Just Being Productive

Wow! I haven't blogged in a while. But, in that time I have: 

1. Learned how to make collages in Adobe InDesign (Thank you, Maren.) 

2. Upped my workout routine by 10 minutes 

3. Kept a clean and tidy house 

4. Practiced my violin more 

5. Watched a few too many Netflix movies. (That darn Netflix....keeping me from being productive!)

And okay, I totally lied on #3. In my dreams! HA!

Anyway, I thought I'd better start posting a few pictures of our trip to California. And, I realize "few" is relative. 

But, at least they are arranged in only three collages... for this post anyway. Just click on them to see the pictures bigger.

When we first arrived to Anaheim, we checked into the hotel and headed to the beach. Since it was late in the afternoon and a little chilly outside, we decided against swim suits. We would just look at the waves, walk on the beach, and build a sand castle. And, maybe just get our feet a little wet.

And, that totally worked. 

For the first 5 minutes or so.

Those are my feet in the picture below. When you are watching your kids and taking pictures, you don't realize that the waves are getting closer. And closer. And, suddenly there they are, swishing right over your feet at a pace that practically sends your entire being backwards into world of sand and water. And, then you wonder why you wore the longest pants in your wardrobe. This same phenomenon happened to Richard, by the way. It's like the water just comes out of nowhere, and you have no time to get out. Crazy. 

This beach stuff is just a little over our heads. (Quite literally!)

But, this was nothing. The kids soon became one with the water. Especially Marianne. Well, and James. But his "becoming one" was more on accident. His poor legs just couldn't keep up with the rushing waves and he face-planted right into the sand as the waves gushed over him. Then William came along and tripped over him which further complicated his ability to get out of the water. Luckily, Mom came to the rescue. It took him several minutes of spitting to get the sand out of his mouth. And, he quickly learned that wiping his tongue on his already sandy body was counter-productive.  

I thought Thomas' description of sea water quite interesting. "Mom! This water tastes just like radishes with way too much salt!"

Here's the kicker: We forgot to bring the beach towels. Nice.

And, the few jackets we brought were dropped a little too close to shore. "Oh, you mean the tide comes UP?" Yup. We learned that lesson the hard way, too. 

But, despite our less-than-adequate beach expertise, we still really had a blast. It was the kids' first time at the ocean, and they weren't about to let a mouthful of salty, radishy, water spoil their fun! Well, not for very long anyway.

Oh, and I almost forgot to post this picture that I took as we were leaving. Good timing for a beautiful sunset!