Summer 2013 Day 43: Dad's Here!!

One week in and look who joined us!! The kids were thrilled to see their Dad (as was I)! We are so happy he will be able to be apart of Week 2 in California.  We made it to LA, now what?

Well, we came all this way....we most definitely need to see where California ends! At the beach!  Lucky for us, we have family here, so we joined them for a day in San Clemente.  

San Clemente is a beautiful beach town with adorable shops and restaurants and a great beach by the pier.  The beach itself had picnic tables, permanent awnings, and palm tree umbrellas.  And if you get there early enough, you can snag one of these prime spots for the day.

And man, these Texans were WAY un-prepared - we had our sunscreen and towels - wasn't that enough? The locals really know how to spend a day at the beach - with cookouts, tons of food, games, chairs, and boogie boards!

My kids grabbed the boogie boards and hit the ocean - I warned them......It's COLD!!  They bounded right in, and stayed in for the next 4 hours.

Now, we are used to warm, calm waters of the Gulf of Mexico.  The Pacific is quite different.  A cool 70 degrees (which felt great after you sat int eh sun for awhile) and fierce!  The waves were huge and the undertow was strong.  Just as you'd regain your footing after fighting the pull, a giant wave would knock you down again.  I'd like to say it was fun, but I honestly felt like a drowned rat flailing around in the water.  I did not look graceful.

But my children loved it.  The jumped waves and body-surfed til their tummies were red and scratched.  They bounded up the shore for a quick handful of chips and then ran back in to catch the next wave.  We just watched them have fun (except for the one crazy moment where I thought it would be fun to join them).

It was a GREAT day to relax and just play - the beach was fantastic and I'm thrilled that we have another day at a different beach later this week - we honestly can't get enough of it!

Morganne
We loved playing on the boogie boards at the beach today.  The tide was really strong and it would pull you back in each time you stood up.  So I gave up on the boogie board and just fell into the waves.  We must have done that for hours because when I was done, I could feel the waves for a long time afterwards.

Jack
I liked how the water was colder than all the other oceans I had been in before.  It was refreshing but you got used to it. I liked how Morganne and me came up with ideas on how to play on the boogie boards all day.