California Getaway, Part II; Beach Walk, Brunch, and Back to the Beach

We all slept in after our Long Night of Travel. Even having slept in, Nicco and I were up before the Daddy. We decided to let him get some peaceful rest and walked ten steps to the beach. We put on our jackets for the excursion. So cold.

The beach first thing in the morning is a fun place to be. All sorts of creatures washed up on the shore and the tides rolled out leaving living tide pools in among the rocks.

"This is a living beach!" exclaimed my boy as we walked along.

We spotted a starfish. It was exciting. "I can't believe that some things I learned about in school came true!" I guess he didn't believe in starfish until he saw one in real life.

There were many, many sand dollars on the beach, mostly cracked and broken and at the very least they had holes in their middles. Nicco was excited when he saw a sand dollar inhabited by a hermit crab and some seaweed. "That one's alive!" he said.

 We also saw this kind of big smooshed crab.

 And a snowy egret (or something) feeding on the mussels and clams.

This clammer was dressed appropriately. It was a cold and gray morning. And damp out there in the waves!

We saw a bunch of guys on these paddle surf board things. It looked like fun. Cold, complicated fun.

 And a sailboat on the misty gray morning.

Nicco and I had our fill of the morning beach sights and we were hungry so we went back to the room to rouse the Daddy. The fancy shmancy hotel did not include a complimentary continental breakfast so we indulged in the on-site brunch. Nicco had bacon. Lots and lots of bacon. And pancakes and fruit. But mostly bacon.

After brunch we walked around the hotel grounds a little and passed the sweet smelling Moo Time Creamery. We didn't indulge. Nicco wanted to get back to the beach.

We tucked the Daddy in for a much needed afternoon nap and headed back to the beach. I asked Nicco if he wanted his swim shirt. "No," he said. "I'm not going to swim. I'm just going to get my feet wet." Okay. Sure. Whatever.

 Five minutes later...

After two hours of "just getting our toes wet," we went back to the room and roused the Daddy again. He heard from our friend Mark who lives nearby and wanted to get together "when the sun came out." I thought we may have to wait a whole day for that, so we went without the sun. Mark had his grandson visiting. Mason is about a year older than Nicco and I think everyone was glad that the two boys had some time with a new buddy. They introduced themselves and disappeared. Mark wondered if we needed to be concerned. I said no. They were watching a movie and playing games and making up games and being silly. It was fantastic.

While the boys played, the grown-ups sat out on the patio. Mark started rolling out the awning and in a panic, I shouted "NO!" The sun had only just peeked out. I needed it. So we sat in the sun. We went to dinner at a local favorite spot and were treated to a magic show. Perfect for the kids. The magician even made the grown-ups crack a smile or two. After dinner we made plans to get together again the next day for some beach time and an up close tour of the Fed Ex airport where Mark works.

We said good night and went back to our temporary home.

A good day.

California Getaway, Part I

Last Friday was a long day for Mr. Nicco. It was vacation day. He really thought that because it was vacation day, vacation should begin at the break of day. He did not enjoy waiting for the Daddy to get home from work one bit. He did not like all the wasting of time cleaning and packing and such. All those organizational details like holding the mail, arranging for someone to check on the cat, etc. just infringed upon his desire/need to get on the road already!

 

The Daddy did eventually come home from work and we did eventually get on the road. This was our view from the airplane window as we coasted down the runway, ready to take off.

We left the desert around 100 degrees and 7:30 p.m. We landed in San Diego right on time (9:30 and 75 degrees. Nicco said, "I feel moist.") but it took forever to get to the rental car and out to the hotel.  First we had to fill up the courtesy shuttle from the airport to the rental place. That meant several stops on the way out. Then we had to circle back to where we started from because a second courtesy shuttle had a handicapped passenger but the driver didn't know how to operate the lift. And for some reason unknown to God or Man, it took about 45 minutes to drive the mile from the airport to the Budget home base. Then the line and the paperwork. Finally, we were in our car (and starving) and on our way. We drove past the hotel on our quest for food. Nicco was upset about passing the hotel. So tired, he was. He called to his Papa from the back seat, "Monsieur, l'hotel est derriere!" Le Chauffeur continued until he found a pizza joint that was still open and grabbed a couple slices. We devoured them. We crossed the San Diego/Coronado Bridge (at night...this picture was not from our arrival. It gets dark in San Diego at night. It isn't Alaska.)

