So Long California

Well, this post is late in coming. Here are some pictures from our last day on the beach.

We finally made a substantial sand castle that didn't get knocked down by the waves.

Claire was here usual helpful self.

This day Claire FINALLY took a nap on the the beach. It was short, but it was still very nice to not have to worry about her for a whole 45 minutes.

We were sad to leave that day knowing that we wouldn't be back. Bye Bye beach!

The next morning we left for home. It was a looong drive and Claire didn't sleep during any of t. She has been acting super strange ever since we've been back- Hardly napping at all and really whiney. (thus the reason I am finally getting to this) Well, that and that our internet service isn't as good at home and it takes f o r e v e r to upload pictures now.

Fun with Friends

On Thursday, we went to visit our friends the Cowells. They live about an hour north of where we are staying but it was worth the drive. We took the kids to Newport beach which turned out
to be not such a great idea. The beach is totally different than where we are. The waves were so strong ans big and the water was at least 30 degrees colder than San Diego. The kids wanted to play in the water but it was too dangerous to let them go out on their own at all.
We only stayed a little over an hour because everyone was ready for a nap. Once back at their house the twins went down right away but Claire and Eszter stayed up for a bit longer and played. Eszter is the only little girl that made me hopeful when I found out Claire was a girl. She is such a sweety and very very smart.
Claire saw Sophie pushing her baby stroller around so after she went to bed Claire tried it out. She pushed it around for a looooong time.


After diner, we went to Balboa Island to walk around andtake in the beautiful scenery and be flabergasted at how rich the people are who live there. The full moon was rising as we walked.

Sand Everywhere

Well, we finally found a solution to Claire's sleeping issues. Think what you want about us but she is now sleeping in the closet. Her crib just barely fits and we leave the sliding door part way open and have the fan going to make sure there is air flow. She has slept in there a couple of times now and has done great! We slept in til 6:30 this morning. Yay!

Here are the highlights from yesterday's beach trip.

Claire played in the ocean with Dadda.


They looked for rocks.Claire was happy with the rock she found.No matter how often we clean her hands, it is utterly useless. Here she is eating a fishy she dropped in the sand.
Claire played in the sand but we didn't build anything.



Claire met some little friends who were sitting next to us. They were twin boys and they were funny to watch. They were probably a few months older than Claire. ( I put this picture up mostly to show Claire's huge round belly. We thought is was hilarious)
I showed the kids some sand crabs and they were freaked out by them but very interested.We took the crabs down to the shore to let them go and we said "bye bugs" about 300 times.

Then they took turns pulling Claire around on the boogie board which ended badly as you can imagine.


Then Claire played in a big hole they dug and had a great time.

Beach Trip - Take Two

Our second day at the beach was a bit more fun than the first. Claire was much more brave in the ocean and would actually go in without clinging to someone for dear life. She liked to pick up rocks and throw them into the incoming waves.
Here it comes!

Run away! Run Away!
We remembered to bring the sand toys this time so I made Claire a little fortress. She wasn't a big help during the construction but she had a good time tearing it apart.
Claire and I went looking for sandcrabs or as she knows them, "bugs". She was very interested in the catching process.She held them at first but then she must have gotten freaked out by them because all of a sudden they were disgusting and she would touch it with her finger and pull it back really fast and scream.
Shelbe was probably the favorite on the beach. Claire liked to sit on her face as she was laying out and they gave each other high fives.
It was a fun day on the beach and even more fun knowing our week is just beggining. Poor Josh isn't in any of these pictures because he is the one taking them all. He really was there, I promise. I will try to get a few of him next time.

Beach Trip - Take One

Our first day at the beach was pretty fun, it was warm both in the water and on the sand which is very important to me. Getting to the beach is a little tricky. I forgot to bring my wrap or infantino backpack so we had to carry Claire on top of a cooler, beach chairs, umbrella, towels, snack and other various paraphenalia required by Claire. The beach isn't far from our condo but to get to the beach you have to go down the "stairs of death". It's three flights of wet, slippery, and sandy steps.

We made it down safely and set up or spot. Grandpa took Claire in water. She didn't seem too afraid at first but after she tried to walk in it herself, she decided it was safer to hang on to someone at all times.
She would get upset when someone she knew would go out into the water. She would yell at them and chase them into the ocean but only until the next little wave came and she would run back.
I caught a few sand crabs for Claire and she would hold them and take them up the beach to show Grandma.Then we let her get a break from the water and she played in the sand, climbed on the chairs, giggled with Grandma, and did some snuggling. Much to our dismay, she would NOT take a nap on the beach. She didn't want to miss anything I guess. She just continued to crawl all over everybody with sandy feet and she gave us all our fair share of cuddle time. We encouraged her to play in the sand instead of on us. It took her awhile to get used to the fact that she could get dirty in the sand. After she realized it she had a great time.
We then suffered through the dreaded last rinse off in the ocean and made our way back home. The little buggar still wouldn't take a nap and dadda had to snuggle with her until she fell asleep. She has a hard time going to bed in strange houses. She also has a hard time staying asleep - we've been up since 5:45am with her and all she wants to do is find her favorite person of the day - Grandma. (it changes often) Hopefully she will nap today because Josh and I are exhausted from her.