A Few Malihinis: California Knows How to Party

Brady kicked off Fall Break a few days before the rest of us, although the only break from court was at night with these party people. I heard about these tacos at least a dozen times, and we all searched for a taco to compare with the LA taco joint.

Kate and I picked up Sophie for a Wednesday lunch at a place also not as good as the LA taco joint.

These girls. I love their quick friendship and close relationship after only a couple months. They both do the weird braces sounds and pull funny faces while eating.

Cali-bound! It was a little intense leading up to fall break with Brady gone so much and on the way, I wondered if it would all be worth the effort for a few days that we hadn't even taken time to plan. The only itinerary items came from Zachary's surf destination requests.

Traveling through Provo Airport is my new favorite. Lucky for Owen (who forgot his charged and movies-downloaded device Kate and I spent a couple hours prepping), I had a good book and was happy to give him my phone. I am not sure how my siblings and I entertained ourselves for 3 straight days of driving without any screens. False! I definitely remember. We read in the car for hours, and my dad read to us for hours, and we fought, and we slept, and we played alphabet games and sang songs in rounds. Seems much healthier than handing my kid a phone, but I choose not to feel guilty about it.

Brady drove from LA that morning to pick us up and take us to the Marriott in Newport. After a seaside lunch, we explored the resort and I struggled to enjoy the area when all I really wanted was to be swimming in the sea and sitting in the sand.

We gambled a Diet Coke on mini golf and Brady won it all by one. We taught the kids to play tether ball and Zac and Kate played each other in soccer.

Not sure why I am squinting to badly but hopefully you will just notice Zac's golfing form instead.

Cory and Kristen joined us and we took off for the notorious "Wedge." Zac has talked about this break for years and even did a persuasive research project on it for an English class.

It was so sweet to see this surfer boy reunited with the ocean. This move has been a huge challenge and change for Zachary and nothing made me happier on this trip than seeing Zac's joy in the water.

He had incredible tolerance for the water's chill without a wetsuit. I remember body boarding in the Cali water as a kid but it was mid-summer.

He made a few buddies right away and came in once to warm up.

My other water boy was anxious to skim and Zac graciously lent him his board.

Zac said it was kind of weird to feel plants around his ankles when he got off the waves.

Kate's sand message to her big brother.

Cory, Kristen, Walker, and Elise were generously content to watch.

Just before walking along the beach, a boy came out with blood all over him. The Wedge is famous for breaking boards (we saw one of those, too, even though it was a small day), and bodies. The boy asked someone to call 9-1-1 and we stayed with him, finding out he was Kate and Walker's age and just scared from his very bloody nose. Brady reached his Dad and the paramedics arrived to just double check him.

We drove for the best tacos of our trip that night.

Owen fell apart around 10:30pm but it was all better with a warm bath.

The next morning was time for workouts and more hotel exploration before heading off to meet the Waltmans at San Onofre beach.

Owen lost his marbles the night before our trip, as distraught as I've ever seen him over his board not fitting in Zachary's board bag. I was not about to spend $150 to ship another board to CA and back, and promised to rent him a board if he would use it. He reminded me 19 times prior to the moment we rented his wetsuit and board, and true to his word, he did use it for at least a bit. Walker was kind and removed his leash so he could skim.

Our whole group spent the bulk of the day at the beach, lucky to get quick parking and join the long line of Sprinter Vans. I had major Sprinter Van envy, wishing we could be camping and at the beach from sunrise to sunset every day of that trip with the other 10 families there, too.

PIC?

The best part of the beach was the abundant tide pooling along with the surf.

Later!

So happy after my session. I did not going into the trip expecting my hand to handle the water but decided to risk it and even my awkward Nemo-paddle (protecting my hand) filled my cup.

Everyone took off late afternoon (C&K took Owen, thank heavens), and Zac and I had another hour in the water. Kate was disappointed to miss the shopping trips but plenty happy to take these fun pics with Brady.

Zac was as lit up after session 2 as I've ever seen him from surfing. He caught wave after wave, loving the longboard and the conditions. Emily and Ty said he was so jazzed. My hand was struggling at that point so my paddling was even more awkward, and I couldn't make it out to where he was, but loved paddling out with him and knowing it meant so much to him to have me with him in the water.

That night: pizza and BYU football in our own booth of the restaurant. Owen slept through most of it while we yelled and cheered.

Early am run. Running is fun but running with a bunch of people you love is a party.

Brady and O got their sweat on, too.

Newport Beach was our next destination. We met up next to sand volleyball tourneys and a loud Cali beach vibe. Kate, Walker and O were buried deep.

The waves were small, but Zac and I rented boards and went out together. We ended up having some time to push Elise and her friend into waves. Elise is so balanced and poised, and popped up easily. So fun for me and Zac to see!

Polar plunge for the brave!

We took a beach walk to..you guessed it...tacos.

Paul saved our place in the sand and snoozed.

After lunch, we walked a bit more to see Kristen's Grandma Taylor's beach house.

My favorite line of the trip came from Kristen: "You guys should just forget about building your house and buy a beach house."

Pretty sure we just gave that up to move to Utah........HA!

This car belongs to a Disney movie.

More sand, skim and surf, plus Balboa Bars at Balboa Beach.

This was the single happiest hour of the trip for me: watching Owen and Zac play so hard in the water.

He executed 360 after 360 on the board.

Hot tub party with every other Fall Breaker from Utah in the hot tub.

Kate got her wish--an hour of shopping--before we ate salads to try and regulate our over-tacoed tummies.

Sunday morning walk with Paul and Ang while the kids snored the morning away.

We made it to church and then walked the temple grounds before doing a group study session.

Followed by tacos for lunch, a dip in the pool, and the most epic volleyball game where we haphazardly hit passes back and forth, and sometimes into the bushes.

Evening walk complete with senior pic moments for Elise, leaps, exploring rocks, playing with phone settings for the best evening capture, races in the sand, and a sunset.

We topped it all off with eggs and pumpkin pancakes for dinner.

The next morning was checkout, and we went walking again, gathered our belongings, and headed to Huntington Pier to surf one last time. Kate joined the surf party and I loved watching her back in action, too. One last meal for Mediterranean excellence at Angry Al's before leaving for the airport.