Torrance Beach Trip 2013

 Aren't beach pictures the hardest?  Everyone has sand in their eyes and their hair is blowing every which way!!  But, a shot of the 4 cousins is priceless, so I will take what I can get!!  I actually have very few pictures from this trip.  Most of the ones I have are pictures my dad took!

My dad has wanted to go to the beach with the girls F O R E V E R!  It just has never worked out.  Plus, Jill had always been afraid of the waves so it seemed like a beach trip would be somewhat silly.  But, 2013 was the year.  Not only did Jill get comfortable with the waves, but the Adragna's were going down to Southern California during the summer so we could plan to meet up and get an extra visit and all get to see Nanny together.  

At the end of July we headed for Torrance with the plan of staying for 4 days.  We were lucky enough to have my dad, Poppy, on the trip with us.  It is not often that others want to subject themselves to our vacations...but the beach and Poppy are a match made in heaven.  When I was little, we would go to the beach and he would body surf ALL DAY LONG!!!  This trip was no different....except he was 25 years older and could barely walk the second day!  Did that stop him from body surfing...  NO WAY!!!  My dad and Shane were in that water almost non-stop.  

The first day we were there was sunny and warm and my friend Noel came to visit with her two girls.  They had such a fun time together, running up and down the beach, gathering seaweed and making sand castles.  

you can see my dad and Shane out there waiting for the next wave. 

Noel and I had a chance to chat.   We decided that next time we are also going to go body surfing with the boys!!  They had so much fun!!

Alli was the only one who wanted buried...

Shane and my dad making sandcastles with the girls.  Aren't these guys GREAT!!

That night we went for a bike ride to the pier.  Jill is a crazy kid on her bike so she is zooming down the bike path, swerving in and out of people...I dont know how there was not an injury!  I was designated as the "Jill-watcher" for the other bike path people's safety.  Jill was like a wrecking ball that went through the building but somehow the building was still standing in the end!

At the end of the bike path we had to climb up this monstrous path.  Steep, covered with sand and actually quite exhausting!!  We must have pulled our bikes up this walkway or the stairs by our hotel, 6 or 7 times during our stay in Torrance.  I tell you what though...these girls are awesome...not a complaint and they didnt want help either.  Lots of girl power in this family!!

The next day was not quite as warm but we got to see the ADRAGNAS so it didn't matter.  We rode our bikes to the Original Pancake House in Torrance.  Stacy and Matt had picked up Nanny and all 10 of us had a great (chaotic) breakfast together.  Nanny managed to elude all photos this time around (you can check out our DEATH VALLEY trip to see lots of pictures with Nanny!!)


My dad feel down the stairs with his bike before we left...and just so you know a little about how my dad is, this isnt the REAL fall...he recreated it and then asked me to take the picture.  He LOVES stuff like that.

Then it was off to the Adragna's hotel for some pool and hot tub time before it warmed up to a steamy 60 degrees and then we could go swim in the OCEAN!!!  Alli was rockin it on the boogie board.  Natural born surfer girl.  She had tons of fun with it.

Too soon we had to say good-bye to the Adragnas.  They were heading off to see more family and have some AWESOME family pictures taken in Big Bear.  



We spent lots of time riding our bikes all over the place.  We went to coffeeshops, Cheesecake Factory, The Standing Room, and a frozen yogurt place.  It isnt often we eat food like this so we were splurging!

After eating our take out from The Standing Room the girls wanted to climb this tree.  Seeing Alli's awesome headband reminds me of one other thing we did.  We had so much fun at the Arcade on the Pier - REDONDO FUN FACTORY!!!  

The girls won so many tickets and their choice of a prize was the MYSTERY BOX.  I cannot think of a more exciting time they had then when they opened up these boxes.  Imagine....workout videos on VHS, old picture frames with broken glass, pens with a light that doesn't work, bright orange belts and it goes on and on....The girl L O V E D these boxes...here they are modeling some of their prizes...

Every night ended with Poppy reading the girls a chapter (or 2 or 3) from the Bobbsey Twins, which he still does every day (what a great poppy!) 

Then it was back to Chico for us.  Bring on the 120 degrees!!