Seven Palefaces Meet Mr. Sun

Monday dawned foggy. It was funny because Jim came down to relieve my worries. He said it often is overcast in the mornings but will burn off and become quite sunny. It is called June Gloom. Having visited CA every year to see my grandmother, I was very familiar with the hazy mornings, but it did throw us off in another way.

You see, when it is overcast, it doesn't feel like you are getting burned. Yes, I am a pasty person. I know from experience that you can still get a sunburn on an overcast day. I KNOW. But when you reach the beach and it is still gray and kind of windy, it might slip your mind to put sunscreen on right away. And then later, when you think of it, the kids might be really sandy, and the sunscreen might not go on so well. So, let's just get the sunburned part out of the way.

I was burned, really badly. My legs looked awful. (Not to mentioned a nice patch on my neck, but thank heavens for swim shirts.) Robyn had bright red legs too. Ivory and June weren't far behind. They all had patches around their eyes and on their eyelids that looked sore. Daisy burned the exact same place she burned before on her back. Ouch. Tyler had a red neck and arms. And amazingly, Pearl didn't really burn at all. I think she was the least sandy when I got the sunscreen out. She burned a little around her eyes. (Plenty for her to complain about. I'm glad she wasn't more burned than that.) I didn't take pictures because I didn't think you wanted to see our bright red bum lines. Just take my word that for the rest of the trip, we had some very tough girls who complained very little about how sore they were. This was mainly because I told them that my burn was the worst (and it was) and that if I didn't complain, they couldn't. It mostly worked.

Now that I've gotten my guilt out of the way and we are all very aware of my utter failure at applying sunscreen, let's see how much fun we had while our skin slowly fried.

We went to Moonlight Beach in Encinitas. It was a beautiful beach and very family friendly.

We set up camp and then went to play in the waves. It was a bit chilly but everyone got right in.

The older kids tried out the boogie boards. Tyler was a good teacher. (Thanks Jim for the fun beach toys. They made the day. Not to mention the extra snacks you sent with us.)

Pearl liked the water, although I don't know if she ever went in very far .

We wrote things in the sand and watched them be washed away. CAZIER is sliding away, but if you look closely to the left, Ivory wrote her name in the sand as well. 

Here's one for the lovebirds.

June was digging the boogie board, but she came back to camp for goggles. We had bought several small pairs because they were super cheap. Upon opening them I realized why they were so cheap; they were goggles for babies. They were super small. We loosened them up as much as possible, but they were still a tight fit.

It was Robyn's turn to try the board.

June was getting the hang of it.

And Ivory wanted her turn.

Meanwhile, the littles were playing in the sand. Daisy filled her bucket to the brim.

I checked out the beach babes. There's one now!

Ivory came out a bit chilled, and though she might warm up in the sand.

Oh, the sand. Soft, but chafey, but perfect for the beach. Plan on bringing lots home with you. Especially when your kids do this.

I taught the kids how to find the sand bugs again. They loved that. Look at some of our finds. Tyler found a monster one. (June found another just as big later.)

June got a whole bucket full.

She would stir them up and watch them swim around and rebury themselves.

We still like to make sand mermaids. June was up first.

When it was my turn to be buried, Tyler took the younger kids over to the nearby park. I was neck deep in sand when suddenly a loud speaker came on over the beach. This is the tower. We have a lost little girl here. Her name is Pearl. She is wearing pink. She has blond hair. And her mom is Marleen. Marleen, could you please come to the tower.

WHAT?? Wasn't Pearl with Tyler? Apparently not any more. The girls didn't want me to move and mess up their hard work so they took off for the tower. I waved to the tower lifeguard from my awkward position on the beach. I felt like an awesome parent. I couldn't even explain that I wasn't "on" duty. (Although that seemed pretty obvious already.) Pearl was retrieved just fine and I was proud of her. Not for running off, but she had spoken clearly enough that they got her name right and mine close enough. (For those of you who have heard Pearl say her name before, this is a minor miracle.)

The girls finished up their "Mom Mermaid". My eyes are closed because they got sand on my face.

Very authentic mermaid with my swim shirt on. (Can I once again tell you how happy I am that half of us were wearing those?)

Oh, and we found a baby mermaid too.

Oddly, Ivory's favorite thing to play with was the seaweed. She would find individual pieces and name them 'Bob.' Then she found a whole family for Bob. (I do believe my children were the only kids on the beach playing with seaweed.)

During lunch there was a commotion down by the water. It turns out a sea lion washed up on shore. She was only a young sea lion. She straightened up and gathered quite a crowd.

The lifeguards tried to catch her but she was too feisty, so they finally netted her.

They got her in a box and took her away. They will take her to SeaWorld to recover. Not a bad place for a sea lion to visit and recuperate. (In case you were wondering, sea lions don't just wash up on shore unless they aren't feeling well in the first place.)

The seagulls were busy eating our lunch when we came back. Note to self: Don't all leave at once. 

Our day on the beach was rapidly coming to an end. June and I spent the last half hour gathering sea shells. It was so fun to walk down the beach together spotting treasures. June wondered if I wished we lived closer to the ocean. Maybe, but it is not meant to be at the moment. I took a picture of June's shells once we got home.

I thought the seagulls made one last effort to thwart our plans. We were leaving and suddenly Tyler had a creamy smudge down his nose. Yuck. But upon closer inspection, we were pretty sure it was a muffin. Someone 'muffined' him on the beach. (This is much preferable to seagull poop.)

After going back to Jim's and washing off as much sand as possible (don't worry, we took plenty with us) we were on our way to Anaheim. The conference had us booked at the Paradise Pier. I wish I had taken pictures of the rooms. They were cute with the beach balls on the beds. (No, they are not complimentary, they are $65 if you want one.)

I snapped a picture on the way in. We had arrived. (Sunburns and all.)

And the view from our room was pretty fantastic.

Although the view wasn't that great for the fireworks. They were a little too far to the left. Three kids fell asleep before they finished. (This is typical.) But you could see a good view of the World of Color. But guess what? I was tired too and went to sleep before it finished. After all, we had a big day ahead of us.

To be continued in...California Land or is it Disney Adventure?