Siena . Cara . Iva . Sam: California Dreamin' Part 1

Now it is always a little bit difficult for our family to head to Disneyland, specifically, the LA area and NOT do Disneyland, but we desperately needed a getaway little vacation for Mom and Dad. Mom requested off work for their anniversary, the 6th, and told Dad that we were going to California!

We opted to wake up REALLY early on Friday to drive straight to the beach and play instead of driving late at night.

We love to stop at Carl's Jr at State Line

We decided to try a different beach than we have ever gone to on the recommendation from our family doctor and friend. Crystal Cove did not disappoint but we had never been to a beach like it. We had to park on the other side of the freeway and use this neat access tunnel!

Yes this was the best picture...hahaha

Once we got to the beach, it was high tide and beach space was actually really hard to come by! Not necessarily because it was crowded, but because the water came up so high.

The morning stayed mostly foggy with sun breaking through the clouds. Luckily it was plenty warm and the waves were a lot of fun.

Sam enjoyed the sand toys and the sand!

I got tossed by a wave almost three minutes after I hit the water. And I mean it TOSSED me.

Iva was panicking over the water. She didn't really want to go near the waves and walking to our beach spot made that hard since the water was literally lapping the cliffs in some places.

She thought the sand was great though.

We decided to a little exploring after we had been there for a bit and took a walk down to where it looked like there were tide pools.

This was the cabin where the movie Beaches filmed

Unfortunately, like I mentioned before it was high tide so the tide pools were a little bit of a bust, but it looked neat.

Iva even got a little bit braver and here she is IN the water. It was a big deal.

Mom loved watching us big girls play in the waves. We just played and played and played.

What sand?

I think Sam might be the favorite. They spent a lot of time snuggling on him whether he wanted to or not.

At one point, Sam was quite DONE with all the sand. He'd had enough.

Daddy loves to do his headstands on the beach and they are really impressive.

Sam was in need of a good washing and so we took to the water. He loved it. Or wait, maybe he didn't.

Just as we were getting ready to leave, Mom remembered that the tide was going out and that even though we were still about 90 minutes away from low tide we should check out the tide pools again. It was kind of fun. There was this hole in the rocks that would fill with waves and you can kind of ride them into the hole.

It was a little bit scary in the hole since there was a current that would make it feel like you were going to be sucked out to sea (which wouldn't have happened), but all of us girls gave it a go with Dad!