california-day 4

Tuesday was beach day!!  As we loaded into the truck, Kevin asked for the name of the beach so he could plot it on his phone map. My dad made a comment about that not being necessary because he knew where we were going.  I knew the general directions, but mom chimed in that we would take 101 to Highway 129. As we drove, Mom was reading to the kids and the three of us sitting up front were chatting. Occasionally, my dad would look down at his phone to take his turn in the chess game he was playing online with a friend from church. Before we knew it, I saw the exit for Highway 129 and said, "Isn't that it, Dad?" He said, no we weren't not there yet, and we passed the exit. A moment later, he said, "I'm sorry, that was it. I was waiting to see the red barn but hadn't seen it yet."  Anyway, the traffic was completely stopped right after the exit, and we literally sat there for an HOUR!  I couldn't believe it.  I should have been more confident in the directions and told Kevin to take the exit, but instead, we were sitting on the freeway. The kids started complaining about being hungry, but all our food was tied up in the bed of the truck.  Kevin played it cool and didn't seem too irritated, but it was a little frustrating that we were in that situation, haha.  Dad made some comment about how maybe we'll find out why we had to miss our exit and I told him that was wishful thinking!  There was no reason we needed to double our time to get to the beach. 

Kevin took a picture while we waited in traffic, haha. 

As we drove into Watsonville, we started passing all the strawberry fields.  One farm had a stand full of berries, and after making a comment about getting some on the way home, we decided to turn around and buy some because they probably wouldn't be there by late afternoon.  As we pulled up, the stand said "closed", but someone from the field came over to help us. As Kevin came back with the most beautiful flat of berries, he commented that they JUST put the berries out. Dad was sure his prediction was correct!  That was the reason we had to sit in traffic for an hour, haha. 

There is absolutely nothing like fresh strawberries!  The truck smelled of the sweet berries, and we all ate way too many as we drove the rest of the way to the beach.  Mom simply opened the back window and chucked the stems out into the bed :)

The fog was still pretty heavy when we arrived, but it burned off quickly and we had a beautiful day!

Putting that wind to good use...

Playing catch with Daddy...

Enjoying a cold sparkle juice...

Enjoying the sand between my toes and the sun peeking from behind the clouds...

Seeing what he could see :)

We played "monkey in the middle" forever, which was a definite family highlight of the day.

Then took a few family pictures with the brilliant blue skies...

The water was just as freezing as I remembered so the kids didn't spend a ton of time in there, but the highlight was seeing dolphins swim by about 50 yards from where we were standing in the water. 

Brooke decided to try Uncle Jeffrey's old wetsuit to see if that helped at all.  Spoiler alert: she was still freezing!

Brooke was happy to check out her shells and rocks with Papa...

Feeding the flock of seagulls...

On the hunt for sand dollars with Mom. Both kids REALLY wanted to find a sand dollar, and after Mom showed them the full one she found a few months prior, they were sure we could find some more. Sadly, we only found a few partial shells, but we had fun trying. 

It's always good to be at the beach and I was reminded of the many summer days spent there.  My mom used to take us every Friday with other families from the ward and I loved that tradition.  

I had to document my dad all bundled up because he NEVER gets cold.  I don't know what that was about, but he looked like the purple king :)

After a full day of fun, we eventually decided to head home.  The kids showered off and changed into warm sweats, then requested Doritos for the drive, haha.  We stopped at Super Taqueria as we drove through Gilroy and I thoroughly enjoyed my no-meat burrito with avocado.  

It was just like old times!