My Reasons

My Reasons

This Is Where It All Begins

This Is Where It All Begins

Monday, June 30, 2014

california or bust...day 3

Wednesday morning, we all got up and got ready to go to the beach.  This was one of the things that my kids were very excited about.  Ben and I were excited too!

We said goodbye to Dan and his family, and they went on their way to go see her family.  Ben's brother Sam went to work as well, so it was our family, Sherean, her kids and Julian and Lonnie, some of the other cousins that were staying with Sam and Sherean for a while. 

We all piled into the cars and took off.  Of course, the kids traded cars and seats, so they could all travel with their buddies.

When we got there, it was foggy and pretty chilly!  We decided to eat first and wait for the fog to burn off.  We ate at this little place right next to the beach.  It looked like a dive (ha, no pun intended), but it was crazy good!

Another car load went to another shop to rent wet suits and boogie boards.

The cooler weather decided to stay, but we chose to stay at the beach anyway.
It was pretty cold, but we all had a lot of fun. 



Mary boogie boarded for the first time, her cousins were great teachers...
Mary and Alina were inseparable the entire trip.  They were so cute!


Mary's first time riding in a wave...she was all grins and giggles
They caught sand crabs...


Sam was FREEZING, but tried to smile
We built sand castles...



Luke played and played and played, and got filthy from head to toe.  It was awesome!


Luke showing me the sand he got in his mouth.  Later, it transferred into his diaper.  ;)


Ben even braved the freezing water, and ran in for a dip. What a stud muffin!



Once we were all done at the beach, we went back to the yummy food place for some humongous ice cream cones.




I even took a small bite of one, and they were really yummy.

By this point in time, everyone was pretty tired, so we piled back into the cars, and drove a couple hours back to the ranch.  It was a chilly day at the beach, but it was a great day at the beach.  We were all very glad we went.

Once we made it back to Sam and Shereans, it was time to play with Sugar and Cinnamon, the horses.
Mary and Sam had been looking forward to this for a long time.  I am so glad it all worked out so they could ride them.

First, they let all of the kids pet the horses and get used to them.  William and Luke didn't want to ride them, but they sure loved watching them and petting them.

Then, Sherane gave Mary and Sam a small lesson on how to lead a horse and get comfortable with them.
 

They rode bare back, which the kids thought was pretty cool.  Sam was so sure that he was just like an indian.






Once Sam was done riding the horse, Mary wanted to keep going.  Ben also wanted to ride for a while, so Mary and Ben rode around together.  It was really special to see them out there together.  I am so glad they had that moment.  Oh, and check out the AMAZING sunset!
 




 

Mary was so in love with the horses.  It was hard to keep her away from them.  The day we left, she ran out the door to say goodbye to them, and came back with tears.  It broke my heart, but made me happy that she finds so much joy in animals.  Maybe someday...

 
That evening, the kids played with their cousins out in the trees and hideouts until bed time, and then we all zonked.  Another day well spent.

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