The 5th (or 6th ?) annual LIFE TEEN mass on the beach marks the second time that I've visited the sandy shores of California.  Mommy kept forgetting that last year's Mass on the Beach was technically my first time visiting the beach but Daddy remembered and kept reminding her.

It was such a long day full of people, things to see and things to do. I may have been to the beach last year but I was so small that I don't remember...  After all, I was just 3 weeks old!

 

Anyway, we didn't get to the beach until about 2pm, which is when Daddy said we'd probably get there even though Mommy wanted to get to the beach earlier.  This was a shorter Mass on the Beach because mor than 1/2 of Core went to Europe for World Youth Day and didn't get back until the week before.  That left the other half trying to prepare for a Mass on the Beach that might not have actually happened since there wasn't enough people to help plan... even so, the Mass on the Beach went on and there were a few less teens than last time but still lots to enjoy the California sun.  That included me!  Whoo hoo!  I had such a great time playing.  Actually, not at first.  At first when Mommy put me down in the sand, I started crying.  I didn't like that the sand was so soft that my feet sunk in. The only thing that made it bearable at first was the water bottle that 'Auntie Chella' (or Auntie Anchella) let me hold.  

I didn't like that it was hard to move my feet.  so I cried.  Then Mommy picked me up and put me on the beach blanket.

So instead of enjoying the beach right at the start, I had to slowly get used to it.  I did so from the comfort of Jhenelle's beach towel. It took some time (Mommy thinks about only half an hour) before I got used to it.  But it felt like forever since I was just not sure about this whole beach sand thing.   First I was enjoying all of the attention from the people on the towel.  Then I began crawling around Jhenelle's big beach towel. Then suddenly my feet hit the sand.  I turn to see what it was and realized that I could scoop it up with my hands and pour it out just like my bath water, but this stuff stayed in my hands longer...

Then I began realizing that I could play with the stuff.  I could use these cool toys to move it, shake it and stick my hands into it.  The sand was getting more and more fun!

Mommy thought I might be getting use to it so we headed toward the water.  She said that since I just loved my bathtime that I might have even more fun with TONS more water.  She was right!  Okay, the water is a whole lot colder than by usual bath water but there TONS more and it comes to me!  I don't even have to go to it.  The waves kept coming up and since the sand was getting warm, we sunk our feet into it. oh, it was cold, but it felt cool on the toes!

After my first contact with ocean water, Daddy finished playing football with all the people who were playing.  He joined Mommy, and Auntie Chella and me by the water.  That's when Daddy saw that we had sand toys and decided he wanted to build a sandcastle. YAY! my first sandcastle!  that was lots of fun. Meanwhile, Mommy dug a bowl in the sand.  Don't really know why. But I had fun helping both of them dig!

By the time mass rolled around, I was exhausted from all the sand, the water and the sun.  I fell asleep and Mommy wrapped me up in blankets just like last year.

I slept through all of mass and then woke up during dinner.  By then the sun had set and it was too dark to take flash pictures without blinding someone. In all I had a great time at the beach even though I wasn't too sure about the sand eating up my feet.  The water was great and I had no problem with that.  I can't wait to get into the water next time.  Perhaps we'll start with the pool or the warmer water in Hawaii!

Until next time~