a very so cal easter

easter this year for us was a lovely, low-key day.  we spent it as a family, just the four of us, and it was just nice to hang out together.  and we can mark the date on our calendar as the first time we've gotten the old lady to come to church with us since she was - oh, about ten?  heh.

the hub had come up with a great plan for the rest of the day - head home, change into comfy clothes, pack up the easter ham and take it down to the beach for a picnic.  as you can imagine, he was met with zero resistance.  and because the ham was literally the only thing we had on hand for said picnic, we stopped at bristol farms once we got down to newport to add to the spread.

so you know how it's always a bad idea to go grocery shopping when you're hungry?  well, let me add to that:  don't hit up a fantastic store like bristol farms with the entire family when you haven't eaten anything in hours.  i don't even want to tell you what our total was once we finally made our way to the register.  yeesh.

it took us a little while to actually make it to the beach, what with the insane holiday traffic in the most touristy parts.  we got stuck in one of the public parking lots before realizing we were better off searching for a spot somewhere off the beaten path.  we still got stuck on several dead-end residential streets, but we finally found an opening parking spot on the street.  even better?  it was free!  no rushing back and forth to feed the meter.  and once we finally got to the water's edge, it was totally worth the wait.

now, we'd warned the bean that it wasn't going to be too particularly warm.  didn't matter one bit.  she got herself dressed in a bathing suit and coverup before we left the house, and she didn't hesitate for even a second to toss that coverup aside the moment we spread out the blanket on the sand.  she was one happy camper.

meanwhile, the hub and the old lady worked on setting up our spot.

we had pasta salad, fresh fruit, crackers, rolls, you name it.  quite the nice little easter spread, i'd say.

the bean and i had opted for the make-your-own-poke-bowl bar.  yum.

besides going to church that morning, this was the only traditional part of our easter.

the bean managed to make a friend to frolic in the water with, and they played for a long time while we just sat and watched and relaxed on the sand.  her little friend finally left with her father, and so she came up to have some food.  by that time, the clouds had started rolling in and it had gotten a bit chilly.  the hub, who's become mr. social media on behalf of the lounge, got in a few shots for his instagram account and then we packed it up and headed out.

the bean was not thrilled to be leaving the beach.  she'd had a really good time, and she wasn't ready to leave.  so we decided to head over towards balboa island and take a ride on the ferry to cheer her up.

we even got out of the car and sat on the benches, but it didn't work.  she was in grumpy cat mode.

oh, well.  we got to the other side and drove off the boat.

one last attempt to turn that frown upside down landed us here:

i mean...wouldn't this make you happy?  delicious mini sundaes topped with a cupcake or a cookie.  so yummy.

when we got home, we all passed out.  no egg hunt or bunnies anywhere in sight, but that was okay.  yay for easter!