Newport Beach

Another perk of our vacation was that we got to stay at the Kumar family beach house.  It is located in Newport Beach and is one block from the ocean, right by Balboa Island.  The house isn't used that much, but it's got plenty of room (5 bedrooms) and the location is so perfect that we were very happy to stay there.  Especially, for the birders of my family, because we had hummingbirds living right in the red flowering trees in the front yard.

We actually had so much going on and many other things planned during our trip that we didn't get as many "beach days" as we would have liked.  Next time, we will just have to go and hang out at the beach all week :)

We did, however, hit the beach two times.  We literallly could just grab some beach chairs from the garage and walk down the street.  The particular pathway we used that led to the beach was lined with Gardenia plants.  The scent was amazing.  There is just something about being surrounded by the beautiful flowers, lovely smells and the ocean right before your eyes....

The water was cold but that didn't hold the girls back.  They were all in, dodging waves, splashing and getting tons of sand in their hair!

One day, after we got back from Disneyland we decided to soak our sore feet in the Ocean, so went to the beach in the early evening.  My sister, Katey and my cousin Christina were with us as we all sat and watched the girls play in the water.  We had a quite a show.  First, we must have seen about a dozen huge, brown pelicans flying around and landing in the water right in front of us.  Then, probably about 50 feet from the girls a pod of dolphins swam by, followed by a sea lion.  What a great sight.  We felt pretty lucky to have seen all that sea life while just sitting on the beach.

The irony of course, is that two days before our family had taken a boat tour and PAID to see those very same animals.  Yep, we're tourists!  Although honestly, Dave and I didn't sweat it much because the boat ride itself was fun.  We actually went on one of those whale watching tours.  Of course, we knew that the chances of seeing a whale were slim as this really wasn't the right time of year for that.  We went on the last tour of the day which was kind of fun because we were out on the water during sunset--gorgeous!

Also because it was early evening during the tour, the waters were a little choppy which made for a more exciting boat ride.  We did have to hold on tight and there were a bunch of times that our boat was tossing up and down and we got a sprayed as we crashed into waves.  In this regard we were prepared.  Right before we boarded, everyone in our family took a small dose of Dramamine, just in case.  Good thing, we felt sorry for the Japanese tourist who got so sick...no dignity when you have to stick you head in a garbage can and throw up in front of 50 people on a tossing boat.

Little suprise, we didn't see any whales but we did see dolphins and sea lions.  I also am very proud of my photography skills.  Do you know how hard, almost impossible, it is to use your iPhone to catch a picture of a dolphin as it breaches out of the water?

pod of dolphins

sea lions, taking a break on buoy

Isn't this a great picture of Dave and I?  With the exception of my inner witch or demon being exposed on the shadow I am casting on his chest!  I seriously can't figure it out.  I'm thinking it would be a great idea for short horror story---loving couple board a boat for a lovely sea excursion but they are not alone.....

One last Newport Beach picture--cute girls eating at Ruby's Diner.  They also happened to have a very dedicated balloon artist on hand.