Newport Beach

last night we got home from spending a week in Newport Beach... rough life! It was really so much fun! My parents rented a beach house that was literally across the street from the beach. It was so nice. All my family was there and we had NO agenda besides sit on the beach. I learned quickly that sitting on the beach doesn't really happen when you have a 17 month old. Aspen loved the beach, she loved the waves and the sand. She had sand EVERYWHERE.... from her face, nose, mouth, to diaper, hands... sand all over. She didn't seem to be too bothered by it. It was nice having other little kids so we could take turns hanging out at the beach house during nap time, so I did get a few opportunities to just lay by the beach.. or, get in the waves and play! I did learn for the first time ever how to boogie board. I think I've tried before but never had good waves to catch, but I caught a bunch of waves this time. Clark rented a surf board along with the other big boys and spent mornings and evenings out there in the waves. He's got a lot of patience to be out there getting beat up. he actually was getting the hang of it, I was impressed. He took me out there once and tried to get me up on the surf board and believe me, it's a lot harder than it looks and i didn't have the patience to do it, i was happy on the boogie board.

Other highlights from the trip include In & Out burger (like 3 times), renting beach cruisers with a baby trailor and riding the bikes to the peir to have a hot dog on a stick...mmm. Shopping at Balboa island with the girls and of course having a "high school musical II" party with all the kids. It was a major highlight for the Swapp fam.

And of course, it's all fun and games until someone gets their front teeth knocked in by a surf board. Poor cameron got nailed by a surf board and got one of his front teeth broken in half and two other teeth pushed back... it was pretty bad. So he and his family left one day early and drove straight through back to home so he could get in to see an orthodontist and yep, get braces. A revisit to junior high for him. He has to have them for a couple of months, I told him he can somehow incorporate the braces into a halloween costume. hahaha.

Aside from that one incident, the trip was a success! We really had a great time... thanks mom and dad! The rest of my Kasteler cousins were there as well, so it was fun to spend time with them. Maybe next time we go Aspen can be old enough to go to Disneyland.