The streets of Coronado were lined with these banners commemorating the 125 anniversary of the Hotel del Coronado, our home for the next 5 days.

The hotel was a welcome sight for weary travelers. The Daddy checked us in, we parked (for $31/day...Nicco said, "Should we only stay for 3 nights? You know, $31 a day?" We reassured him that we can in fact afford to park for 5 days.) and wandered a couple of hallways until we found our room. When we got inside, I shushed Nicco and made him listen. "You hear that?" I asked. "I think it's rain," he said. Not rain, my dear boy. The ocean. If he hadn't been so exhausted, he might have run out to the beach right then and there.

But he was exhausted. Nicco got into his jammies quickly and chose his bed. He was happy to see two beds because we told him on the way that he would be sleeping in the bathtub. We promised to give him pillows and blankets to be comfy, and I think he half way believed us up until the moment he saw his bed.

We fell asleep to the soothing sound of ocean waves and in the morning we opened our patio door to this view and short walk to the beach.

(P.S. That picture there was not taken on our first morning. The sun did not shine until about 2:00 p.m. and I was nearly in a panic. This desert dweller needs the sunshine.)

Shockwaves, Epilogue

Swim season officially ended at the championships, but because we paid for the pool for the whole month of July, we kept on swimming. There are three YMCAs in town, so the three decided to have a for fun Y meet on the 27th. And there was an end of the year party on the 30th. Both of which we missed because of vacation. It was kind of a bummer, but you know, vacation.

 

On the practice after championships, Coach Debbie and Coach Parker presented all the ribbons and the trophy to the kids. Our team came in third place overall and brought home that pretty hefty trophy. My small boy with no prior experience thought they all got a trophy just like that. I had to explain that it was a team trophy, and the individual swimmers got individual medals and ribbons for their individual events.

The coaches led a team cheer with the significantly diminished team. I think most of the kids quit when the championships were over.

My little nutter butter is in the middle there, in front of the gal in purple and black.

Here's his haul for the season: 

Not bad. He was pleased and proud and plans to continue. With motivation, he has the skills to be a good little swimmer. And maybe he could be a coach. Or a lifeguard. Or Michael Phelps.

Knit Wit

My Mama taught me to crochet when I was younger. She tried to teach me to knit too, but I'm just not dexterous enough to handle two needles. She always has a yarn project going, socks, baby blankets, baby dresses, etc. It's fun for her and there's always someone somewhere about to have a baby so she always has a hand made with love gift ready to go.

 

Back in the day I made myself a granny square afghan that followed me from track and cross country meets (I think...I vaguely remember that blanket on the bus...) and from dorm room to apartment after apartment in my high school and college days. It wore out eventually, as did my skills with a crochet hook.

 

Recently the ladies at church announced a project to make/collect lap quilts for the elderly folk in a local assisted living center. I decided this would be a good opportunity to try out my dormant skills with hook and yarn. The granny squares were pretty easy. So easy in fact, that I got bored with doing the same thing over and over. I took a break and made a hat. It's cute, I think. But it's slightly too small for me. Instead of adding more rows, I just decided to hang on to it and make another one and I'll give them to Nicco's twins for their birthday.

Making that little hat used up just enough of the gray yarn that I had to carefully plan and lay out a pattern with my squares. I had it all set up, row by row, but accidentally misplaced a gray square. Normally, it wouldn't be a big deal. But I didn't notice my mistake until I was well into the next row and I had tucked away the string and stitched around it in such a manner that I couldn't find it to pull it out and correct my mistake. So, I have a hodge-podge blanket instead of a symmetrical one. As I was going along I also realized that I connected some of the seams backwards. That's not a very easily noticeable mistake, but it's there. I also ran out of blue yarn so I had to buy another skein. I accidentally bought the wrong brand, which was a slightly darker shade.

 

So my reintroduction to the world of crochet was this mistake laden granny square lap quilt, which after some internal debate I have decided to donate anyway. The mistakes just prove that it was made by hand, right?

