The Lee Family: California, Day 6: Avila Beach

The girls woke up around 730am so I enjoyed coffee while Sofia drew in Becky's art book and Olivia played with her Tar Pit animals. Pancho was up next and needed to run to the bank (and got me a much-needed Starbucks) and decided to take Olivia who couldn't wait to go with her Uncle Pancho. She was so excited! After we were all up and had pancakes, we decided to go to Avila Beach. The original idea was to hike three miles on the Bob Jones Trail stopping for lunch at Woodstone Marketplace before making our way to Avila Beach. Becky offered to drive so we wouldn't have to them walk back three miles to the car, which with two wet and tired kids would be pretty close to impossible. We finally got organized and drove to the Avila Valley Barn, which is a cute farmers market-type barn with goats, horses, cows, donkeys, turkeys, and many other animals that can be fed and pet. All the vegetables and fruit for sale in the barn are grown in the fields on both sides of the barn and it also sells other local treats, including an almond brittle that was incredible! We bought food for the animals and walked around feeding the animals and petting those who would let us get near them. Uncle Pancho bought the girls ice cream while we explored inside the barn. I wanted to buy apples, but they aren't in season yet. Megan wasn't feeling well so we changed our plans and decided to drive to Woodstone Marketplace and have lunch and then drive to Avila and play at the beach.

Woodstone is a cute little store/market with a deli where we ordered sandwiches and salad. It was delicious! Becky showed the girls the Bob Jones Trail and took them to a little kid playground nearby after we finished our meal. Megan felt really terrible, so Becky drove her home in our rental car while the girls and I went with Uncle Pancho to Avila Beach. It was a little overcast and breezy but the beach was full. We changed the girls into their swimsuits and I realized I'd left Olivia's bottoms at Becky's, so she had to wear her swimsuit top and shorts, which took a little convincing but finally she put them on and we headed for the beach! Of course, Sofia ran straight for the ocean and jumped right in, even though the water was freezing! She said it was cold when she first got in, but she was soon completely swimming in the ocean. Crazy girl! Olivia, meanwhile, was not necessarily afraid of the ocean but also wasn't overjoyed to go into the water. She did go into the water with me and clung to my leg so she wouldn't have to go in any further. Soon after we arrived, Sofia came across a little boy with a sand pale and he showed her all the sand crabs he'd caught! Sofia was amazed and immediately set to work finding her own. Luckily, Pancho and I had gotten coffees before we left Woodstone and we cleaned out our cups and gave them to Sofia so they could be makeshift sand pales/sand crab homes. Uncle Pancho and I showed her what to look for to find sand crabs and she went to work! She actually found several sand crabs that were bigger than I thought possible!

Pancho took Olivia over to the swing set and pushed her on the swings for at least an hour! She loved it and as much as I wanted to walk over and take a picture of them together, I didn't want to break the spell and have Olivia "need" me. So, I enjoyed sitting on our towels trying to stay warm and walking to the ocean to watch Sofia hunt for sand crabs and swim. It was fun but not necessarily a warm and sunny beach day and just as I was getting ready to get warm, Sofia ran up from playing in the water and said "Mommy, it's cold! Can we go?" Perfect timing! We loaded up and headed toward Aunt Becky's house where we had dinner and relaxed. Uncle Pancho read stories to the girls after I'd given them baths and they loved hanging out with him. Once again, Olivia was a bit of a pest going to bed so I brought her out to snuggle with me while Pancho, Becky and I stayed up and talked. Sofia was out while Pancho read stories to her, which she needed after such a fun day. We finally said good night and Olivia was asleep in no time.

Olivia and Uncle Pancho take off!