Wimpy Californians.

Yes, that is what we have become, Wimpy Californians. Sydney had spring break last week and Nate had some time off to use so we had made plans to go camping down south on the beach just west of Santa Barbara. As the time came closer and we were checking the weather forecast rain lurked. Rain and temperatures in the mid 50's. WHAT?! Thoughts of sitting in a tent freezing and wet. Didn;t sound like to much fun. It was a 50 % chance of rain. We cancelled our camping trip and decided to do a staycation. Yes we wussed out. We cannot handle rain,or as Oregonians call it, a mist. We cannot handle temperatures below 60. We freeze. Who is typing this. Seriously, what a year can do to you.
Anyways, we ended up having a great staycation. The weather was a bit windy and a few sprinkles. We were glad we didn't go camping.
One of the first days of spring break was HOT. Like 80 hot. We spent the whole day at the beach. I got sunburned. We played in the waves, with friends, and make sandcastles. It was a great day and made us super excited for summer days.

  We went to Point Lobos just south of Carmel. Of course we had to stop in Carmel at one of my favorite places to get a soft pretzel. They are SOOOO good. I always feel out of place in Carmel. Lots of old rich people. :)

 There was a lot of wild life to see, Seals, otters, birds and whales ( we didn't see any whales).

 We had a great time hiking and exploring. And yes I know that Stella is WAY to big for the backpack. She is a bit heavy, but it beats carrying her every other minute. This is the only way we can really get any sort of hike in. Plus there was poison oak everywhere. So I get a little workout and Stella gets a good view.

The next day we went to Davenport Beach. One of our favorites. It is a little north of Santa Cruz, so it is hardly ever crowded and there is a lot to explore.

 I didn't get any pictures of the beach. I was too busy playing. The next day we went to Castle Rock State Park for a little hiking and climbing. It is such a great place to go with kids. There are boulders everywhere to climb on and little holes to hid in. They loved it.

 A little hobbit hole.

 Can you find the big girl who is almost 3 years old? How did she get so big?

 I even got a little climb in and Sydney was the photographer. Nice picture, huh?

Stella was such a good rope manager. She was right by Nates side making sure there were hands on the rope the whole time. It was pretty cute. She wasn't quite ready to give a shot at climbing on real rock yet.
We had more plans, but Sydney had a high fever the afternoon after rock climbing. This fever turned into a cough, which then turned into pneumonia. So all in all we were really glad we didn't go camping so we could focus on getting Sydney healthy. She is still recovering. She wishes she was playing but for now we are hanging around the house getting healthy.