Beach Trip to Corona Del Mar

On July 11th we took our first trip of the Summer to the beach.  We went to Corona Del Mar, a beach to which I had never been.  It was a nice family beach with bathrooms and a snack bar and showers close by.  We got there around 11am and the place was packed.  We had to set up camp behind everyone else, kind of far from the water, but later when people left we brought a blanket close to the water to play in the sand.  Morgan and Madylin loved the water this time.  The waves were not very strong and there were a lot of lulls where there were no waves so they could just walk around.  We brought a play tent for Lydia to play in and stay out of the sun and Russell and I took turns going in the water with the older 3.  Nathan was pretty nervous about the water, but Russell convinced him to go in after a while and he liked it, of course.  

Lydia in her tent.

The kids really enjoyed playing in the sand the most.  What is it about kids and sand??

Morgan digging

 Madylin liked to fill and refill buckets with water

 Nathan wanted "castles" to knock over

Remember these velcro toys??  The kids love these because it's the only way they can catch!  Nathan and Madylin played for a while and did great.

Morgan took a turn playing with Nathan, too.  They were a little too far apart.  See Morgan's face... notice her eyes are closed?  And do you see the ball behind her head! haha

Russell and I enjoyed the entertainment and sun

Lydia snoozed on Daddy for a while

 And then we enjoyed the 2 hour ride home in traffic. NOT!

These crazy all day beach trips are hard on a San Diego girl who grew up 20 minutes from the beach.  I just want to go and play for a while and then come home and do something else, not drive over an hour there and then fight traffic for hours on the way back.  Someday I will get used to the fact that I no longer live close to the beach and it is now an ALL day event!