Newport Beach, CA
As a Reservist Jeff is required to serve two days a month and two weeks a year with the US Navy. He loves serving our country and I am a proud Navy wife. Like any job, there are a few perks. One being that when he serves, the whole family jumps on board!
The past several years, Jeff has served at Naval Weapons Station Seal Beach. The kids and I tag along, and the whole family camps at Newport Dunes so we can be together while he serves. It is always a fun family time filled with friends, swimming, boating, BBQing, bike riding, kite flying, volleyball playing, and overall enjoyment of the surrounding beach area. Jeff's family lives very close by so we always get to have a few days of fun family time with them as well. Of course, our favorite part of each day is when he gets off work and can join in on our fun!
This time our first stop was Discovery Science Center in Santa Ana. It was Bubblefest time and we spent the day blowing huge bubbles and watching Nolan shoot off water rockets. Afterwards, my brother-in-law, Noah, introduced us to a charming restaurant called the Beach Pit. This place was great! As the kids played on the play equipment in the twilight, the adults shared a glass of wine and some great conversation. I especially liked the t-shirt that hangs inside declaring, "My kids run wild while I drink wine at the Beach Pit." hahaha We also got to have breakfast out with Jeff's parents and take a look at their house, checking out all of their new renovations.
One of the best parts of our Newport Dunes trip is the time we get to spend hanging out with our friends. Some of them come out to visit and hang for the day, grabbing some beach or pool time with all of the kids. This year seemed quieter than most, I think because it is still spring and school is not yet out for the summer. However, one Friday the Brown family came out and joined us, bringing their own visiting family from Virginia. It was a great bunch and we had a blast picnicking on the beach, using the paddleboats in the bay, and splashing in the swimming pool. Later on in the week, my sister-in-love and brother visited. I was having a particularly bad day, homesick and grumpy, and thank goodness they came and cheered me up. Our camping neighbors keyed us in to a great Japanese market in the area so Kim and I went on a little adventure. We told the boys that we were going to pick up dinner and decided that under no circumstances were we going to buy anything American! Shopping the aisles was really fun as we tried to guess the contents of various packages. Needless to say we ate some interesting food that night! It was adventurous and yummy to say the least, plus I laughed so hard my cheeks hurt!
Our last week at the Dunes we became friends with a family camping in the next camp space. They had three kids who were about the same ages as ours, plus their eldest son was named Max, so he got along quite well with our new puppy of the same name. ;) This family was particularly amiable and we spent a little time most days swimming or hanging out by the campfire. Being that they were from the Netherlands, we enjoyed introducing them to fun American foods like Reese's Peanut Butter Cups and S'mores and in return the kids taught us a little Dutch....a completely unsuccessful endeavor on my part, but quite amusing to the kids. We hope to keep in touch with them as it would be a great idea for the kids to be penpals. I was especially impressed by how many languages the kids spoke and the quality of their English. Amazing! I am really going to make foreign language a priority for my kids next year!
There were plenty of rainy days on this trip, but the sunshine days made up for it. Plus, with rain comes wind and nothing is as fun as flying kites at the beach! All in all it was another fun year at the Dunes and Jeff has fulfilled his annual training for 2012.
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| The Brown and Davidson clans; the older girls enjoying lunch on the beach; kids in the pool with Jeff; Katie and Nat joking around at Roger's Gardens; Katie, Zee, and Natalie flying a kite; Max, Zee, and Natalie playing with the puppy; the kids on the paddleboat; Natalie picks up some groceries at the market; Chad and Jeff flying kites in the rain; Ellie and Nat on the beach; Katie and Max testing out the water |
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