Like our other trips to LA, Steve dragged us to Newport Beach for our obligatory day in the sand and waves. Luckily (or not) we arrived right before a massive sewage spill that closed down that stretch of beach for 2 days over Labor Day weekend. Anyway, Grandpa was a trooper and hung out with Steve in the waves. K and I played with our beach toys and the cooler and then the suntan lotion, etc. etc. Really, she managed to get into everything that we brought with us – including juice boxes, cheese, chips….
Steve and his dad came back from the beach and they built a huge moat for a castle. Katherine-zilla or “Tatazilla” as she called herself knocked down the walls and had a great time puttering around with sand toys. Steve took her into the waves “more more” and she got drenched. She wasn’t afraid at all. ๐ Around 2PM, we left the beach, and Katherine slept almost all the way home.
Halloween Costume, you say?
Post-nap, we visited Downtown Disney and checked out the shops. Katherine took a real shine to the Disney merchandise store – where she lit up with the Minnie costume paraphernalia. We ended up buying her a dress for Halloween, a Mickey Mouse stuffed animal and a fleece for the fall. I had to carry her out the of the store, because she remembered that Audrey had asked for lollipops. She got super excited about the pops and we ended up hiding our purchased pops in our bags.
We would totally recommend Hook’s Pointe next to the Disneyland hotel for a nice dinner with kids. K got Mickeyroney and Cheese and the adults had wine and nice entrees. With our corner booth, she could look out over the hotel pool and see kids careening around a pirate ship. That was probably the nicest meal we’ve had with K in a super family friendly environment.
After dinner, we fed the tugboat machines. K had Mickey steer and after a few minutes we headed for the exit. After putting K to bed, Steve and I played bridge with his parents – kicking off a weeklong crash course on how to bid bridge.
