California Girls

This year we decided to do our (mostly) annual trip to San Diego over Ava’s fall break. We stayed in Del Mar in a townhouse just 1 block from the beach and a block away from the park. The girls were thrilled to be outside all the time….plus with a two story townhouse, Ali got even better at navigating the stairs.

Walking around in La Jolla…

And watching the sea lions in the cove.

We hit the beach at least once every day. Ali had a blast in the sand, while Ava had fun looking for shells (and found a few sand dollars as well).

Ali does her best to keep up with Ava and Dad.

Low tide = more freedom for Ali to roam.

In the mornings we would take Pepper to dog beach for his swim.

Once it got warmer, it was fun for the girls to play.

Ava was waiting for us to bury her.

While Ali was making sure she was fully covered in sand.

Somedays we just made footprints in the sand (Ali).

Or practiced some yoga on the beach.

Dad tried to convince Ava to try boogie boarding…but the chilly water and the waves were a bit too much.

So we discovered sand surfing instead. Ali actually has good balance.

The girls enlisted Mom to be their driver for the sand surfing.

Although sometimes Ava would give it a try as well.

Click the image above for a video of Ava and Ali sand surfing

The park nearby was a hit as well. Ava liked to climb the trees.

and Ali had fun watching the birds and the planes.

and just playing in the park.

Both girls loved the swings. In fact Ali would cry and walk over to them if we tried to get her to do something else.

Ava always wants to go higher and faster.

The train runs right by the park, which was a big hit for all the kids (they would all run to wave to the train).

Sometimes we just had to post by the ocean.

One day we did the USS Midway tour (more for Dad than for the kids).

Our friends the Manago’s came for the last few nights. Here are the girls with a little post-beach downtime watching a movie.

For the entire week Ava had her class mascot (the Cat in the Hat). So we took pictures with the cat.

And since Dr. Seuss lived in La Jolla, we found the gallery that has lots of his work.

One last photo of Ali walking on the beach….

Until next time – adios California!