Beach Boys

We've definitely been having beach weather lately...both boys absolutely love going to the beach to play. It's perfect when the tide is low and we can play chase in the shallow water and run in the waves and collect rocks. Parker is getting much more comfortable in the water, and Levi is rather too brave for his own good. Once the tide starts to come up and the water gets deeper and the waves get a little stronger I tend to be in over my head a bit with the two of them on my hands, and it's time to head home! Timing is everything, must arrive at the beach just before or at low tide, then by the time everyone's tired out and cold we can head home!

It was hysterical watching Levi try to negotiate his big old towel as we dried off to head home. He wanted to put it over his head like the hooded towel he uses at home after his bath, but just couldn't figure out how to make it happen. He played a little peek-a-boo, and then I just took pictures and giggled as he tried to make his way to the car. Then I gracefully fell into a hole that someone had dug in the sand as I walked along backwards while taking pictures of him, so there you go.

Beach Boys

This was Levi's first "real" trip to the beach, and he absolutely loved it. I've been reluctant to take both boys to the beach by myself--I just picture the end of the day, when everyone is tired, cold, wet, covered in sand, and unhappy, and I've got to get us all (and all of our sand toys) back to the car in one piece, home, showered, dressed, fed, comforted...........now you know why this was Levi's first trip to the beach this summer! He really did love it, though, he just took off exploring as soon as I sat him down on the sand. The tide was low and the beach that we went to is nice and wide and flat, so he had plenty of room to crawl around in the wet sand, digging and splashing and occasionally heading out to sea. He never minded when the shallow waves washed up over his legs, seemed to enjoy his few mouthfuls of sand, and loved splashing in the shallow pools and crawling on top of Parker's sand castles. It was a great feeling knowing that Levi was up for a beach and ocean adventure, I think it reflects well on his personality :)

Rain Storm

We sat through five days (or more?) of nonstop rain here...it was pretty incredible at times. Unfortunately, the "storm of the century" (okay, of "the last five years") fell on the first five days of Jared's Christmas vacation time...we all were getting pretty stir crazy in the house, so Jared finally rounded us all up and ordered us into our rain gear and we set off for the Oceanside pier. We got drenched (Levi is in Jared's jacket in the baby carrier, he stayed nice and warm and dry), but it was fun to walk around in the storm and check out the beach and pier in all the drama.

A Beautiful November

Although it happens every year, I always seem to forget that we get our best weather in the Fall--sunny, clear skies, warm days, smooth seas, and light offshore winds. We caught a beautiful sunset yesterday evening in Carlsbad. 

A Day at the Beach