This past week Travis had a class down in LA near Manhattan Beach so we decided to join him for the week -- free hotel, free food, and the beach only 10 minutes away? Count us in.
Trav had to do his thing and go to class during the day but the boys and I had a great time trying out new beaches.
On the first day, we went to El Segundo (which is just south of the airport -- so you get all sorts of jets zipping right over your head) and pretty much had this gorgeous beach to ourselves.
Benji still is not a fan of the water (and I quote "No! Sea monster eat me!") but Peter was always ready for a romp in the waves.
Benji with his 'mustache' and Pete's sandcastle.
Day two we headed to Manhattan Beach -- which is definitely more touristy, not to mention crowded. But it does boast a nice little (free!) aquarium at the end of the pier that the boys loved. They also adored running at top speed down the pier.
This is the best I could get of the crazies together.
After the beach we walked a few blocks to the Manhattan Beach Creamery (which I had read glowing reviews for) and indulged ourselves in some mighty tasty ice cream.
I also got a couple macaroons which I have been dying to try ever since reading The Chocolate Kiss. Heaven.
We had lots of adventures on our trip -- how could we not with two boys? But let me preface the following story by saying that both kids (and me probably) we exhausted that particular night. No naps and lots of time in the water and sun can make for some tired kids. We also had been stuck in traffic (the worst) and it was waaay past dinner time for the kidlets and so, shall we say, all sorts of emotions were coming out. So. We had let Peter pick what we'd have for dinner that night and of course he chose Red Lobster -- something he's been begging us for since he went on a preschool field trip there last year. Peter was insistent that he wanted 'breaded lobster tails' just like he had on his field trip but of course, Red Lobster does not serve any type of breaded lobster anything. Cue lots of drama and meltdowns. Finally Trav decided to get a big seafood platter to share with Pete so that they could figure out what type of lobster our little man liked. When the food finally came, starving Peter dug into the lobster only to say emphatically "This isn't what I liked!" He then proceeded to try some of Benji's popcorn shrimp only to declare "This is what I was talking about!" Popcorn. Shrimp. Sheesh. Next time we'll know and be able to save $40 on dinner. Lesson learned. Although it was pretty hilarious that anytime someone asked our 5 year old what his favorite food was, he'd answer "lobster tail."
The day after that fun evening, we took it easy and swam in the hotel pool for a bit and then I put both kids (okay...and me) down for a nap. Three and a half hours later and we were all much happier and ready to resume our adventures.
Another thing both boys loved about our trip was hotel life. Even though it was a suite, we were all in one big room, which I was a bit nervous about truth be told. But they did pretty well. Mostly they liked having cable and eating Fruit Loops at breakfast every morning. But these are my favorite pics after baths one night -- both boys with hand towels wrapped around their skinny waists.
We tried out Hermosa Beach on Friday which was lots of fun. Mainly because it was Travis' last day of class and he was done around lunchtime so he got to join us there. The boys love it when Daddy is there because he digs giant holes like this one for them to play in.
He even was able to convince Benji to go in the water. A little bit.
If you ask Travis however, his favorite part of the week was his first attempts at crab fishing. He bought this crab pot and tied it off the pier several times hoping to catch some delicious crab. Sadly, he wasn't successful -- I think a crab 2" under the legal limit was his best catch -- but he's definitely been bitten by the bug and I can foresee lots of crabbing in our future beach trips.
It was a wonderful (if not a little exhausting) week with my favorite people in the world. I'm so glad we were able to spend so much time together in such a gorgeous place.
