Fun in the Sun: Family Beach, Spanish Steps, and Gab Gab Beach

I'm going to spend the next several posts trying to catch up on events before 2017 arrives and then work on blogging more timely in 2017.

Family Beach: 
In early October before Mason went TDY to South Korea we took a beach outing to Family Beach which is about 45 minutes from our house.  These beach was more secluded and there weren't really many people at all.  There were some tourists that we saw taking advantage of some of the jet skis and inter tube rides in the area, but we mostly had the beach to ourselves.

The water had a shallow area before dropping down over the kids heads, and there was a pretty clear line where the change was so that was helpful for the adult watching the kids play, but also for the kids when they were playing in the water, so they knew not to go to deep.  Since we have to alternate who goes snorkeling, generally Mason goes out first and scopes things out and I go for round 2.  I'm still a bit hesitant to go in the super deep water or where I can't see the ground.  I love the water, but something about not being able to see the ground is a little too strange for me.

  

This was the first time that I went pretty far out from the beach, and then underwater views did not disappoint.  I did get to a few areas where I felt like I was in Finding Nemo when the boat disappeared and all you could see was blue.  I enjoyed being able to lift my head up and see land and gain my bearings.  I'm not sure I'll really get scuba certified ever since I'm really not a fan of that feeling, but we'll see.  At 37 weeks pregnant on this trip swimming feels pretty comfortable compared to some other activities these days. 

There was a grassy area near the parking where there was some jungle and then a breakwall, so Mason eventually climbed over there to check out the snorkeling, but he reported that the water was a little bit rougher and the snorkeling wasn't any more amazing than the spot we were in.

Mason and the boys brought some cheerios to try and feed the fish, but cheerios float and did not seem to attract any fish.  One of the funnier moments though was when I was just floating in the shallow water and found two Titlist golf balls.  The kids enjoyed playing with them, and I couldn't help but think of the Seinfeld episode where George pulled a golf ball from a whales blow hole.  

The kids are getting much more comfortable in the water and with using their goggles, but I'd still like to get them actually swimming their strokes.  We had a really fun day at Family Beach as one of our last before baby adventures.

Spanish Steps & Gab Gab Beach:

After Maximus was born and Mason was on full parent duty taking care of all of us, he took the opportunity to go snorkeling early one morning at Spanish Steps.  This location is on the Navy Base and is frequently closed, so to find it open on the weekend before he headed back to work from paternity leave was great.  He left the house around 5am because the hike to the water would take awhile.  He reported that there were some steep parts of the trail that required him to hold on to ropes and such, and that once he got to the beach, there wasn't much sandy beach area, so it's not going to be the best option with all the kiddos, but we'll get there one day.  Mason spent an hour at Spanish Steps enjoying the snorkeling, but after that the currents were picking up so he headed over to one of our favorite spots, Gab Gab, and did another hour of snorkeling.  He even saw a sea turtle!!!