labor day part two

  
after such a fun & crazy holiday weekend with friends in town,

we were excited to lounge at the beach all day monday on our actual

day off. after a yummy breakfast we went down to santa cruz and ran all along

the beach, then took a good long nap, had a picnic, walked to the lighthouse,

and later met some friends from our ward for a beach bonfire and dinner.

  

we clearly loved this lighthouse 

for some reason i always want these pictures where i am holding the landmark in
the background, and chase thinks it's funny to make it so i'm way off
without knowing it...but when i look at them later he's right-- it is pretty funny.
 
at least he let me be a little bit closer in this one

i wanted to get a long run in in monday morning because we're doing a half marathon next month, but chase convinced me to eat waffles instead and said we could run at the beach. i agreed, but it turned into more of a beach stroll and then all hopes of a run ended when we ran out on the pier and discovered the sea lions...

i'm in love. they are the cutest animals, they remind me of dogs so that's probably

why i'm obsessed. it was a sunny day so there were hundreds laying on the beams all over the pier. we just stared at them and named them all..they are hilarious barking at each other, pushing each other off their spots, and just basking in the sun. we couldn't get enough! i wonder if our apartment would let us have one.

i named this one kona and i think she liked it because she was posing for
the camera like a little model. chase also had fun trying to get his hand bitten off.

every labor day should include a nap..preferably on the beach
 

after busy santa cruz we went to a quieter place called hidden beach to meet friends. we played some ultimate frisbee on the beach (i was the only girl playing...and we lost) and then we had a fun bonfire and roasted hot dogs! we brought some treats and it was a fun time.

a great labor day dinner if you ask me!

 

we love santa cruz and we will be back often..
it was a great labor day!
{see our full labor day weekend here}

xo

what did you do for labor day?
have you ever been to santa cruz?
what's your favorite food to bring to a barbecue?