San Diego Staycation Part 1, Hiking and Beach Time

I'm trying to catch up...I'm only about a month behind in what seems to be my virtual family scrapbook. And for me, being only a month behind is as close as I will get. It's called lowered expectations and with each kid they just get lower. It's just a reflection of how much time I devote to the wee ones. This year marks our first family vacation. We have taken vacations in the past but not a a nuclear family...EVER. Trips with parents, siblings, friends...but never just our Murry crew. And we decided to spend our time in a place we love: HOME!! Why travel somewhere when you live in sunny San Diego where people pay a ton to come visit. Plus, it meant that we didn't have to pack half our house to vacation. Seriously, traveling with kids is not easy...they come with lots of gear. We spent our time hiking, playing at the beach, camping in our backyard, going to Legoland and eating out a lot. It was lovely. And of course the best part was just having time to be together and enjoy one another. Oh, and sleeping in our own bed. I liked that part. So here begins the photos of Part 1 of our Family Vacation: Hiking and Beach Time

A nice couple stumbled upon us setting up our self timer and offered to take this photo of us...everyone is looking at the camera...YAY!

The trail in Torrey Pines that we hiked, named after the pine trees there, the Torrey Pines. It was a nice family friendly hike that both Hannah and Kate walked the whole way.

The view was beautiful!

I love the unprompted hug that Hannah and Kate are enjoying...such cute sisters!

Rachel Lee seemed to enjoy rolling in the sand a lot. She got very dirty and was very happy.

Me and my sweet girl followed by a super silly family photo :)

Three little monkeys swinging in the tree

Our guide making sure we were not lost. There was only one path we could go on and she was worried we were lost. I really do need to take her hiking more often!

Pretend rock climbing: Hannah requested this picture.

Sweet sisters!

Digging up sand crabs.

Kate and Rachel Lee worked hard to fill this bucket with sand.

Kate was going to add water to the bucket but discovered that her little sister had dumped it out...

NOOOOOOOOO!!! True sisters.