Newport/Balboa Beach

My week in California can be summed up in one word. relaxing. Just nice to go somewhere and not have any real set plans.  Other than our day trip to San Diego, and another day trip in LA, we spent the rest of the time doing nothing and anything we wanted. I'm not saying it wasn't frustrating at times with a house full of kids, that's just normal.  My dad and his wife planned this trip almost 6 months ago. They rented a beautiful house right near the Balboa beach. In all, we had 9 adults and 8 kids, with room to spare! The kids kept each other busy and played really well, non-stop. That was actually nice, they kept each other distracted.

Here is a picture of the Balboa Pier and the massive waves early in the week.

My oldest sister flew down for a couple days, and on one of those days we (me and my 2 sisters) drove to LA for a taping of the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson. That experience is really a post on it's own.  Really fun time, but after driving and waiting for it to start, it took an entire day. Very interesting how they filmed the show, they did it in segments. We saw Craig tape 2 monologues, saw one guest, Ben Stein (Bueller, Beuller, Bueller), they introduced 2 other guests but they had been taped earlier, they taped the band, The Nationals, and a few other things mixed in. But each one of those, or a couple will be shown on a different night. hard to explain, but really fascinating how it works. The next day my husband and my sister Amys husband went to a taping of the Price is Right! They were up and at the studio by 4AM for a 12:30 taping of the show. craaazy, but they had a good time.

Anyway, here are some pictures from the beach!

Love this picture of my sister Lisa chasing our nephew Braden with a dead crab on Seal Beach. All the kids loved to play in the sand, and chase the waves.

Here's a picture of some of the kids. Amy's husband originally dug a huge hole that the kids played in all day, but by the end, they jumped in and he buried them up to their necks. The loved it. Just shows you how much fun they had. Me? I'm usually a water person, but seeing that the water was freezing, I enjoyed laying under the sun doing nothing. I tried reading a book, but I ended up closing my eyes. I burn. easily. My sister is witness to the fact that I did indeed put on sunscreen (she helped), but I still came out looking like a lobster. Sunburn or not, I loved it. Laying on the beach, eyes closed, with the sound of the crashing waves. Sigh.

Our beach. Balboa pier in the background.

Look closely, and you'll see dolphins! Everyday on the beach we saw dolphins swimming by. Never seen that before, loved it. So did the kids.

Just a picture of the Ferris Wheel at the Fun Zone on Balboa. I took my girls up on this and they loved going up and down. The views of the ocean and of the area were beautiful.  Those are the highlights.  We spent a lot of time on the beach, walking on the boardwalk, and just spending time together. Loved it. The weather was maybe a little chilly, but felt great on sunburns. :)