Texans Come West

Guess who popped in for a week while we were in San Diego… a whole bunch of Texas family!  We had a blast showing them around some of our favorite spots in SD.  We spent time at a couple different beaches, went paddle boarding, did some seal watching, did some seaport village shopping, and ate some awesome Mexican food.  We squeezed a lot into the four days they had in SD before we all headed up to Disneyland (pictures from that adventure later).  

Savannah and her cousin Cheridan at the beach (day #1).  Savannah had so much fun showing Cheridan how to boogie board and how to build sandcastles and jump waves.  

The whole gang digging tunnels for Ryder to drive his sand trucks through.

Paddle boarding in Mission Bay (day #2).  Everyone loved this activity!  The kids who got to hitch a ride on the front of the board especially.  Savannah, Ryder, and Cheridan were too little to paddle their own board, so they got to sit on the front of our boards and enjoy the ride.  

She wanted to do it on her own so badly… maybe next year.

Ryder was totally content and happy riding in the front.  He wasn't the least bit afraid and was really sad when his turn was over.  At one point a sail boat almost hit us (or we almost hit a sail boat) and I thought for sure he would start freaking out, but he just laughed and said "that was awesome!".

Seal watching at La Jolla Cove (day #2).

More beach time (day #3).  Cheridan and Uncle E burying Savannah and Ryder in the sand.

Her Happy Place

The beach really is Savannah's happiest happy place.  Beach Savannah is a totally different kind of happy… I love being with her at the beach… if you ever get a chance to spend the day with her out in the sun and sand, you should take her up on it.  You will see a side of her that rarely comes out.

Bob's Beach House

The BEST part about visiting Bob down in Mexico is that his house is on the beach… directly on the beach.  The days were perfect… morning shell hunts, boogie boarding and sand playing whenever you want for as long as you want, and then falling asleep to the waves.  Beach house living is the absolute best kind of living.  Maybe one day my Texan husband will realize that and agree to move west.  I am certain that if he spent a few days living at the beach that he would be in love.  The kids sure were in love.  Both of my little beach bums could stay out on the beach all day if I would let them.

The view from my dad's patio… not too shabby.

The stairs that lead to the beach entry and the shower to rinse off before coming in.

My little boogie boarding princess.  This girl is dying to learn to surf.  I am going to have to make sure that lessons for her are on the agenda the next time we come out for a visit.  She has so much fun out there in the ocean.

I just can't bring myself to cut his sandy long curly hair.  I love it way too much to let it go.

I can't get over the cuteness of these little boy speedo shorts that I found at the Walmart in Mexico.  Time to tan those little boy thighs… I'm sure his father totally approves.

These next few pictures perfectly capture how much fun Savannah has out there in the ocean.  I love her big toothless smiles.  

Early morning (really long) walk looking for treasures.

We found lots of goodies… lobster tails...

and crabs… his face doesn't show it, but he actually was really excited about the crabs.

Rinsing off after a full day at the beach.

Always Our First Stop

No shocker here, our first stop after we saw grandpa and unpacked, was of course the beach.  Both kids were begging to get to the beach.  Savannah is the happiest little girl in the world when we are at the beach.  There is no doubt in my mind that the beach is her absolute happiest place.  She is fearless in the water… jumping and diving and going out as far as I will allow and trying to catch every wave possible.  Ryder is finally warming up to the idea of playing in the water.  Last year the water was much too cold, so he spent all of his time building sand castles and driving trucks in the sand.  He will now run down and play ankle deep in the water with his toys.  The water is a lot warmer than last year when we were out here, so I think after a few more days at the beach he will have no issues with going in a little deeper.  

I'm Going To Miss This

For as long as I can remember, my summers have revolved around the beach.  Day trips to the beach, camping at the beach... we were sandy all the time.  I absolutely loved it.  Makes me so sad that my kids aren't going to have summers like that.  This trip we spent a good amount of our time at the beach... more than we usually do.  Last year with Ryder being so little and still nursing, it was a little tough to be going out every day.  This year both kids were easy to tote to the beach on a whim.  If we woke up and had no plans for that day we just threw our suits on and headed out to the beach.  I am really going to miss being able to do that.  Savannah might miss it even more than me.  She is such a little beach girl... grabs her boogie board and heads straight for the water.  I have to pull her away from the ocean.  Each time I make her leave it is the end of the world.  next year I am going to have to make sure that we spend an entire week just camping at the beach.  We would all love waking up and having the beach there and ready for us.  Until then, back to the heat of Texas... where the closest beach to us is four hours away.  Boo.

The Haynes/Kovar clan beachin' it up.  This arrangement works perfectly... the boys are the same age and the girls are the same age.  That means the moms can sit and talk :)

Ryder and Troy, rocking the long hair like a couple of beach studs

Oh how I wish these two girls lived closer together.  They LOVE hanging out together so much.  They were inseparable out in the water... sharing a board and holding hands the whole time.

Ryder finally ventured out into the ocean and LOVED it!  YAY!!  Once he realized how much fun it was out there he had no interest in going back and playing in the sand.  Which meant that my nice chillaxin' time in the sand was over and I had to go out in the water.  It was worth it though.  His face and laugh out there was priceless.

Liz took this picture of the girls boarding and me and Ryder out in the water... kind of blurry, but still cute.