Huntington Beach trip.

For our getaway this year, Mr. Keller and I went back to Huntington Beach. (Our 2012 and 2013 getaways here and here).

We totally fell in love last time and knew we wanted to go back. My mom came to watch the boys while we were away. We were in the middle of rain storms again (remember she was here last year when we flooded, too!). We were uneasy about leaving. I procrastinated until the very latest moment, Mr. Keller gave me a blessing, we kissed our children ten thousand times and off we went. As we began driving, I didn't realize how late we had really left. We drove fast and pretty much ran through the airport. Our luggage was 'late check-in' and we barely made it. But we did. We landed fine, picked up the rental car and went straight to Fred's to eat a very late dinner. Fred's was our favorite-favorite last time, and we were sort of disappointed that the food wasn't as good as we remembered it being. Probably because we're organic food snobs now and our bodies tell us nothing quite measures up. 

We were glad to get checked into the hotel. We were so tired! The rest of the trip was so low-key, which is exactly what we wanted. We had no plans. We ate a lot, played in the ocean every afternoon, walked around town, people watched. It was such a nice, sunny break away.

Here are a few phone photos of our trip:

 

{The sweetest little fishing bike}

So many interesting people. I love how the majority of all the women were so comfortable in their bodies. We saw some curvy, curvy women rocking bikinis. 

Gorgeous beach cruisers everywhere we went!

I could've watched these sailboats for hours.

On the pier

From Fred's balcony. 

This year, we bought a body board instead of renting one. It was much cheaper that way. Mr. Keller could NOT get the hang of it. I was just dying! Finally we had to google step by step instructions, and then after he STILL couldn't get it, I took matters into my own hands and went out and taught him. I was so glad I did -- I had no idea how fun it was! Seriously, so much fun.   

The last day, I decided to rent a wet suit. After I got mono in high school, I developed this stupid allergy to cold where I break out in hives. It's frustrating because I really do love to swim, but I'm just not able to for too long without breaking out and getting really shaky. I'm pretty sure I looked pretty stupid and you should've seen Mr. Keller trying to zip this thing up. It was a feat. But it was totally worth it. I was able to swim and bodyboard for hours.

So, here's the picture Mr. Keller thought it would be so funny to take:  

We spent hours each night, walking around main street, people-watching. People are so interesting and so strange. We tried to pick out the locals in the crowd and I couldn't believe how every girl was the same girl. They all looked, dressed and laughed the same. Every girl wore the same tall, thick-wedged shoes, with short shorts or mini skirts. And we saw more breasts than we cared to have seen in a lifetime. Truly gross. I was grateful to be covered up.

We laughed a lot. We saw some funny things that we will joke about for years to come. We were totally entertained. And one night, at dinner, there was this huge issue with one man asking us to shut the window by our table. The restaurant was beachfront, and it was dusk, so it was chilly. We gladly shut the window after he asked, but then the guy behind us began throwing a huge fit. It became this huge fight with lots of name-calling, and finger flipping, and we just watched it all go down. After a moment, I looked over and realized the guy who had asked for the window to be shut was with Dr. Marlena from Days of Our Lives (Diedre Hall), which made the situation even more bazaar. The guy kept harassing them until finally they had to move tables across the restaurant. Mr. Keller was so upset with the way the guy was acting. He was so awful to his wife and his teenage sons, and even worse to the other couple. I couldn't believe how belligerent he was. We almost thought he was joking at first. But he wouldn't let it go, all because the other couple asked for the window to be shut. It sort of ruined the night. I thought Mr. Keller was going to turn around and punch the guy. And that's not like him. I'm usually the one making scenes in public. :) After we paid, we walked across the restaurant because Mr. Keller wanted to tell the other guy how well he thought he handled the situation and that we were sorry it turned into something so huge. Marlena is pretty and classy. She seemed sweet. When we left, I told Mr. Keller I should've paid him twenty bucks to ask her where John was. She didn't know we knew who she was. I don't think anyone else recognized her either. Is Days of Our Lives even on anymore?

Good times that night.  

Pretty sunset, and a cute surfer. I could watch surfing for hours. It's so relaxing to watch.