Vacation Part 1: The Beach

I didn't take a whole ton of pictures during our trip to California last week. I had a few good reasons for this, actually.

1. Elliott was totally not herself during our entire trip.

I thought for sure that she would adjust quickly and just go with the flow. I was so wrong.

Ellie was clingy, grumpy, fussy, tired, and wouldn't eat.

And I was alone.

Okay, I wasn't alone. I had grandparents who were used to the peace and quiet of their little house, and enjoy grandkids who come over to visit and then go home when they get grumpy ;)

But I also had my mom with me, who happened to be a lifesaver! Even though Ellie often refused to leave my side, every once in a while my mom could coaxe her away for a few minutes so that my arms (and sanity) could catch a break! I surely would have come home early (and in tears) if it weren't for my mom!! However, it's neither easy or fun to take pictures with/of a cranky toddler!

2. My camera is heavy.

I couldn't justify dragging my camera around with me every single day. As badly as I wanted to snap photos in downtown San Francisco, toting that brick on the fairy, through the terminal, and all around town jumping from one bus to another while carrying a toddler and a diaper bag just didn't sound like fun. Some days I chose to simply enjoy the moment and take mental photographs :)

3. We were having fun!

Time did often get away from me on this trip, which must mean that I did get some relaxing in! I would be enjoying a giggle between my mom and Elliott, or playing the piano with my grandma without even a thought of pulling out the camera....until the moment had passed. Oh well! I will still have these memories to keep.....even if I didn't get one single pictures of the four generations of ladies in the family (my grandma, my mom, myself, and Ellie....how cool would that have been?! Next time, for sure!)

Anyways, what I did manage to catch on film disk, I am going to post in three seperate posts: The Beach, The Redwoods, and The Farm. This vacation was very relaxed.....we would take our time getting ready in the morning (or chasing around a crabby 16-month old to keep her from pulling every knick-knack off of the coffee table), eat lunch at the same time every day, and then head out for a little activity. Shopping, Japanese food, a ferry ride into the city.....Simple, fun, relaxed. It really was a change of pace, and not having my cell phone with me added to the appeal :)

Today I'll share with you our trip to the beach!

Honestly, we spent about 10 minutes actually on the beach itself!

We took the scenic route, and if Elliott would have been her normal sweet self, it would have been a nice little drive!

However, she was fussing the entire way, so when we found a spot to pull off the road, we were all quick to jump out of the car and enjoy our surroundings for a while!

We first had to make our way down this steep, treacherous set of stairs!

I made it safely down, all while carrying a 20 pound toddler and a brick of a camera!

That's my grandma and her husband, making their way back up to the car

Someone wasn't a fan of the beach!

I wasn't surprised, though.

By this point in the trip, I was just glad that the sound of the ocean could drown out her screaming just a little!

 My mom - my lifesaver!

I thoroughly enjoyed seeing and hearing the waves crash over the rocks!

Somehow, Spring is taking it's time finding California. Plenty of our time there was spent indoors, hiding from the rain, so this gorgeous day out on the beach was so refreshing!

That's all for now :)

Tommorow we'll trek into the Redwoods!

~Amanda