balboa island.

getting some disney channel in before the big family bike ride.

one of our most favorite things to do in newport is to take family bike rides to balboa island where we treat ourselves to balboa bars and frozen bananas. yum.  this has been a tradition for years.  we love riding down the boardwalk and taking in all the sights and then riding the ferry to the most perfect quaint little island with the most charming houses.  it's like something out of the movies.  the main street has the cutest little shops and some of the tastiest eats.  this place makes me so happy and brings back so many memories from when i was kid and now i get to make new memories with my little family (and my big family too).

go fly a kite.

the beach isn't complete without a kite flying in the sky.... we completed it.

the beach.

i so look forward to coming to this place every summer.  newport beach feels like my second home because i have been coming here each summer for as long as i can remember.  it never disappoints... although, i do wish the water could be a little water.  it amazes me how cold that water is and somehow, i always force my way into it.  after a while the body goes numb and then it isn't so bad. jonah was such a natural beach bum.  he didn't mind if sand was in his eyes or mouth, he was all about wearing sunblock and he loved the water.  i was so happy that my baby loved the beach.  we spent days with family, building sand castles and such, bike riding, surfing, boogie boarding, kite flying, skim boarding, playing in the waves, and watching the olympics.  it was the perfect vacation.

disneyland: day 2

we sure love this place.  we had another wonderful day of rides, family, characters, food, and fun. jack was able to ride california screamin first his first time thanks to his "magic shoes", as he calls them.  he loved it.  the kids visited dug from up and had no idea it was their best buddy, erin. (well, eden and jonah didn't know...jack figured it out and kept calling dug "erin".  oops. 7 year olds.)  and since we do know a little friend in the biz, eden was hooked up with a small private meeting with mickey and minnie.  she was beside herself to say the least.  it was the cutest thing ever and i think i am going to have frame this last picture...it's my absolute favorite.

next stop on our trip...the beach!