Ventura Harbor

Our last night in California we went to my mom's favorite seafood restaurant, Andria's, for clam chowder, fish and chips, and dinosaur shaped chicken nuggets (Little Guy). Then we walked around a bit and the kids posed in these postcard cut outs. Not sure how I feel about PS being a bikini clad mermaid, but she was thrilled with the dolphin one since her new dream is to swim with a dolphin.

Last Trip to the Beach (Pacific Ocean side)

I took the kids for one last trip the the beach the day before we went.  This is the kid friendly beach right by the Channel Islands National Park building at the Ventura Harbor.  We found a crab.  And some fun sea shells.  The kids liked the sand dunes.  And Little Guy enjoyed putting sand on Princess Sparkley's back while she laid on her towel. Afterwards we went to the Buena Ventura Mall which now has a two story Target (the kids requested that one as well once Grandma mentioned it).  We also ate at Hot Dog on a Stick.  Yummy cheeses on a stick.  :)

Ormond Beach/Port Hueneme Beach

Princess Sparkley wanted to collect sea shells so this beach trip on August 25th was strictly a sea shell gathering event, not a playing in the water event.  So, we brought Grandma and Grandpa along.

It was a clear enough day that we could make out Anacapa Island (didn't show up well in the pictures though).  We saw a swarm/heard/gaggle/group of pelicans and some other interesting sea birds.  There weren't a lot of sea shells, mainly halves of mussel shells.  But just as we were heading back toward the pier and toward the car, I spotted a sand dollar!  We also saw the Goodyear Blimp.


Afterwards we went to Toppers Pizza on the Channel Islands Harbor for lunch where we got to use the new touchscreen Coca Cola machine* and see some New Orleans Saints football players at the salad bar and soda line.


*Grandpa was *daring* and tried Coke mixed with Diet Coke (his favorite).  Grandma was a little more brave and had 95% Coke with 5% Coke with Lime.  The kids and I tried: Peach Sprite, Raspberry Sprite, Vanilla Sprite (my favorite), Grape Fanta, Lime Fanta, Orange Fanta, and Vanilla Rootbeer.  

Leo Carillo State Beach

Saturday the 20th my brother's family invited us to go to the beach with them.  I had an enjoyable time parallel parking along Pacific Coast Highway.  As soon as we got to the beach we spotted a seal swimming parallel to the shore.  That was pretty cool.  I don't think I've ever seen that type of wildlife at the beach (except up on the northern coast of California on rocks near Monterey Bay, etc.).

Buddy and cousin M (2 days younger than Buddy) stuck together throwing rocks in the water, etc.  PS stuck to herself for awhile finding small pebbles.  Little Guy stayed up on the dry sand for a long time, at one point I caught him having light saber battles by himself.  Then everyone joined in trying to catch sand crabs.  At one point cousin Amanda was wearing seaweed as a scarf.  She and cousin B found what the internet tells me are brittle stars, sort of skinny, more bendable starfish. 

The Beach

We headed to the beach in Oxnard on Saturday, August 13th.  After the beach we headed to the Channel Islands National Park visitor's center and the kids completed the Junior Ranger program there.  Little Guy also pushed the emergency button on the elevator.  That was fun.  But the camera was in the car so no pictures, sorry.

B jumped right in.

From the camera phone, pictures at the Channel Islands NP visitor's center:

Chesapeake Bay

We got sort of a late start due to B's insomnia the night before, the fact that we aren't really morning birds anyway and then we spent a lot of time at the Thomas Stone NHS, so to avoid rush hour traffic going home, we took a detour toward the Chesapeake Bay since we were already pretty close.  (And we got a new county in Maryland, finishing it for all of us).  This was extra exciting for me because I forget how much I miss living near the ocean.  We weren't a real beach family growing up, and since we've been married (while living in California) we probably only went to the beach a handful of times.  But I do miss it.  Especially when I'm walking along the boardwalk wishing we lived in a cute little village by the bay. 

We ate at a McDonald's in Chesapeake Beach, MD and then walked around on a boardwalk in North Beach, MD.  The kids and I touched the waves coming in and played on a little wooden boat/playground there on the beach.  B stayed up on the boardwalk, not wanting to get sandy, although he had already fallen into a creek today.  The kids were excited to see ducks swimming on the water.  We even saw a duck crossing sign on the street.  And Little Guy was thrilled with how many seagulls there were.  Then we walked out on the pier.

 The lower pier had boat slips.  The big kids wanted to be brave and walk out to the end of the little boat slip pier and have their picture taken.  So of course, Little Guy did too.  Don't worry, B walked him out there, told him he couldn't move, and was only a few feet away while I snapped a picture.