Beach Day

Sure the state is broke, almost out of water, has wretched traffic and smog, and the taxes are high.  But, we do have cool beaches.

And since I am a beach person, I am going to focus on the positive.

Happy Beach Day!

Some of our new friends invited us to their favorite beach.  It ended up being further south than I thought (and at that point why aren't we just heading north to our old beach) but there was great boogie boarding as promised and a snack shack with restrooms.  So...I could do this beach again.

The water was warm enough and mostly clear.  There was a rocky patch on one part but it was not bad.  And the waves?  Perfect for boogie boarding.  They formed and crested way out so you could have a nice long ride in.  It was awesome.  Almost everyone in the three parties went out boogie boarding.  Including me.  I'm a huge fan and love to do it.  James and I took turns watching the Baby on land while the other boarded.   

Ev chose to stay on land and make sand castles.

And one of the new people we met had a pop up tent that Ev made himself comfortable in.  Which they did not mind.

The snack shack was a huge hit and I let the boys get lunch and treats. 

This kid was the best.  He stayed out boogie boarding most of the time and wore himself out.

The interesting thing about this beach on this particular day was the amount of sea life in the water.  Specifically these things that everyone called crabs but looked like mini-lobsters.  They swam around your feet in the water and sometimes brushed up against you in the current.  There were also scores of dead, washed up 'lobsters' on the shore.  So the boys investigated. 

They made their own tide pool for some of the stragglers.

See all the dead ones?  They are the red forms.  If you weren't careful you would step on them.  And it was kind of like stepping on a snail.  Shiver.

Here is a living one, named Bob, who came to say hello.

More snack shack.  Burgers, fries, and pizza.  There was also a soda or two which Ev targeted and took care of. 

Another drink is sucked to dust...

James, pretending to eat one of the mini dead 'lobsters'.

And one more shot of the creatures.  Anyone know for sure what we were swimming with?  They looked like lobsters but swam in the water like a squid but were not squiddy in any other way.

There was shark sighting close to where we were so they put the beach and swimmers on notice.  They chose not to close the beach but...considering the fact that we were surrounded by little red appetizers in the water, I felt it was time to stop going far out for boogie boarding.  

However, hearing about the shark sighting, Riley was determined to go out in the water.  I swear that boy is looking for a shark encounter.  I let him splash in the water just on the shore so he could feel like he was living dangerously.  Cuz apparently that's the kind of mom I am.

All in all it was a great day.