California 2012: Newport Beach, Day Two

We went back to Newport Beach for a second day and we are glad we did. It was our best beach day yet! We reasoned that we didn't drive almost 7 hours to just go to the beach for one morning. This was July 3rd and we anticipated it being very crowded due to the holiday. With an early arrival we beat the crowds, snagged good parking and the same spot we were in the day before. Perfect! It was busy but not overwhelming. We were also lucky enough to meet up with the Merrill's, our friends from medical school. They have family in California and were happy to drive to the beach to hang out with us.



David, J'lene, Liliana and Addelynn




Sweet girls and friends; Liliana and Kate.



The kids did wonderfully and once they discovered sand crabs they were in heaven. It kept them occupied for two hours or more. They loved digging in the sand, filtering them out and keeping them in their beach bucket. Neighboring kids even joined in the fun.



So tiny! Matthew holding a sand crab.



Max running in like a stud with Phil and Matthew "harvesting" sand crabs in the surf.



Max refused to look at me and the camera. I tried all my tricks and he was having none of it. I need to find new material.



Kate got cold and came in for a rest and a snack. She just sat on the edge of the shade wrapped up in a towel. She kept to herself and was very quiet, playing with the sand. She crashed and had a nice power nap. They did so well. My kids never sleep anywhere but home in bed. Even Rhett succumbed to slumber.



J'lene and I held our sleeping babes for over an hour. It was windy and our arms were dead but we were grateful for happy sleeping babies and this nap made it possible to stay at the beach for almost 5 hours.




We buried more children.



That pink hat below is Kate.



I took waaay too many pictures of the crawling sand baby. But how can I resist this adorable face?



The water is a lot farther away than it looks here. All children were constantly supervised near the water.



Ah! Yes, I will eat you.



We rested.



Visited with friends, family and munched on fat babies. Seriously, check out Addy's awesome legs. Love her.



We drove back to Stephanie's house grateful we had geared up for another beach day. It was wonderful and we are already looking forward to the next trip. Thank you to Stephanie for hosting us and to the Merrill's for hanging out with us and sharing their shade.