My Nicco liked my hat and wanted one of his own so I told him he could choose some yarn when we went to get more blue yarn. I showed him some cool colors, but he was drawn to the multi-colored skeins. I encouraged him to choose a camo design, but he insisted on the bright colors. "I get what I want, and I want this!" he insisted. As my little sister said, if there is any time in his life that he can pull off a rainbow hat, this is it. And, to my boy who likes what he likes without caring what others may say or think, shine on I say. Be you.

While at the yarn store, I decided to pick up a little something to make a little something for a pregnant friend of mine. I did not know at the time that she would be having a girl, so I chose a creamy white and light blue (but not baby boy blue) for a blanket. I saw a neato pattern with these bobble stitches and decided that would be a fun stitch to try out. And I was right. And I only had to start over three times, I think. Not bad,



Here it is, all finished with a pretty ribbon woven around the edge and tied up in a feminine little bow for a little girl. And, once again, the mistakes just prove it was hand made with love. It is one of a kind. 

I think I might follow in my Mama's footsteps and always (or often) have a project going on. It's fun and somewhat addicting. And my cat appreciates the leftovers.

P.S. After the cat ran around the house with her ball of yarn, Nicco noticed that it made a pattern that looked like a man walking. He insisted on taking a picture. Now it's a memory forever.

So Happy...

Like many children, I used to sneak a flashlight into my bedroom so I could stay up reading way past bedtime. I remember once upon a summer's night (at least I think it was summer. I could be wrong.) I had a little bedspread tent set up and was reading contentedly, feeling certain that I would not get busted because surely my parents were sound asleep by 10:00. I was also unaware at the time that my parents would probably never punish a child for reading in bed. Ever. Even past 10:00. But on this particular night there came a pounding on the door and insistent parental voices telling me to "get out here, now!" I remember quickly turning off the tell-tale flashlight and pretending to sleep, heart pounding. But the insistent voices insisted and the parents intruded on my sanctuary and aroused me from my fake sleep. They led me outside where my sisters were already watching the phenomenon in the sky. That night the Aurora Borealis was visible in Colorado. My parents forced us all to look at it and appreciate it. (Officially vindicated, my parents are.)

 

We spent some moments out on the deck together and I was thrilled, I'm sure, to see the wonder of Nature in her Glory. But mostly I was relieved that I was not in trouble for staying up late reading.

 

I read my kid bedtime stories every night. He loves it, and not just because I say so. But I always read to him. He never reads to himself. I don't really mind because he does love stories, so I figure as long as we keep reading it's just a matter of time.

 

So you can imagine the thrill in my heart when my small boy made himself a pillow fort and wedged a flashlight in between the cushions and read the next chapter of our chapter book to himself. 

I didn't even mind missing out on a chapter.

Summer Skies

We have beautiful sunsets around here. More beautiful than any other place I've been, including over the ocean. Our skies are particularly spectacular in the summertime when the monsoons roll in, bringing clouds and kicking up dust upon which the light can play as the sun goes down.

I have a love/hate relationship with the monsoons. I love them for the rain and the temporary cooling off in our blazing summer heat. I hate them for the humidity and weeds. I do prefer the blow-torch dry heat of the desert to any degree of humidity.

Here's a sample of our summer skies that I have captured so far:

A monsoon heavy cloud sitting over the mountains, but the sun still shines.

I forced my boys to come outside and look at this sunset with me. Nicco wasn't nearly as enthusiastic about it as I was. But, what else is new. I'm making childhood memories with him, dammit! He'll appreciate me some day, I swear he will.



I think I tried to force my boys to look at this cloud too, but the Daddy was busy and the kid rolled his eyes at me, if I remember right. I'll be vindicated when he has his own kids and tries to make them appreciate the glory and wonder of nature.



I Gots Me Some Catchin' Up To Do

I was visibly absent from my blog in July. My poor, sad, lonely blog. We're back from the Vacay, school starts next week, and I have a camera full of photos to document and enhance with witty commentary.

Something for the six people who read my blog to look forward to! Your lives will soon be complete. Temporarily.

You're welcome.

