Oceanside - Days 1 - 5

Oceanside here we come!

FRIDAY:

We left at around 11:30 am Friday. I know, Mike and I wanted to leave during the middle of the night, but after I finished packing I went to lie down next to Natalie and Mike (both sleeping in Natalie's room) and fell asleep myself until around 7 am. Oh well! So, we left when everyone else did, crossing our fingers that Natalie would have a good trip.

Here is a snap shot of the sand dunes just outside of Yuma. They were beautiful!


Our fantastic driver. You did such a great job getting us there all in one piece. Must have been all the sleep you had the night before!


Our little trooper. Bored, but hanging in there.


Of course it helps to have Grandma entertain you the whole time. Thanks Grandma! You are awesome (as always).


SATURDAY:

Our first walk down "The Strand" to the pier. The Strand is the name of the street that we're staying on which also goes right along the coast.


By the time we made it to the pier Natalie was sleeping and we were hungry. Fortunately there is a Ruby's Diner at the end, so here we are messing around while waiting to be seated.



Cool Hand Luke. I wonder if he knew I was taking this picture. :)


SUNDAY: Happy Father's Day!

We woke up bright and early and went for a morning walk down to a little park/playground just before the pier. To our surprise, there are HUNDREDS of squirrels that live on the dirt hillside next to this playground. Their numbers resemble another animal we're all familiar with - pigeons. Yes, the pigeons of Oceanside! The squirrel are obviously friendly. It was kind of scary, but I still called the squirrels over to see us. They actually came pretty close before I shooed them away. Natalie LOVED it of course.


On our way back, walking down The Strand.



Unbelievably, we also made it to an 11 am Sacrament meeting. All of the Father's Day talks were awesome. I'm glad we went.

After church we went to the beach just outside of the condo we're staying in. The condo we're in is the one to the left of Mike's shoulder in this picture. If you can see the glass railing on the roof of the condo, that is the same patio in the picture I showed HERE.


Anyway, this was Natalie's first official time at the beach. She went to Hawaii last year, but was too little to play in the water and to really enjoy herself - so we're considering this her first real experience with the ocean. I let her Daddy, on Father's Day, have the opportunity to play with her while I took the pictures. They had a blast together!





A short video of them playing in the ocean.

We also spent some time digging in the sand with her little beach shovel and bucket kit. She was in heaven.


Father's Day dinner was take-out from Claim Jumper. Yummy yummy food! Unfortunately not too long after dinner Mike had to pack up to go home so he could work the following week. We were so sad to see him leave. But he did leave me with a surprise! We had already discussed that he wouldn't be able to come back the following weekend because he had an important golf game with his boss Saturday morning and that it wouldn't be worth the trip out to only stay one day (he'd have to go back Sunday night). SO, of course I was mad and trying to make him feel bad that he was choosing a golf game (albeit an excellent opportunity to get to develop a better and important relationship with his boss) over spending time with us. So, he gave in (probably to shut me up) and told me his plan.... He'll still be playing the golf game, flying out Saturday night, AND staying until Monday night. Yippee! He wanted it to be a real surprise and show up at the condo Saturday night, but I obviously ruined that one with my whining! Oh well. It was still a surprise to me, and now I don't have to pout all week long thinking he wasn't coming back.

MONDAY:

I didn't take ANY pictures. We just drove to Costa Mesa (about 45 mins. north of Oceanside) to go shopping at H&M. There has been a lot of hype about this store and I was really excited to check it out, but it ended up not being that great. I did find a few cute things but really felt that it was a waste of time. Oh well! Natalie and I spent the last part of daylight just walking along the beach which was really fun! I wish I had spent the day doing that instead!

TUESDAY:

I decided that I wanted to take another trip to the park/playground. This time Grandpa and Lucas joined us. We took Becca's jogging stroller. I had her bring it so I could go running with Natalie every morning (I haven't gone yet - surprise, surprise). But now I feel better that we've used it!


Precious pictures of Grandpa and his grandkids. SO CUTE!


More squirrel pictures. Don't you just want to pet them, or is it just me?


Here's the dirt hill they all live in. Can you see the old fat adult squirrels? They must have a hard life being hand fed by all the park visitors.


I had to put this picture in just to show you Natalie's ringletts. They bounce as she walks. I'm in love with her curls. I almost love them as much as I love her!


I wonder where Natalie gets her cheesy grin from?!


Well, tomorrow we're headed either to Sea World or the San Diego Zoo, we haven't decided yet. But whatever we decide to do, it should be a really fun day and whatever we don't do tomorrow we will do next Monday when Mike and Seth (Becca's husband) will be here.