Our Week in Huntington Beach

A few weeks ago, our little family of four got to spend a week at our extended family's place in Huntington. If you know me or you've hung around this blog for a while, you know this place is one of my favorite on earth. Even though it's not far from where we live (and we do love where we live), it feels so special and different. As soon as we pull up and park our car, my soul is refreshed, at rest and happy.

We were a tad worried about going with a newborn and a very busy 19 month old, since the place is super small, but we had a GREAT time. We even extended our stay by one day. It was wonderful.

And here are the pictures to prove it.

We did a lot of this - relaxing, holding Jonah.

And we did a lot of this - playing with Ruthie on the sand.

Jonah hung out (read slept) on the sand quite happily in this sun shade Mary and Mike loaned us. It was so helpful! 

I felt a little like a circus show, getting to the sand with all our gear. Our stroller is so huge, then we stacked a blanket, beach chair, sunshade and beach towels on top of it - as you can see, I could barely see over the top. But it made it possible for us to stay at the sand for 2 hours, which is more than I had hoped for. We went to the sand each day we were there and it was so much fun.

We also did a lot of walking - at least two walks on the pier each day. And we came every day to the little grassy area just off the sand, so Ruthie could have some extra run around time. Our family really enjoyed all the exercise and time outside!

And we left at just the right time. You can't really tell from this photo, but the pier is PACKED out with folks watching the US Open. We left the day it began and were really grateful for our timing. 

It was a great trip and we hope to get to go at least one more time before the cabins sell!