Shockwaves, Episode 6

Championships. A two-day event.

On day one, Nicco swam the backstroke leg of the medley relay, backstroke, breaststroke, and freestyle. I didn't get to help him prep or focus or anything because I got stuck behind the blocks timing for the whole meet. Here's the thing...I'm happy to help out. I'm happy to do my share to make sure that programs and events my kid is involved in run smoothly and efficiently so that all participants have a good experience. I am NOT happy, however, to do someone else's share. Which is what I did on Tuesday. And I was grumpy. Our kids' coach tried to appease me by saying I have the best seats in the house for watching, right behind the blocks, but I had to focus on the race of whatever kid was in my lane, not my own kid. Grumpy.

My forced volunteerism came about because as the kids were getting lined up and ready for the medley relay, I walked to my watching position and heard the meet coordinator calling for 2 timers from our team. I ignored it for a moment, because I had signed up for the second shift. But they kept on calling and calling, so I figured I could do the first shift instead. I went over and said I would help out and the guy (he was really grumpy) kind of yelled at me that every team has to provide 2 timers so I had to find one more. I managed to get another mom to come with me, so both our kids were left to fend for themselves. I was only a little grumpy at that point, but then when we got behind the lanes I saw two other parents from our team in another lane. But it was too late to do or say anything about it. That made me actually grumpy. After two hours and two of my kid's races had passed, all the other teams' first shift of timers were relieved but the four of us were stuck there because the relievers were already working. I was beyond grumpy at this point, but resigned to my position. (In the meantime, Nicco did a great backstroke race. Not his best ever, but really good for him. Not good enough to qualify for the finals however.)

While I was stuck behind the blocks, my baby lined up for his breaststroke race. I watched him take his mark, dive in, and take off in a fast and smooth freestyle stroke. Half-way down the lane he realized his mistake and switched to breaststroke, finished strong, and came out crying. Coach Debbie tried to console him, but he needed his Mama. I set down my clipboard so I could talk to my kid. He was bitterly disappointed and sad and cried that he knew he was disqualified. Coach Debbie put the blame on Coach Parker for not making sure the kids knew which stroke they would be racing, but I blamed the event coordinators for bullying me into timing so I couldn't be with my kid to get him ready! Grrr! Nicco pulled himself together, finally consoled by his buddy's DS. I really hoped he would do his best freestyle ever to make him feel better. He did a good swim, but looked a little casual. Not nearly as intense as his other swims, and he turned in one of his slower times. When he heard his time, his shoulders fell and he said to me, "all that practice for nothing." I felt sad for him, but reminded him of the success of his relay and his opportunity to swim in the freestyle relay the next day. I also reminded him that all experiences are learning experiences and now he knows what he needs to do next year to get to the finals.

We met with some of the other team members and coaches for lunch and finally went home hot and tired. Nicco played wii, we watched a show through our eyelids, and went to bed early to get good rest for the final day of championship finals.

Day two started out with an ominously dark and brooding sky. Coach Parker said he hoped that if the storm came it would come later so that at least they could get some individual events done. Unless you were there only for the relay...like me.

Before the events got started, the meet coordinator called for volunteers. Two timers from TTAC, they said. I was sitting beside two of those who were timing with me the day before and they both said, "I guess I can do it again if they really need help, but I'd really like to watch my kid and take pictures today..." I emphatically told them not to do it. I would complain to the guy in charge and make him find volunteers from another team if he had to, since we provided 4 timers for 4 hours the day before. I was all ready to present my case, but some other parents stepped up. I still plan to write a letter. The mom I was sitting next to made a good point, that we all pay dues to SAAA but championships are really the only event that is hosted and run by the organization. Surely, with all those dues, they could provide officials for one event. A point that will be made in my letter. Which may actually become a petition. We'll see. Anyway...

The clouds rolled in and the wind kicked up and the lightning flashed, but north of us. The wind blew the storm up to our house (yay!) and away from the pool and the meet started on time. The kiddos got their warm-up laps done, someone sang the national anthem, and Nicco and his buddies found their game devices and settled in until their races were called.

