Merry Christmas!

When we went down to Huntington Beach we walked on the pier and watched the surfers.

Many people say Huntington Beach is the "Surfing Capital of the World".  The US Open of Surfing is held there every year with as many as 50 other competitions to keep the surfers busy.

It was amazing to watch the surfers, they made it look so easy! We were freezing on the pier so I can't even imagine how cold the water was.  I would love to learn to surf one day, but I'll wait until it's a little warmer out.

After the sun went down we headed back toward Dana Point for dinner and then the IlluminOcean- 40 Nights of Holiday Lights celebration.

The main event was a boat parade in the harbor.

The boats were all decorated for Christmas.  They were in a contest but I guess there won't be a clear winner until January when the parade is officially over.

I personally loved the sailboats, the tall ones looked especially beautiful outlined in lights.

The lights festival that went along with the boat parade really brought the christmas spirit to the ocean that night.

The trees lining the path were wrapped in blue and green lights and we decided it made them look like seaweed.

The whale in a Christmas hat was one of my favorites because it reminded me of the whale watch we went on, not to mention we were at the same harbor where that took place.

There was a 50ft tall tree in the park that had lights that moved in synch with christmas music, all the music made me want to dance.

My mom really loved all of the palm trees that were lit up.  It was fun to experience Christmas celebrations in such a different way then back home.

Tonight we are in Maryland and we're going to go to my Aunts house for our annual Christmas Eve party. I hope you all have a really wonderful holiday!