A day at the beach

Harbor Beach, Santa Cruz

This past weekend I took the kids to Santa Cruz. I knew it would be one of if not the last time they will see the Pacific Ocean for a good long time. Phoenix will be a great place to live, but it's a good 5 hours away from the water front.

Bailey had the greatest time in 'big sand box' as she called it.

The water was cold and it was way too windy for me, but the kids braved it. All they need are the simple things... to see the big bath tub called the Pacific Ocean, to dig a hole as far as they can go in the sand, to fun along the beach until they're out of energy.

Bailey was fascinated by the water, more than anything the tides. She loved the big bubbles that touched her feet everytime the water came back up. Reese just wanted to run into the ocean. At one point he ran in and back and tripped on the sand and fell. He swallowed some sea water and was surprised it was so salty.

We were lucky enough to have some friends who lived so close to Harbor Beach. As close as 2 blocks away. Parking is a pain there for visitors because there used to be a problem with people randomly parking infront of residence blocking drive ways during peak beach season. Our friends gave us a parking pass so we can park in front of their house for the day.

It was a fun and particularly emotional for me to go to Harbor Beach. Chris and I shared a lot of time there together in the past 4 years. It will always be a special place in our hearts... and now it's special for our kids too...

At first she wasn't quite sure about the big bath tub called the Pacific

It wasn't long before they both headed towards the water

She was mad the water and bubbles made her pants all wet. But she didn't stay mad, she ran right back into the water.

From looking at this picture you wouldn't have guessed it was freezing cold. They didn't care!

She didn't like digging the sand at all, can you tell?

Bailey had a full on conversation with this seagull. She called it her 'birdie' and wanted it to come to us. The bird stood there for a good long time yacking back. I suspect it might have thought we had food to throw at it. The conversation was long enough for me to watch for a bit, get the camera out and took this picture.