At The Beach

Nothing quite says "Summer" than a trip to the beach. Well, perhaps there is something else depending on where you live, but... We live in San Diego and so the beach pretty much sums it up. Don't hate, it's all about geography. :D

Anyway, today, we decided to join some friends and head down to a sandcastle competition. It was pretty cool, terribly crowded and we got to see cool things like this dude's headgear. 

 "yeah, I'm damn cool!"

But, honestly, the best part of the day was watching the kids play in the surf. Major beach fail on the adults part for not bringing suits, but hey... That never seems to stop the littles, now does it! They were in the water quicker than you can blink. T-Rex did well with the "Don't go in past your ankle" rule, though that was only because the waves made her nervous. But, we managed to get Sadie to finally stay in one place and I highly recommend this method if you happen to have a never still child. 

 Yep, that's right... Our "fail proof" method is to bury said child in super wet sand. WIN!

After seeing the castles and sculptures being built, we headed to the street to see what was being offered up... Mostly street food (NOM! GYROS!!!) and ska music from a slightly off-center band, but the kids had a blast dancing around. There is something so magical in watching a child dance. They're so insanely free of worry about what their bodies are doing or who may be watching. 

We made it back down to the water briefly to see the castles and let the kids play a moment more before realizing THAT was sheer insanity, given the size of the crowds. We had to practically drag our exhausted kids off the beach and then pull their little selves through crowds to make it back to the vans. It was a long walk and I'm so proud that not a single complaint was heard (though that could have been because of the noise level) from the kids.