Summer Vacation Part 1 (Pismo Beach).

Last year, I booked a vacation for the girls and I to Pismo Beach.  It gave us something to look forward to.  Pismo Beach (Grover Beach) is where Kevin and I lived while we went to Cal Poly.  It is a funky little beach town on the central coast.  We were super excited to get out of dodge and spend 7 whole days on the beach.  I am breaking this vacation up into a number of posts, otherwise it would be picture overload without much context.  

Terrell dropped us off at the airport on Sunday morning.  

If you are paying attention, you might realize that we just got a new puppy.  Too new to kennel.  Thankfully, my parents were super excited to watch her.  In fact, so excited that I was concerned whether we would get her back.

Our condo was right on the beach.  We barely dropped our luggage inside the door, and we headed to the beach.  I had forgotten just how cold 70 degrees is when you are in a beach town, especially after weeks of 100 degree weather.  The girls had packed appropriately.  I had forgotten any warm clothes.  I love that the girls seem never too old to have fun.  The were super excited when they saw this unique play area at the beach.  They joined the littles in climbing all over it.

This picture perfectly describes the bliss of having nothing to do, except enjoy the days.

I do not recall Pismo being such an interesting beach.  Sidney likened it to the Wild Kingdom.  Of all the beaches we visited, we saw the most diversity of nature at Pismo.  In talking with my co-worker, who also went to Cal Poly years before I did and is very familiar with the area, I found that there was a reason I do not recall Pismo this way.  Apparently, the sea otters had taken over and nearly killed off much of the natural habitat.  That time period happened to take place while we were there.  Well, they have diverted the otters and Pismo is back to nature.  Below are various pictures that Sidney took of all the sea creatures we saw.

The girls enjoyed the sunsets and just generally having fun on the beach.  There was a swing set, and we spent many mornings swinging, drinking coffee and watching the marine layer burn off.

One morning, we saw a surf school gather up on the beach.  It looked like so much fun.  Sidney asked if she could join, so we signed her up for the next morning.  The instructors were amazing and ensured that everyone had a great time and caught a few waves.  There were about 20 people in her class, ranging from about 8 years old to 60 years old.  Kendall had just picked up about 5 books from Barnes and Noble the night before and was more interested in sitting on the beach reading.

Sidney getting wet-suited up for her surf lesson.  

They all received some instruction and practiced on the beach before hitting the surf.

Time to hit the water!

After about five failed attempts, I watched Sid walk over to her favorite instructor for an assist.  He was happy to help.  

After showing her a few tips, she was at it again with huge success.

I am certain that Sid would be a surfer, if we lived on the coast!  She was hooked!  Here is most of her class.  I think a few had turned in their boards before the picture was taken.

We played tourist one day and flattened our pennies.

The girls bought jaw breakers that were 'medium' sized.  I cannot imagine what a person would do with the 'large' jaw breaker.

Can you find the girls?  Kendall is the easy one to spot.