Sunset Beach

On the Tuesday that we were in California, we went to Sunset Beach near Santa Cruz. It wasn’t a hot day by any means, but the temps reached the 60s that day and it was perfect. Eli and I had wet pants after the first five minutes, but Eli didn’t mind too much. We rolled up his pant legs and he was ready for more fun.

Eli called this his “dog pool.” There were no dogs around, but I think he thought it was just deep enough for a dog to enjoy it.

We weren’t the only ones to get wet. Lots of the cousins and adults waded at the edge of the ocean. There signs at the entrance advising against swimming that day because of the rip tide.

Charlie wasn’t sure about the squishy sand at first, but he got used to it after a while.

I love seeing their little toes in the sand.

Charlie’s feet:

Eli’s feet:

Looking back at these pictures makes me feel relaxed.

Eli liked it when we drew his name and age in the sand:

A woman walking by saw me taking me pictures of the boys and asked if we’d like one together. Of course! Ben and I were wearing borrowed sunglasses from my sister-in-law Emily’s parents’ glove compartment. Thank you, Yu’s! They loaned us their car while we were there, which was SO generous and nice (they were out of town visiting family in another state):

The kids had fun constructing waterways, mountains, and other structures with the sand. It was cute seeing them work together on their creations.

Charlie was content with a tupperware container and sand sifter:

He makes me smile. I love seeing his teeth peeking out from his happy expression.

Ben’s parents were smart. They brought firewood and made a bonfire, which was a great way to warm up as the sun hid behind the clouds and it felt cooler.

Eli started to get cold, so we wrapped him up in a towel:

My sister-in-law Elizabeth with Sofia:

My oldest niece Amanda, with her new surfboard. She hails from San Diego and I have no doubt that she’ll be an awesome surfer in no time.

My sister-in-law Emily with kids Adele and Samuel:

I’m not going to keep writing sister-in-law, because they’re all in-laws to me… :) Here’s Cami with her youngest, Kaelan, otherwise known as KK, which is Eli’s age (he was freezing – we got him covered up soon after this picture was taken):

Ben with Eli, who loves his dad so much (notice Eli is much more covered up by this point):

Yes, Ben has a lot of gray hair. I like it.

Me and Eli as the sun is setting:

This kid had so much fun at the beach.

The next sequence of pictures is Eli and his cousin Larry. They are really, really funny together. They don’t say much to each other, but the facial expressions were priceless:

Ben’s brother Matt walking out of the water, with Amanda and Jon still in the water w/ surfboards:

More of happy Eli:

I loved the changing colors of the sky as the afternoon passed by:

I couldn’t resist taking a picture of this wood – I liked its texture and markings:

Back at the bonfire – roasting hot dogs, s’mores, drinking hot chocolate…

Ben’s parents, Cheryl and Larry:

Abbie, Levi, Nathan, Danielle and Larry:

New Grandma and Eli:

And it wouldn’t be a Severson get together without a little competition… here are some of the guys throwing marshmallows high in the air and trying to catch them in their mouths. In this first picture, you can see Matt’s marshmallow up in the air (in the right corner of the pic):

Here’s Ben in between the twins, Joe and Matt (Ben is often referred to as the third twin or triplet – they all look very similar – he is a few years younger):

Matt caught the marshmallow:

Here’s my handsome husband:

And Joe about to catch the marshmallow in his mouth: