Saturday, July 31, 2010

Are We There Yet??

We couldn't wait to get to the beach. . . . the last hour seemed like it dragged on for days.  It was so exciting to finally see this. . . . .

But we were not excited to see this. . . .

It sure did bring back memories of the amount of traffic that we had to endure every day.  Where we used to live in Orange County, you couldn't get many places without going on the many freeways.  That was pretty much the way you got around, so the tons of cars that are everywhere was just a way of life.  But after being away from it for so long, it was amazing to see.  We were happy to see that they had built carpool lanes and we thought that was better than sliced bread!

Here is the first glimpse that we had of the beach. . . . .
My hubby and I could smell it way before we saw it and it was the best smell in the world.  (The kids thought we were nuts when we said we could "smell" the beach).  This is the beach that I would always go to.  Yea, I went to Huntington, Corona Del Mar, Balboa, Laguna...but this was my favorite............

This is the house that we stayed in. . . .

and this was the view we had from the 2nd story balcony. . . . . (we wished we had access to the roof balcony--that would have been way cool.)

The famous Palmer Reunion! 
We had almost everyone there from my side of the family, minus 4 nieces and of course my oldest sister, Pam.  The last time we had a reunion at the beach was 18 years ago and there was just 18 of us then.  It was here at this beach, only a different house that was right on the beach.  That was before we had kids, before my sister had grandkids, and before my sister passed away. This time, there are a total of 30 people, so of course, we had to have both floors of the house and we used every single inch of it.

It was exciting to do it all again and we couldn't wait to stick our toes in the water.   Ok, maybe more than our toes, but we had to go play in the ocean as soon as we could.  We didn't care that is was dark or that we had our clothes on.  The moment I stuck my bare feet in the sand, I melted.  It was heaven.  We had so much fun "frolicking" in the surf . . . . .


OK. . . What's with those shorts, T?

and searching for sand crabs. . . . . . my hubby taught them how to dig them up as soon as we got there.

K thought that was the coolest thing.  She couldn't get enough!

We were finally there and what a great week we were going to have.  Bring on the fun!!!

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

I loved seing and hearing your comments. It made my eyes fill with tears as I read it. I will have to go back and redo my make up before I go to church. Love all of you.

Jean McKendrick said...

Funny, I used to go to a Newport Beach in Oregon growing up.
We go to play group every Monday here at Jacksonville Beach, I ought to get some pictures ya think? :) Something therapeutic about beach.

Rach said...

Did you hear that question a lot, because you guys drove a LONG way!! Okay, you can tell I didn't grow up on the beach because I don't know what sand crabs are. And, does T know you posted that picture of him?? =) Looks like fun so far!!

Mel said...

Actually Rach, I didn't hear that as much as I thought, but still enough. And no T doesn't know, but then again, he posted on close to that one on FB, so I think I am safe!

And you are deprived for not knowing sand crabs.

Holly said...

I miss the beach too! Of course E and I grew up by Santa Cruz but none the less a beach. The entire family is heading to Souther Cali for a soccer tournament. :)

Maureen said...

We always say the only thing we miss about living in California is family and the BEACH! Do not miss the high prices, the traffic, the smog, the crowds, etc. But the beach .... ahhh. Glad you had a good time!