Beach combin'

I am back from my 9 day trip to TX and CA.   And now I am finally writing about our beach vacation!

  Last year when we came to this area we fell in love with the beach.  And the lady, Maria, who rented us these beach chairs for the day.

Her kindness (and prices) left an impression on us.  Not only did we get a beach chair (we rented 2) for the whole day, we got sand toys and could even get a beach towel if needed.  She was so sweet to the kids and her face sure brightened when the kids started speaking to her in Spanish!!

June is the best time to come to the beach in Spain.  That is if you don't like people on top of you, which we don't!  School doesn't get out until late June so on the weekdays the beaches are only spotted with people instead of covered on the weekends.  We learned that by going to the beach on a Sunday!  Crazy!!  So many people!!

Compare this picture to the last beach pic!  Weekday vs. weekend!

The water was still a bit cold, but it sure didn't deter Karis!!  Brennan & Reegan were a bit more hesitant and seemed happy to sit and enjoy the sun or play in the sand.

Our most favorite thing to do, though was beach combing!!  What a perfect area to do so!  Our first day there as I was enjoying the edge of the water, I looked down to see something green and noticed it was glass.  I thought to myself "how dangerous!"  Upon closer inspection I noticed that it had been tumbled in the sea and was now smooth with not a hint of a sharp edge.  It was beautiful!  Isn't it amazing how a piece of junk can become something of beauty?!   And a great illustration.  A perfect example of what Christ can do in our own lives when He takes the junk we have and turns it into beauty for His glory!

It also seemed to be a landing spot for various types of shells.  This is only a hint of what we found.

We found enough to take one shell back for each kid in Karis, Brennan & Reegan's classes!

It wasn't a fine powdery sandy beach, partly due to the broken shells.  It was a bit hard on the feet to do much walking.  We were thankful for those aqua socks we bought last summer in Altea.  None the less, we still enjoyed it!

Just behind the line of beach chairs was a cute little restaurant called La Cubana.  It was perfect to leave our towels and toys by our chairs while we grabbed a bite to eat at this open restaurant.  We ate there just about every day we were at the beach!  Good prices, decent food (we loved the french fries or patatas fritas) and great location!  We loved it!

We didn't spend every day at the beach, but almost.  One day we headed to a nearby mall.  Mainly to get an internet connection, do a bit of grocery shopping and grab a bite to eat.  Then we headed to our rental home to play in the pool.

Another day we headed into the center beach area of Benalmadena and check out the beachy, touristy shops.  We ate at a little British fish and chips place and walked along the board walk area taking in the sights and sounds.  We enjoyed the excursion, but it made us like the area we were staying in even better!

 A popular menu item in this area...sardines on a stick!!  And only 4€!

One glorious week on the Costa del Sol!

We got in some game playin'.... 

 ...as well as Karis & Brennan learning to blow bubbles!

We loved it!!  Hope you enjoyed it along with us!