After warm-ups and before the first event, Coach Parker called all the swimmers over to listen to instructions. Coach Parker is 17. He's very responsible, respectful, kind, fun, organized, happy, reliable, friendly, and just an all around good guy. I would be very proud of him if he were my kid. All the kids look up to him (I think the girls have a particular fondness for him...) and his girlfriend said that everywhere she goes with him people (mostly swim parents) tell her what a great guy he is. Another mom and I suggested that she do her best to keep him around. I think he's a winner! But enough about Parker.

We watched all the kids swim and I think they did great overall. They all came back to the team camp feeling good about their performances. Our little relay team had the second fastest seed time, so I talked to all the boys about doing their best races. If each of them swam their fastest, they had a good chance at a top 3 finish. I realized later that their seed time came with a different kid swimming the 3rd leg. The first leg got a good lead for our guys, the other teams almost caught up but Nicco maintained the lead (I forgot to stop my watch but I bet he swam a PR. He looked great), then the little guy swimming 3rd, a sweet autistic boy, lost all the ground the other two held and put them in last position. Our anchor is really fast and he swam his little heart out and gained three places to put our guys in 5th. Not bad. Nicco will be happy to get ribbons.

The team ended up in third place, which was actually really good considering we had the lowest number of participants at the meet. They get a trophy, so yay.

I wanted to get a picture of Nicco with his coaches and his relay team, but there was too much chaos with wrapping up and cleaning up so we just packed up and left. And watched our post-monsoon sunset on the way home. It was amazing and I kept making Nicco look. "I know, Mom. It's pretty. I saw it," he said. But it kept getting better by the minute and I knew it would be gone quickly! I found a place to pull over and snap a picture, but I was a couple minutes too late for the peak of the glorious splendor. Still, pretty amazing.

I called Patrice to tell him he had to step out and see it before it was gone. He said he got a glimpse, but I think he missed the glorious splendor too.

 

The sun set on our evening and on our swim season. It was a good experience and we will definitely repeat it next year. We may or may not continue year-round. Nicco will continue practicing until the end of the month (we paid pool fees for the whole month and there will be a "for fun" Y meet at the end of the month, plus there will be an end of season party/awards night at some point.

 

Good times. I love swim.

Independence Day 2013

My Independence Day plans involved three people, a cat, hamburgers, swimming, the Declaration of Independence and firecrackers in the driveway. On a whim, I told a friend that if they didn't have plans we'd be happy to have them join us in our intimate festival. But before all that, here are a couple of sweet and delicious pictures of my favorite toothless grin:

I could eat him up.
Anyway...our friends came over around 2:30, prime swimming time. We threw the kids in the pool then jumped in on top of them. Ahh...

After a refreshing dip in the pool and a refreshing pico de gallo dip, my people were ready to pay their price for freedom: listening to me read the Declaration of Independence. I was pleased and proud that all three kids could recite the first part with me. There were a lot of big words that went over the kiddos' heads, but I don't care! I stopped and explained a few things here and there in modern English and I choked up a bit reading "and for the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, our sacred honor."

The Papa grilled delicious burgers and we were sorta planning on seeing what fireworks we could see from Nicco's deck. We thought we could see three different displays but our friends wanted to hear the bombs bursting in air. So we went to the nearby high school. As expected, the parking lots and streets were packed. We went to the back parking lot (and thought nostalgically of the time we watched fireworks in the K-mart parking lot...) and set up on the asphalt.

At one point some fellow revelers drove by and asked if we'd be able to see the show from there. I said, "I'm pretty sure...they'll be up in the sky." The driver said, "Good point." 

 The kiddos adjusted and readjusted and asked "how much longer" every five minutes.

Mr. Chad put some tunes on the radio and the babies sang and danced while they waited for the show.

 My boys. I love them.

We ended up with the best seats in the house, if you ask me! No crowds, easy in, easy out, and a good view of the fireworks. The display lasted for about 25 minutes and we went home for dessert, courtesy of Ms. Ilene.

We had some fireworks to light in the driveway but our friends needed to check on their sick horse and the kids were exhausted anyway. Nicco was too tired for his bedtime chocolate milk even!

We had a great time celebrating the founding of our country and I think we have a couple of new traditions.