The Great California Vacation: Part Four (Final)

When I last left off, we had just emerged from the dense redwoods into the open air and spotted before us, the beauty of the vast and amazing ocean. Actually, we had just eaten and I'd gotten some questionable fish and chips. Anyhow, this was to be our last moment of awesomeness on our grand adventure to California and it was the one that Alex was looking forward to the most. Actually, I think it was the one that most of us were looking forward to the most. Seeing the ocean is amazing. I know that people who live next to it can take it for granted. But when you're from smack dab in the middle of the midwest, the ocean is positively spectacular.

Coming out of the redwood forest, this was our view from the car.

We parked the car Alex and Abby were off to the water like crazy kids. Alex, my ocean loving child, was in heaven. By the time I reached him, Abby and Josh at the edge of the ocean, Alex had already managed to fall into the water - fully clothed. Now, I was okay with that, but told him to be more careful. By then, he had only fallen in up to his knees. Keep in mind that it was barely in the 70’s with a cool breeze coming off of the water. We had all kicked our shoes off due to the fine sand entering every pore of bodies and clothes. It was just inspirational seeing the ocean like this. The last time I’d seen the ocean was on our honeymoon to Florida. That was along time ago and it was dusk by the time we got to traverse the beach. Here, it was broad daylight and you could see nothing past the ocean.

Rolling the pants up. A pointless act, apparently.

I think Alex could have stayed here all day long.

Right about the time I told Alex not to get any wetter, he “accidentally” fell into the water again…and rolled around…twice. I could have slaughtered that kid right about then. The problem, continuing on our Clark Griswold-like family vacation, was that I failed to realize that a change of clothes would be beneficial. I brought nothing. And after getting wet, it got much colder. I figured that he was old enough to just suck it up and deal. Abby was smart enough to stay relatively dry. So we managed and went on our merry way exploring the beach and the caves nearby. I was in charge of miss Evie, of course, so didn’t get to explore quite as much. We hunted for shells and hoped to find something living. We saw a few jellyfish that had washed ashore, but other than that, nothing living. We did find a nifty crab on the cliffs though. See how alive I made it look? Wouldn’t know that I posed its dead body for a photo, would you? I’m awful like that.

Poor dead crab. Seagull fodder, I'm afraid.

 

I had Josh write his name in the sand, but for some reason, I didn't take a picture. I think I got distracted by Evie's antics.

So I had originally planned to get this epic family photo with me dressed in my Halloween pirate costume while tying up my family with a mariner’s rope as prisoners on the beach. Yeah…didn’t happen. I couldn’t find room to bring my costume and had no idea where to get a rope. So I cleverly came up with a new plan of the five of us running down the beach, hand in hand. I gathered up the masses and gave my camera to my mom. As I was herding the two reluctant older children up, I failed to realize how close I was to the water while holding Evie's hand. The next thing I knew, Evie got sucked into a wave and went under. Now, don’t worry. It was only for a second so she was fine, but she was also drenched to the core. I was so frustrated with how crappy things were going because of my poor planning that I gave up the picture to get my poor sweet baby to the warmth of the car. She was soaked and shivering and covered in sand. On the way back to the car, Alex decided that he needed to fall into the sand with his soaked clothes and body and make a sand angel. Have you ever tried to get wet beach sand off? Yeah. It’s impossible without a power washer. Looking back, I know I shouldn’t have been upset, but I was not a happy camper at this point. (It had been a stressful trip.) I swallowed hard and marched on, trying not to get too mad at my little sand creatures. Let’s just say that I felt really bad for the people who had to clean out that rental car.

Like my hair? You, too, could have epic hair like me. My hair did NOT agree with humidity in California. Ugh. This was the best way I could document my day at the beach.

Not our best family photo, but not our worst either.

The newly weds!

By the time we got to the car, Evie was a Popsicle. She rode home in a diaper. Poor kid. We headed for the hotel, taking the unscenic way home to get there faster. Most of us were starving, cold, had sand in places that we couldn’t explain, and smelled like we’d just gotten done swabbing the deck of the Jolly Roger. I was thankful for that shower that evening.

So, that was it for our vacation. We headed back across the Golden Gate Bridge and said our goodbyes to everyone. Even though there were some bumps (my shin still isn’t back to normal from that blasted redwood tree), some mistakes, and a few tears shed, it was easily one of the most memorable trips I’ve ever been on. Seriously though, I refuse to do another plane ride until all my children are officially potty trained. I’m so happy we decided to go and I will treasure those memories forever. I missed my dad during the whole trek, but had a wonderful time with my family. We got home to bitter temperatures and rain. But I was super thankful to be back in my own bed. So were the kiddos. Oddly enough, I just found out that one brother is going to be moving to Colorado soon. Looks like I’d better get ready for another trip. I wonder how crazy the Royal Gorge would be with a three year old?

See ya later San Fran!