completely wrong. This face says it all!!



Dirt, shells, feathers, rocks, sticks, and water. This handsome kid was seriously in heaven!!



Madie, Payson, Jason, Maren, and Devin down by the water.



This day was a little bit cooler, so I sat with my mom watching everyone play for a while. We kept watching these huge pelicans dive and grab fish. It was awesome! Unfortunately, we caught none of it on camera.



The Balboa Pier.



She hated it. Ha! I'm totally lying. Payson laughed all day long! She loved running from the waves and drawing pictures in the sand.



I kind of think she's the prettiest thing ever. But I'm just the mom. What do I know?!



Jason and Madie trying to see who would wade in the farthest.



Payson with Aunt Maren sassing the waves. :)



If you've ever been to the beach, you'll know how you think you're right where you started and then all of the sudden you find yourself WAY down shore. Jason didn't realize how far away he'd wandered.



Seriously. They hated it. I swear. :)



There were a ton of seagulls and pigeons out that afternoon, so my dad walked over to the shops and found a deli. They gave him a HUGE paper bag for free of day old bread that they were going to throw out, so we spent forever feeding the birds. This doesn't show even close to how many birds there were.



We all looked pretty goofy doing this, feeding the birds right out of our hands.



The kids loved watching the birds get close, but weren't sure they wanted the birds to touch them, so they just sat on our laps and watched and threw pieces of bread and laughed while the birds fought over them.



Everyone but Mom!!



It was in the 70's on the beach the whole week we were there. For November that's pretty warm! Especially coming from Wyoming and Utah. But the beaches were pretty empty. I'm sure California locals thought we were nuts. But it was so gorgeous!!



Jack watching the pigeons stand on Grandpa's feet to get bread.



Payson dancing around in the sand, throwing bread for the birdies.



This picture makes me laugh. We look a little ridiculous. We were all trying to stand as still as we could and the birds would swoop down and eat right from our hands. It was awesome!!



My mom kept trying to get a picture of the birds actually taking the bread, but this was the closest she got.



Payson eventually got tired of the birds and found a feather. She spent about an hour just practicing writing her ABC's in the sand and telling us what sound each letter makes. She's growing up so fast and getting so dang smart!!



Maren also got bored. She wasn't a fan of getting too close to the birds. So she opted for burying herself in the sand.



After Balboa, we headed back for showers. Everyone got ready and we headed to Huntington Beach to meet up with my Aunt Kristi at the fair on Main. The sunset was SO PRETTY!!



There were all kinds of booths at the fair and all the shops were having sidewalk sales. We shopped and walked for a while. It was so fun! There was even a booth giving away free 5 minute massages. I took advantage. :) Of course, they wanted your information in exchange. So I lied. I left my old address and telephone number from Westminster. Don't judge me.

The kids got some pretty awesome balloons at the fair, too. Payson got a butterfly and Jack got a monkey climbing a tree. They were pretty excited. Although they were also worn out from the day, so they don't quite look it in these photos. :)



There was also a farmer's market with so much yummy fresh fruit and veggies!! We stocked up on berries for breakfast and veggies for our Thanksgiving dinner. And all of the ingredients for Dad to make his AMAZING fresh salsa!!



And unfortunately, Aunt Kristi kept dodging the camera. So this is the best picture I got! Kristi, Dad, Mom, and Madie talking about something that looks oh so interesting.



After the fair we headed to Rodrigo's Mexican Grill (formerly Don Jose's), another MUST when in Orange County. SO DELICIOUS!! And we have lots of fun family memories there from when we were kids.

My dad used to always order this meal that came with Albondigas soup. We always wanted it, but the meal was way too big so he'd always share a few bites with us. But since we are now grown ups, both Devin and I ordered it. WAY too much food! But totally worth it, just for the soup. SO GOOD! And I'm not complaining about the leftovers, because they made a super yummy reheated lunch a few days later!!

The only pictures we took at the restaurant. Sad.

Jack.



And cute Maren, drinking her soda.

After dinner, we said good bye to Aunt Kristi, then headed home for BED! Aside from having two fun filled, busy days, we knew we needed some sleep for Day 3: DISNEYLAND!!