The Vacation--Part 2

Monday morning we slept in as long as the kids would let us (which wasn't very long). We headed down for breakfast only to find that every single chair in the dining room was occupied. What the heck? We weren't too happy about that, but oh well, breakfast was free. After breakfast we loaded back up into the car and headed to Long Beach!

Besides the three kids, it was also Appolonia's first time at the beach, so she was pretty excited too. The kids really loved playing in the sand and wading in the waves. Eleanor was alternately in love with and terrified by the waves that came and washed over her feet. She cried when we decided it was time to get out the water, but I distracted her with a gull which she followed around for a while before we went and played in the sand with the others. Carson thought it was hilarious when his dad buried him up to his waist in the sand. Lia loved looking for seashells even though there weren't very many to be found. It was really overcast and breezy but warm enough for shorts and sandals. It was so much fun, definitely a highlight of the trip.

Putting our toes in the water

Good luck getting a picture with these hoodlums

Now Enna is scared

Did not want to participate in this photo op.

Getting buried

Eleanor's favorite person! Uncle Josh!

Love his crazy face!

Eleanor had so much sand in her diaper. It took us forever to get her all wiped down and cleaned off once we were ready to go. 

Finding seashells

Remembering little brother

Good bye beach!

 After leaving the beach, we drove to the port about 10 minutes away. After parking the car we had to get in separate lines and didn't find each other again for a while. It was exciting to finally get on the ship. I think Lia was confused because it was so big. She was probably expecting something smaller! Our room was pretty cozy and not as small as I feared it would be, so that was nice. Our bags were already on board by the time we got there, which was also nice. After checking out our room we wandered around the boat trying to find the food and the waterworks area. We finally met up with Josh and Appols and Carson and found something to eat. The kids were really tired because they hadn't gotten any naps that day, and Eleanor actually fell asleep in Dustin's arms as we walked around. Dinner was at 8:15 and by the time we finally got our food the kids were really cranky. Lia actually fell asleep in her chair so I put her on my lap for most of dinner. After dinner it was right to bed so we could get up early for the next day's adventure: Catalina Island!

First view of the ship

Our stateroom (that's not a window, it's just a curtain to make you think there's a window)

Pool area

Waterworks

L.A. behind us

Good-bye California