Ocean Beauty and The Rubber Seashell

When the idea of moving to Colorado became an option, one of the first things I thought was, "but there's no ocean." We have always lived near the coast. The thought of living somewhere that was completely landlocked was a weird concept for me. Actually, sort of oddly scary. Not really sure how to explain that. Maybe you fellow coastal dwellers can relate and shed some light on the issue?

Not that we even went to the beach all that much. But, if we wanted to, we could.

Again, I'm not saying it makes any sense at all to be fearful of not being near something that itself is actually quite terrifying. A massive, powerful, salty body of water containing living things that can harm you. I don't know?

One, is that it is amazingly beautiful. You can't help but notice God's divine creation when watching the waves crash against the sandy shore. It's magical. And two, it holds a lot of precious childhood memories for me.

I have fallen in love with Colorado. The no ocean thing really isn't that big of a deal. What it comes down to is trading one beautiful thing for another. Colorado is gorgeous in a completely different way.

But, that doesn't mean we won't be visiting. Now that we know we can make the drive, we can visit the beautiful California beaches and get our fix.

The kids had really never seen the ocean before. We went a few times in Virginia, but they were too little to remember. And, no offense to the east coast, but it's not the same.

They were instantly smitten. Like as in them running as fast as they could straight into the gigantic sea. Fast. Fearless.

Thankfully Nana and Aunt B caught up to them in time. I was busy with my camera and honestly I thought they had more common sense then to run straight into an un-know to them, intimidating to some, massive body of water. Well, no harm done. They're safe!

You appreciate it so much more when you don't live there all the time. It's completely mesmerizing.

The kids had a blast and couldn't get enough.

Mom and Britt had a good time too!

You could say we looked a little bit different than the rest of the beach goers that day. Okay, so we completely looked like tourists. Squealing and frolicking like a wild stallions just released from captivity. Yes, we're loud. We're happy and we like to have a good time.

Some find us entertaining and we are happy to provide that. Some, just don't care. And, some find us extremely annoying and intrusive. But, it's a free country and it's the flippin beach for goodness sake. Deal with it.

We are really good at ignoring the gawking onlookers. We have no problem staying in our own little happy place. We just pretend that everyone finds us entertaining and leave it at that. It's a gift!

Sand on her rosy cheeks and suntan lotion in her hair. A true beach babe!

These little guys were everywhere and Jon took to collecting them in his bucket. He was devastated when we told him he couldn't take them home. The gross part was this was the only living one in his massive beetle pile. He didn't care. They were his friends.

Matthew was so funny to watch. He went a little crazy. He even had an episode where he just started punching the sand repeatedly like he was fighting it. No sure? This boy might have some issues!

He was like a machine! It was as if he was finally free to release all his pent-up anger that had built up over his three long years of life. Or maybe he just liked the feel of it.

Ella comes running up the beach screaming, "look, look, mommy, I found a rubber seashell!"

We were laughing so hard. Only Ella and only in California!!!

"Honey, that is not a seashell."

"It has to be. Well, then what is it?"

"Well honey, this is what some people choose to put inside their swimsuits to make their tops look bigger."

"Oh. Well I'm going to add it to my seashell collection anyway."

I can't wait to go back!