Beach

A Special Day by the Sea

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This past Monday, I had the joy of celebrating my brother’s 50th birthday at the beach. The salty air, the sound of the waves, and the endless horizon always have a way of quieting my mind and filling my heart with peace.

The beach has always been my happy place, where the world feels a little softer and time seems to slow down. No matter what’s going on in life, there’s something about the rhythm of the ocean that reminds me to breathe deeply and let go.

As we laughed, shared stories, and marked such a special milestone for my brother, I couldn’t help but feel grateful. Blessed that I was able to be there. Blessed for family. Blessed for another day by the water.

Some moments are meant to be tucked away in our hearts forever, and this was one of them.

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Back in the Bay Area

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The kids and I are back in the Bay Area for some fun in the sun before the kids head back to school in a few weeks. We will be in town for a couple of weeks and are going to try and have as much fun as we can.

We arrived on Monday and have been just relaxing since. My parents have a pool so the kids have been having pool days every day since we have been here and loving every minute.

I will have to squeeze in a beach day, though, cause you can’t travel to the Bay Area and not go to the Beach. That would just be sacrilege otherwise.

Tonight my mother, daughter and I are attending a bridal shower at my aunt’s home for her daughter-in-law to be. My cousin is getting married next month and we were included in on the festivities to help celebrate the union. I hadn’t been to a Bridal Shower in years and thought it was quite fun shopping yesterday for gifts. I really hope she likes what we got her.

My mom and I are taking the kids to Six Flags Discovery Kingdom in Vallejo tomorrow (Friday) and I am kinda excited since none of us have ever been there before. I noticed on the map they have a butterfly habitat… now that totally got my attention and I can’t wait to see that!

If you have been to Six Flags Discovery Kingdom before, what would you recommend seeing for an 8, 6 and 4 year old?

Then a week from Saturday my brother is having a 40th birthday party that I will get to see many family members and a lot of friends that I don’t normally see due to me living in Nevada. So I can’t wait to see everyone. My husband will be driving up to attend the party as well and then as a family we will be driving back home together the next day.

Nevertheless… I am gonna try to have as much fun as we can while we are here. Will post photos later!

Beach, sand and sun at its finest…

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Seacliff Beach

So yesterday my husband, kids and I trekked many hours across the the sierra mountains to the shining sea. It was around a good 5.5 hours to get to the beach.

My kids and myself love the beach, sand and the wonderful sea air and try to get to the beach once or twice a year if our schedule permits. But in all reality I try very hard to schedule a vacation months in advance.

Nevertheless, we are here having a fabulous time for a few days. However, I am tired and the sea air seems to make it seem more so to where I just want to lay down for a nap soothed by the thunder of the waves.

We arrived in Aptos, California around 2:30pm. The kids were instantly playing down on the beach. They took a break for dinner and then were back on the beach again until night fell.

Seacliff Beach

The moon came out and was a day shy of being a full moon. It was a spectacular site shining over the Cement Boat the SS Palo Alto.

Sea cliff Beach with Moon

The next day was gorgeous. The sun was shining and everyone was having a wonderful day.

Seacliff Beach

We rode bikes to the Cement Boat and took a look inside the Visitor’s Center.

Sea cliff Beach's Cement Boat

I have been coming to this beach since I was a child and love that I can bring my children here. It is one of my favorite places and am very lucky that we are spending our vacation here with my parents and generous Aunt JoAnne.

My travels to Maui, Hawaii

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In preping for my trip I was reading through pages and pages of Maui travel guides searching many hours away looking at where and what to do via other peoples posts on Pinterest. I even went as far as to borrow Maui travel books from my local library because I love being prepared activity-wise when I am on vacation.

What it didn’t say is that if you grew up in California, you will probably feel like you are in San Diego or Santa Cruz while on the West Shore of Maui though. I won’t lie….. I was a little disappointed with the West Shore of Lahaina for that very fact… that was until we actually started getting out and participating in fun activities. And of course all activities that we wanted to partake in were practically all on the North Shore. Which meant a rental car was a must have.

Of all the days/nights we were in Lahaina, I only visited the beach in front of our hotel once. And that was to see the sunset. At that time I called my kids to say I missed and loved them and that I would see them in a week. From there on out I decided I was going to have fun no matter what and make the best of my vacation.

Sunset Sunset2

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