Remember the post "The Shoes And Stick On The Sand"?  It took me a while to make another post due to some photo attachment issues in blogger that I have been experiencing.  Luckily today I was able to successfully upload my photos.  Here's the partial story behind the post "The Shoes And Stick On The Sand".

Every year we go to San Francisco to do our taxes.  It's quite a drive to go there but we have our trusted Tax Preparer there who's been handling our taxes for the longest time.  We take our tax day as a reason to go somewhere special around the bay area.  This year we went to Pacifica, located just 12 miles south of San Francisco along the scenic coast of the Pacific Ocean. Known for its natural beauty, Pacifica is filled with numerous hiking trails through rolling hills that overlook the ocean surf and forested canyons.

"Pacifica means "peaceful" in Spanish. However, the City of Pacifica did not receive its name from its Spanish foreparents. Pacifica's name was the product of a contest held in 1957 to find a name for the newly incorporated coastal city. The winning name was based on an 80-foot statue by sculptor Ralph Stackpole, created as the theme lady for the Golden Gate International Exposition. The Exposition was held on Treasure Island in 1939-40. The statue was destroyed after the fair was over but two of the sculptor's working models have been saved. One is over the front stairs at City Hall; the other sits in the City Council Chambers." 

So there, we went to Pacifica to spend some quality family time with our little boy.  We knew he'd enjoy the beach with the sand and the water.  I told hubs I prefer to stay under the tree to shield us from the scorching sun but to our surprise it was a hazy day.  Sun was completely shielded therefore it was freezing cold, chilly like winter!  Hubs was actually laughing at me teasing me about the tree shade I was asking for, it was so chilly even under faint sun.  Luckily we had all our snow clothes in the car trunk and managed to keep ourselves warm adding some layers.

See our happy boy gathering wet sand for his sand castle and few sticks?  It was too cold that we didn't want to stay near the shore.  Getting some "building materials" for little J's sand castle needed much effort walking to the shore and back.  Pobresito carrying a bucket full of wet sand, quite heavy for a little boy so he made mommy do the carrying for him after few rounds.

We have a little Architect in the making, he was being so crafty and creative trying to etch and put doors and windows on the sand castle.  I was even telling him not to be that detailed because I was afraid it would collapse and I didn't want to deal with crying and all.  Can you see the proud and happy daddy behind all bundled up as well?  It turned out to be a simple but special outing for us.  Having a picnic lunch at the beach and just kicking back some time.  We did more fun stuff later on but this is it for now.