Hello, friends!

It’s Spring Break over here at FFF and we just returned from a few days at the beach.

We were invited to share a beautiful beach house with some friends in Oxnard, just about 50 miles west of us. The trip is a quick hour door-to-door which is the perfect getaway in my opinion. We came home yesterday since we have dance class today, but will drive back through Heritage Valley tomorrow to spend one last day on the sand before we complete our Spring Break with a family day on Friday, soccer & baseball games and birthday parties on Saturday & Sunday.

After early morning games this past Saturday, we loaded up the car and made our way out the 126 to the coast. We stopped along the way for a flat of fresh California strawberries.

We quickly settled into our surroundings and headed to the beach only to find it ridiculously windy, cold and the least bit fun. We got the kids sand-free and had them get showered and in their jammies for the night while the mamas relaxed, read some magazines and had a little happy hour! Our first night was graced with a gorgeous sunset…

The next morning the kids were chomping at the bit to get down to the waves, so we headed across the street and I sat as lifeguard for several hours while they frolicked ~ made sand forts, boogie boarded and cartwheeled in the surf.

{the older I get, the less I feel I should be in the sun ~ old lady sunscreen}

OK, let me talk about the ONE negative about this trip. The TAR. I grew up in San Diego. I lived in Long Beach for a year. We’ve visited several beaches in Northern California. Been to the Oregon Coast. East Coast. New England beaches. I’ve been to Hawaii. The Virgin Islands. Mexico. And I have NEVER heard of tar washing up on shore! I was not prepared for the tar. The worst part is that you can’t really avoid it. I tried to watch my step the whole time and that is when I picked up the most. So strange…..but you have to slather mayonnaise {or any oily substance} onto your feet to remove the black goo. Then you have to go rinse off the Best Foods before you go inside! It’s. A. Process. Holden was the only one that managed to get it on this rash guard and swim trunks! Apparently first graders like to roll around in the sand more so than third & sixth graders. I had to freeze his beach wear in order to flake off the big chunks of tar!!

Here is the bottom of my foot…

Needless to say, after the tar removal process, NOBODY was going back to the beach until a new day dawned. Thankyouverymuch.

After a day of lifeguarding and making sure everyone was safe, de-sanded, de-tarred and showered, the mamas were ready for this…

Before dinner, we took a walk to the marina where we watched a group of sea lions soaking up the last rays of the day on a dock…

We took turns with cooking which always works out perfectly. Saturday night it was spaghetti, garlic bread and salad and Sunday the kids had tacos and the mamas had huge taco salads.

Again, we were blessed with a beautiful sunset and actually caught the green flash at the very end.

For dessert, we cozied up on some big chairs under a soft blanket and enjoyed some strawberry shortcakes made with the sweet local strawberries.

Yesterday we spent another few hours enjoying the view of Anacapa off in the distance while the kids did their thing on the beach.

Before heading home, we stopped for lunch at Toppers for pizza. One recently opened in town, but it’s been too crazy so we hadn’t tried it until yesterday. They have an amazing salad bar and the kids shared a small pizza all for $14.

{beach hair, don’t care}

******

We had a wonderful time. I enjoyed just sitting and watching all 5 of them laugh and run and play.

No rushed mornings. No backpacks. No lunches to pack. No homework.