Girls Week

After a grueling last couple weeks of school, we were more than ready to head off to California for a week. Ashley, Zoe, and I were able to score a cheap flight into Long Beach with one catch... it was at 6:30 in the morning. So Farryn, being the angel she is, came to pick us up late the night before so we could sleep at her place only 8 minutes from the airport (yes, we timed it). So after trying to fit suitcases for 4 people (with carry-ons, purses, and backpacks) into her baby car, we were able to magically fit for the ride to SLC.

When we arrived at the Long Beach airport that morning, we decided that we needed to get to the beach as fast as possible. We stopped at the rainbow outlet and then headed right to the beach. We were all so tired that as soon as our bodies hit the sand we couldn't help but to fall asleep right then and there. Clothes and all, we woke up about 2 hours later with a lovely sunburn.

The next day, we slept in a little and hit up the afternoon showing of 'The Lucky One'. I thoroughly enjoyed it, but I mean, who doesn't enjoy Zach Efron? After a surprise visit from our friend Preston, we packed up all of our things to head up to the beach house for the next couple of days. The BYU mens volleyball team was in LA playing Stanford that day in the Semifinals, so being the dedicated fans we are, we decided to stop along the way to watch the game. I'm still amazed that no one had to be taken away in an ambulance considering how close the match was and how involved we all seemed to be; I almost had a heart attack myself. After the game, we picked up Erik and headed down to Santa Monica for dinner. Then the boys headed back down and the girls took PCH all the way up to Oxnard. I couldn't have been happier than I was driving up my favorite highway and watching the moon reflecting in the ocean. Seriously perfect.

On our list of things to do in California, laying out on the beach was definitely at the top. What I love about the beach house is that we have it all to ourselves. The girls and I took our towels out and shared the beach with the birds. All the sun to ourselves. We stopped by the strawberry man, grabbed our books, and did what we had been dreaming about all during finals week.

After getting even MORE sunburnt than the first day (seriously I couldn't even walk), the boys gave us a call and said that they were going to the Dodgers game and wanted to meet up with us at the beach for the next couple of days. We had a blast eating fish and chips, going geo-caching, and even watching a magic show by the great Q-Dini!

After the boys headed home, we spent one final day getting over our sunburns and eating oreos for breakfast. 

Monday, we checked off another item on our list and decided to go visit the tide pools in Corona Del Mar. It's one of my favorite spots on earth. It's amazing to walk around these small worlds, trying to spot the lives inside of them. We found crabs, fish, urchins, slugs, and all kinds of life. We were even able to spot a group of whales off of the coast. It was then that I decided I want to be a marine biologist. I was in heaven there on that little beach, and I never wanted to leave.

On our final day, we decided to hop in the car and head to Disneyland. Zoe had never been before, so Ash and I were more than happy to show her all of our favorite parts. Needless to say, we went on Space Mountain more than once. It was a pretty slow day, so we had the park to ourselves. We ate dole whip, dominated the buz ride, petted some goats, and took lots and lots of photographs... what's the point of going to Disneyland if Instagram doesn't hear all about it?!

Now I'm missing my dear friends. I say we plan for round two? Who is down?