Family spring vay-cay 2011 - the splash edition

Day 5: We fled the man-made monstrosities that fill most of SoCal and headed to the shore. Hermosa beach, to be exact. Yes, the same beach we visited last summer, albeit a different section of the beach. The day was bright and beautiful. The chill of the ocean was promptly forgotten and playfulness ensued.

Sand...... sweet sand. This picture was taken for the benefit of my Geology classes.

And this one was taken for the benefit of me.

The girls L-O-V-E-D the beach. Can you blame them?

We visited with my cousin Melissa and her two darling boys, who happened to love the beach about as much as any children could. I mean, it's basically dirt. Dirt to dig in. With trucks. And run away when no one is looking. In opposite directions. As a mom of an only (for now) I'm telling you - two brings challenges I had not anticipated. It was fantastic to see them and in truth I left a slight bit baby hungry.

Playing ball with newly met family members.

Our girls (said by me vicariously for my future-self) had a blast. They probably played better at the beach than at any other time on this trip. I aquired the seasons first sunburn and some waves may or may not have been jumped effectively.

It was awesome. I kept taking pictures of sand and the marine animal skeletons that appeared there. So many of my students have never been to the beach. Can you believe that? So I try to accumulate pictures to recreate the experience. Last year I took video of riptides. This year, sand.

After a good couple hours we headed back to our hotel to try and wash all the sand off. An impossible task, but hey, we can do hard things! At least, that's what I tell big squirt all the time so it MUST be true.

The beach really makes a vacation feel like one.