We had some visitors this summer! We are all so excited when my brother Spence and his wife Sarah and baby Clara came down for a long weekend in July. Remember she was born on Christmas Eve during our short visit to Utah last year? She's now six months old and this is the first time we've seen her since she was just a few days old. She's getting bigger and is unbelievably cute and we are so excited she brought her parents to So Cal for a few days!
We don't waste any time after they arrive on their early morning Friday flight. Clara is a trooper, and is such a wonderful sightsee-er. After breakfast and some unpacking we head down to Laguna to visit grandma and see Harriet who is spending a day or two down there with Abbie and Grandma, then take our visitors up PCH a bit to Balboa Island and the Newport Peninsula. After parking on Balboa and walking the short distance to the ferry landing we take the boat across the small bay to explore the Fun Zone, the Balboa Pier and, of course, the beach!
Clara's first ferry ride!
The Pacific Ocean, Balboa Pier in the background.
We take a walk out on the pier but the wind is being a real stinker today
and it is blowing harder than we like.
But my boys take advantage of the big waves and get rolled a couple of times
Sarah pointed out this scene to me, I just had to take a photo of
this lifeguard holding court with all of the bikini beach babes.
My boy's favorite web climbing structure is also here,
all three of them take a turn doing flips off of it.
Henry manages to knock the wind out of himself, but he did do a flip!
Dipping a toe in the ocean
On the ride home Henry has the camera in the back seat and takes a whole portfolio
of Clara in her car seat. Here's a couple of cute ones:
The next day we meet up with family at our favorite picnic spot in Dana Point.
The wind is still really blowing, which makes beach lounging a bit uncomfortable.
We do manage to explore the area, dip our toes in the water and catch a couple of
ocean crabs before our delicious catered Mexican buffet arrives courtesy of
Grandma Ann and a very talented friend of hers.
(No photos of that, sorry, but it was delicious!)
Clara getting her toes wet
Playing with Harriet, pirate ship in the background
Jack and Porter take the kayak across the harbor to the rocks
and spend some quality time catching crabs with a stick,
a string and a bunch of Cheetos.
They get a bucketful, but practice catch and release
Harriet helps feed Clara her breakfast
The crazy winds of the past two days finally blow in a storm Saturday night.
Sunday morning we all head down to Laguna Beach for a walk in the cooler
overcast air and enjoy the sea breeze as we
stroll along the path above the ocean towards Main Beach.
Family portrait - Laguna
I think Clara loves the ocean!
Laguna coastline
We make our way down to the boardwalk for a short walk
into the outskirts of downtown Laguna where the sun starts to come out.
Jack flips off the boardwalk
Our last stop is a bite to eat in a outdoor food court across PCH from Main Beach.
Pete's nachos grande
Harriet poses with a painting in the window of one of the numerous galleries
we pass on our way back to the car. Harriet Love!
We load up the car and the kids and I drive Spence, Sarah and Clara back to
the airport for their afternoon flight back home. We have had so much fun
with them on their visit and hope they come back soon and often!
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