Thursday, April 11, 2013

Three months ago we went to Disneyland (Day 10)

Day 10 was our last full day on vacation.  We started the day with a super fun breakfast in Crystal Cove at the Beachcomber!  At Crystal Cove, there's a parking lot on the east side of PCH, then you take a 1 minute shuttle ride down, then a quick walk to the cafe.


It was a cool morning, but the Beachcomber is prepared for that!  We all bundled up in blankets at our table while perusing the menu.


Lucas especially enjoyed this one legged little guy under our table.



After dining on french toast and beignets and omelets and hot chocolate and all kinds of deliciousness, we headed for a walk along the beach.


It was pretty foggy, but none of us cared one bit!  It was still beautiful.  The kids ran and chased waves.


Lucas and his cute sandy toes walked with Grandma and Grandpa.



All along Crystal Cove are old beach cottages.  The ones on the south end have been restored.  They are amazing!  Most of them are rentals now, but this one is a museum.  Recognize it?


It's the house from the movie "Beaches"!





It wasn't open that morning, so we just peeked through the windows and hung out on the front porch.

While walking along the shore, we found lots of seaweed and taught the kids all about popping the seaweed poppers.  :)


They also enjoyed dragging it through the sand and seeing what designs were left in the trail.





We played in the rocks and found some anemones and other critters in the tide pools.






We watched the waves come in.






Jack got a tiny bit wet.  :)


And Payson collected shells.


Jack also showed a little crack!  His pants got so wet and heavy they were a little hard to keep up.  :)


Lucas conquered this big round rock.







He was pretty proud.  As was his mama.

And Madison danced in the sand.


My sisters are my favorite.  They crack me up.

That was just the south side of Crystal Cove.  After that, we headed back towards the north end, past the cool, old, dilapidated cottages.  Eventually these will be restored as well.  I want to volunteer to take one and redo it all in exchange for ownership.  :)



The kids thought it was pretty fun to watch Grandpa play in the sand.  As a kid we used to do this all the time.  Stand on the edge of the sand and wait for it to collapse under you.  It's so fun to share those things with my kids now.


I called dibs on this cottage.


The kids all jumped over incoming waves for what seemed like all day.


Jack got a little wetter.  Oops!


Eventually he just ditched his pants.


We stopped by the little gift shop on our way out and bought some fun souvenirs from our trip.  And of course, posed with the surf board sign.


Then took the long way and walked pack up to the cars, through this cool tunnel full of paintings about Earth Day.



We got a little cleaned up back at my parents' beach house and had some lunch, then headed to the beach down the street for the rest of the afternoon.





The kids played in the cold water with their aunts, while I soaked up the sun with my toes in the sand.


I spent the afternoon mostly dreaming about living in one of these ocean view homes.


Lucas played in the sand with his daddy.


And even ventured into the water.  Only a tad nervous.  :)


Jack practiced his boogie boarding skills.


Then Grandpa taught the kids for real!


This awesome girl was excited to try and caught on right away!  She caught several waves and just kept going!




Jack was pretty nervous, but eventually Grandpa convinced him to give it a go.


Of course, there was sand castle building.


And more adorable sandy toes on this kid.




And there were some sisterly sandy toes too.  :)  We found this beautiful little yellow butterfly that was stuck in the sand.  It died after just a minute.


We spent all that day just exploring the beach and relaxing.  It was so perfect.  I wish I could spend every day like that with my favorite people!

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