beach vacation part II

After recovering from a nasty stomach bug we thought we'd left behind, we were all ready to start enjoying the California sun by Thursday afternoon. What we ended up doing on Thurday pretty much repeated itself on all the days we were on vacation. And that's a GOOD thing. We laid out by the pool, played the sand, stood by the water's edge as the water splashed us, and had nice outside lunches, and relaxing dinners. Chloë LOVED the pool, and the ocean even more. Though getting the sand off of her took days, as we kept finding little grains of sand EVERYWHERE. How is it possible the sand got INSIDE her diaper? I will never know. What I do know is that I would be getting her dressed for lunch, and as I wiped her clean I'd look, and oh look! there's more sand near the folds of her thighs. Oh, wait! And what is THAT? Yup, sand in her ear.

Despite all the sand (eveywhere!), the California sun treated us well. That is, until Saturday evening when thinking he was in the clear, Josh was hit by...yup-you guessed it. THE STOMACH BUG. That one we thought we'd left behind, only to find it upon our arrival. That one we thought we'd finally gotten rid of on Thursday. That same one managed to give us all enough time to think we were free, allowed us some enjoyment during our vacation, and on Saturday night showed its claws, full force and took hold of Josh. It hit him at around dinner time, so thankfully by Sunday late morning he was all good. But still! We can't get over the fact that we managed to bring the bug with us from DC, and it survived for days until tagging the final member of our little pack.

Thankfully we did not infect anyone else with our special bug, and despite having been accused of bringing the plague with us to our nice family vacation, we kept it contained, and some people were even contemplating how to get our bug thinking they might use it to their advantage and lose a few pounds!

All in all, it was a trip to remember. If anything, Chloë's sheer joy at seeing the ocean for the first time, and playing with the waves and the sand totally helped me forget (am I seriously admitting this?) the hours of whining and whimpering in the plane and have me almost convinced those were just minor blips during an otherwise fantastic vacation. I could even almost be convinced to take another 5 hour flight with Chloë before she turns, oh say, 10 or 11 years old. We'll see.

Now, enjoy some pictures from our trip.


Chloë contemplating her next move at the playground by the beach.


Chloë looking all sunned out.


Us girls hanging by the pool. Chloë dressed like a nun as my mom pointed out.


Vovo with Max and Chloë.


Family picture on the beach (note the camera was propped up on a sand castle or something similar.)


Chloë very Jackie O-like.


(Mis)behaving at a fancy restaurant in Santa Monica.


Sunset in Santa Monica.

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