Friday May 31, the entire Crookston Family met at Ventura Beach for a fun, sandy day! We saw a seal that swam around and ate fish, a pod of dolphins that scared the swimmers (Katy quickly pulled all kids out of the water first, and then checked what kind of dorsal fin it was).
The kids loved the sand! They would have stayed there all day, instead of building many castles they dug a lot of holes! They liked collecting sea water away from the sea, funny how they could work on this all day. It was a perfect day, sunny but not too hot. Cold water but warm sand.
As always we like our good food! Beth, Elise and I made sub sandwiches, cookies and brownies the day before, and individually packed them all in plastic wrap. Add some juice pouches, fruit and chips and you have the perfect beach picnic!
The most important thing is that we just spent the day together. The only one missing was Brandt.
Although, it was cold, and it gives you a beating, it is funny how much we all love being hit by waves (Well maybe not Carson - who Ben took out and he ran back the second Ben put him down, or Daniel - who is so small that a wave toppled him - then it wasn't fun anymore).
Playing all day takes its tole! The warm sand was too inviting and we had a lot of little children covered every inch in sand!
After most people left a few of us walked along the pier. We saw the dolphins again (which was great since I had missed them the first time), we talked to a lot of local fishermen, one that brought up a crab that Ryan loved, but the best part was talking to a father and son. The father brought up a perch, and his son said that was the dad's sixth of the day, but a few minutes later the boy snagged one, which he offered to let Ryan touch. While he did that something fell off. I thought it was the live bait they used, but it was a baby perch. The fish was pregnant and gave birth in the boy's hands, right before our eyes! One of the coolest things ever!