Laguna Beach - Day 1 (Main Beach)

The next several posts are dedicated to our first family vacation.  In August we took the boys to Laguna Beach, California!!!  Brent found us a great house to rent (via Air B & B) only a few blocks from Main Beach, and the selling point was this tire swing in the front yard.  As you can imagine, it provided hours of entertainment for the boys during the week we were there.  (Of course, it also provided reasons for fights and some mild injuries, but I guess that comes with the territory.) 

 

This was the boys' first view of the ocean!  The beach was a whole new playground for them.  The swarms of flies that were attracted to the crazy amounts of seaweed didn't seem to bother Gavin or Gage, but Brent and I were pretty turned off by the scene, so we chose other beaches after the first day. 

Gavin LOVED exploring!  It was hard for him that he couldn't take shells and other treasures from every beach we visited, but many were protected areas.  He did make it home with quite a collection of sea life, and that was what he was most excited about when we talked about visiting the beach.

Watching the boys enjoy the ocean for the first time was a highlight of the trip for me and Brent.  Watching the boys fight (and listening to them! especially in the car!!!) was a major low light.  I suppose I should have been more prepared for it, but you always hope for a "pass" on vacation, as if the kids will distinguish between environments when fighting. 

Brent took this picture on a walk we all took after dinner on our first night.  I may have been shopping for a new (and necessary) sun hat then, and there was a cute, little park right up from the beach where the kids were playing.