Newport/Sunset Beach

Right in the middle of our Disneyland trip, we took a break from the parks to hit the beach! Almost every time we go to Southern California, we end up at Newport Beach as it was one of Chris' favorite areas while on his mission.  We also went to Sunset Beach this trip because that is where my mom and Deanna were - they were at Deanna's daughter Tera's house which is RIGHT on the beach and they invited us to play on the beach and to dinner.
Here we are on the pier in Newport

The beach was crowded!

While walking along the pier, we noticed this rope hanging from the pier and it had some sort of fish attached to it

Someone pulled it up

It was a sand shark  - the rope was tied between his eyes

Jace with the shark  - someone else was untying the rope from his eyes and he threw him back into the water.  There were several people fishing along the pier and we're thinking someone caught him and was saving him until he was done fishing - oh well, we helped free him!

We also saw a pelican just hanging out

A lady fed him some fish - can you see the fish hanging out his mouth?

After walking along the pier, we took the ferry to Balboa Island

We ended up at Sunset Beach to play in the water

Chris attempted to boogie board.....

I remember when I was little going to the beaches that you could catch little sand crabs.  I asked Tera about it and she showed us how to find them.  Here is Jace digging in the sand to try and get one

Tera showing the girls how to just let the sand fall through their fingers and the crabs will stay in their hands

They found a big one!

This was the view from Tera's porch  -we watched a few wind surfers

My cute kids along the pier back at Newport

It was a nice day to hit the beach and take a break from the parks. We did 2 days at the parks, then spent the day at the beach and back to the parks for 2 more days.   I love going to warm beachy places but I must admit, I hate the sand  - it gets everywhere and in everything! The kids kept saying how awesome it would be to live right on the beach like Tera's family but I don't think I could do it - the sand would constantly be tracked into the house -
It was a great day seeing old friends and wandering around Newport while Chris talked about things when he was on his mission.  Such a fun family trip!