Summer Vacation Part 4 (Arroyo Grande).

 The girls and I spent an afternoon exploring the shops in old town Arroyo Grande.  One of their favorite eating spots was Klondike Pizza.  In fact, they asked to go back there a second time.  I did not get a picture of this funky little place.  I did remember to get a picture of Doc Burnstein's, which is a fun little local ice cream place.  We did agree that nothing beat Reed's Dairy though.

Old town Arroyo Grande is a pretty little town with very cute shops and restaurants.  The girls had fun playing in the creek.

There is also a super nice park and an old swinging bridge.

Of course, we had to get the customary picture with Elvis.

Kendall wanted to get her nails done before Hallie's wedding.  She found a cute shop and made appointments for all of us.

Summer Vacation Part 3 (Pt. Mugu).

 I planned this vacation a year ago, without any mind to the date.  It was really planned around the availability of the condo.  So I was caught off guard when I woke up one morning to a message from my mom, "Happy Anniversary."  What?!?!?  August 10th.  Right after that, my best friend from high school asked me how close I was to the place we got married.  Also very interesting, since she did not know it was my anniversary.  I checked google maps, and we were only 2 hours away.  The girls and I hopped in the car and drove down to Pt. Mugu.  Along the way, we stopped by a few of our old stomps.

We took a drive by Channel Islands Harbor, where Kevin asked me to marry him.

We also stopped by our first home together.  I loved this place.  It was a cute little condo in the ghetto.  Our neighbors across the street were all multi millionaires with yacht slips in their backyards.

At last we made it to the beautiful peninsula where we said our "I do's".  The girls were in awe of the beauty.  Several times, Sidney asked how we could have ever left this place.

There is a beach right near the point.  Kevin and I had originally thought about getting married on the beach here, but the tide charts were not supportive of our date/time.  It is a beautiful beach.  It seemed like the girls could not get enough of the sand and ocean.

About 15 minutes down the road from Pt. Mugu is one of the best surf spots along the coast.  The girls and I drove down there for lunch.

After our lunch, we walked down to the beach, to watch the surfers.  

Summer Vacation Part 2 (Cal Poly SLO).

A trip to the central coast would not be complete without a trip to Cal Poly.  We came at the perfect time, as they were having SLO days, which is the welcome for incoming freshmen.  Everyone we ran into thought Kendall was an incoming freshmen.  They were shocked when we explained that she was indeed a freshmen, but in high school!

We were able to catch the football team practicing.  One of the players dad's was also watching as well.  It was fun to hear him talk about his son.  He was a very proud dad!  Oh how I wish Kevin could have been there!

The girls had fun spotting the random cows on campus and in town.

I snapped a picture of the Campus Market, which is located very near the engineering buildings, which is also the spot I would enjoy my morning coffee in college.  I should mention that all of these pictures feature 'beach hair, don't care'.  Embrace the frizz!

Another location of countless hours spent...the library.

The engineering courtyard.

The education building, where Kevin spent many of his days.

One of the common areas.  This one brings extra special memories, as one of our young visiting nephews pulled up to a tree to take a potty break:).  Woops!

The actual football game playing field in the background.

One of the many amazing trees on campus, perfectly suited for climbing.

Mott gym.  Kevin and I watched many basketball games here. 

A trip to San Luis Obispo is not complete without a walk down, the completely disgusting, Gum Alley.

Of course, the girls had to leave their own trace behind.  

As gross as it is, the girls had fun looking at all of the leave behinds.

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.