Beach Baby Beach Baby, There On the Sand From July 'Till the End of September

Our trip got off to a rocky, but typical start when our luggage was sent to a different airport, then locked in an office there, where it was held hostage for 2 days...leaving us without any of the essentials one might enjoy on a vacation (like underwear, for example). So we made do with what we had in our carry on, and rearranged our plans a little. We bought a $1 hat and some diapers for Quincy, and a $3 swimsuit for Reese at the Walmart near Janae's house and headed straight for the beach! It wasn't until we got there that we realized we were without sunscreen, but...

Lucky for us, the US Open for Women's Surfing was going on right there at Huntington Beach, so we picked up a free sample from a booth there. Once we saw the looks on our girls' faces we forgot all about our misplaced luggage and the fact that didn't even have clean clothes to change in to after we'd get a chance to check into the hotel and shower. We didn't care.

The girls see the ocean for the first time (that they'll remember)

Click to zoom in to see pro surfer, Bethany Hamilton. (the blonde in the middle of the picture) She was stretching right in front of us for 20 minutes before we realized who she was...which was pretty easy once she turned around and we could see that she was missing her left arm. For those not familiar with her story, (don't feel bad, I only know about her from Oprah...not ESPN) Bethany's arm was BITTEN OFF by a shark while surfing about 5 years ago. Even with only one arm, she is still one of the top 10 female surfers in the world, and she's only 18. Needless to say, we were pretty stoked to see her up close, and in action. She was awesome.


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I love the drool hanging from her lip in this one. I think she ate a total of 2 cups of sand over the course of our trip...maybe more.

This is Reese threatening to call Child Protective Services if I dare to ever drag her into the ocean again. She was not a fan of the water.

"Look! I'm a Mermaid!"

sandy bums are sooo cute!

For once, Aaron was grateful for his naturally red skin. My face was fried by the time I got to the sunscreen...which resulted in a peely forehead and a wicked burn on my lips that got all infected and nasty. (you might notice my fat, scabby lips in the other pics from our trip) It wasn't so bad once I got on an antibiotic and put some steroid cream on my swollen lips...at least i THOUGHT it didn't look so bad, until I saw my brother and the first thing he said to me was, "who punched you in the face?"