Manresa State Park

I am always looking for unharmed sand dollars. When they are still in the sand, pre-seagull, they are kind of brown. Callie found one in the first 10 minutes. Keith and Courntey found 8, but they were up to their waists in the waves.

I make a pretty mean sand castle. The kids only dig huge holes.

Manresa State Park is south of Santa Cruz, near Watsonville. We always enjoy going there. We did not see dolphins or whales this year, but we have seen them in the past.
I love the way these flowers grow into the tree.

Please notice that Rich has his cast out of the sand. There was only a little bit of sand in it when they took it off. I was surprised.

I may have invented the 'staycation' many years ago. We used to pack up the kids and go to the beach for a few days every summer. We had a good collection of boogie boards, but did not move them. The kids still look forward to packing up and going to the coast. Unfortunately, it is now 700 miles away, not to mention that Governor Arnold wants to shut down all the parks we have ever visited.

As I watched the kids boogie board, I realized that I miss the days when they were little and would dance with the waves and yell at the ocean. It's okay though, I have 100's of pictures of them doing just that.

Now they dress in black (thanks Uncle Pete) and ride the waves for hours at a time. They have a great time, but it isn't as fun to watch.