Just Beachy!

On Saturday, we finished off our spring break with a romp at the beach with the Keechlers.  The water was a bit too chilly for me, so I played with my camera instead.  The sun was a bit bright, but it was still fun to practice.

I love this picture!

The BIG Kahuna (and I mean big!)

Alex found ten bucks worth of sand dollars, if only they were actual dollars!

So long spring break! 

Teenager Troubles

Yes, we are having teenager troubles.  Not with my 13 year old, or even my 12 year old.  This story is about Caleb.  He is five.

We went to the park this morning.  Caleb is in afternoon kinder. It was a dreadfully hot day so most of the kids were playing in the water feature.  All of the kids were tiny - shirtless toddlers in diapers.  Caleb was by far the biggest kid there.  So he was at the water feature all of three seconds before he ran off, obviously upset, to the other side of the park, where he just moped.  I could not figure what I or anyone had done to make him so upset.  So I went to go talk to him and ask him what the matter was.  "I can't go play in the water,"  he explained.   I told him that of course he could.  "But I'm not allowed to! " he protested.  I thought he meant I didn't want him getting wet, so I assured him that he could change before school if he got wet. He said, "I'm not allowed to because the water is just for babies."  I told him that that wasn't true, and pointed out that the mommies were playing in the water too, not just babies.  "It's only for mommies and babies," he insisted, "but not teen-age-ers." This was said in an ironic tone, that sounded pretty teenagerish, actually.

"So?" I said, not quite getting his point, "you're not a teenager.  Go play."

"I KNOW I am not a teenager, but everybody THINKS I am a teenager!"

I had to laugh out loud.  "Hon-ey, you might be big for your age, but NOBODY thinks you are a teenager."  

He is five, granted a gigantic five, but looks all of seven, tops.

He just started crying.  "EVERYBODY thinks I am a teenager.  Those moms do, and they don't want me to play with their little kids.  They think I'm a teenager, and nobody likes teenagers!"

Poor little guy.  There was nothing I could say to convince him that he really didn't pass for a teenager, and my amusement really wasn't very amusing to him. He was convinced that everyone thought he looked like a teenager, and nothing I said could convince him otherwise.   

We ended up leaving the park... and his childhood ... behind him.

Have compassion.  We all know adolescence is tough, but it especially rough when you are only five.

What a Zoo!

We used the last three days of our spring break to go to our old stomping grounds, San Diego.  We stayed in La Jolla, just a stone's trow away from UCSD, my Alma Mater. It brought back a ton of memories!  

We have passes to both the San Diego Zoo, and the Wild animal park, so we took a day at each.

I have done a bit of experimenting with this post.  First, I had a lot of fun practicing with my telephoto lens at the zoo.  It is so fun to be able to get up close and personal with the animals.  Second, I explored making collages on Picasa.  Once I figured it out, it was pretty fun.

Hitching a ride from a friend.

Swim partners.

Little duck, big fish.

Comforting a friend.

A face only a mother could love.

He's got rhythm.

This little guy was only 4 weeks old and super adorable!  See that not so huge pile of dirt in the foreground?  He kept trying to climb up it, and kept struggling, then rolling off.  So cute!  Finally is mom had had enough, and simply knocked the dirt pile over with her front foot.  The babe just ran off and found another dirt pile to try to climb and fall off of.  Typical kid stuff.

We could have watched that baby for a long time!

Running on the swinging bridge.

We watched this lion climb this tree, go out on the long limb, then get stuck out there.  He tried to turn around, and nearly fell out of the tree a few times, before he finally figured it out and made it off the tree.  I was hoping to see if lions always land on their feet like cats do, or if the firemen come out to rescue lions from trees as well.

We saw a bird show that was really good.

Our favorite act was the talking parrot.  Luke REALLY got a kick out of that bird.

In captivity.

Every girl dreams of wearing a lacy white dress.

 Behind bars.

Attention!

Nap time.

What you lookin' at?

Slowly back away from the leopard.

We just loved the cuddly giant Pandas.  All they did was eat, of course.  No kung fu. 

 Polly want a mango?

Colorful personality.

A pair of crocs.

Trouble in paradise.  These guys were really fighting up a pink storm.

Think pink!

Show off!

Were we at the zoo, or Jurassic Park?

More wild animals.

I got my party horn, now where's the party?

The familiar look of any mother of a toddler - absolutely beat!

That baby gorilla was everywhere.  So cute. Finally he decided to just hang out in the sun.  It didn't last long before he we up and running again.

 

Gorilla wannabes.

Beautiful baboon.

Monkeys,

monkeys,

And more monkeys!

A whole family of good looking monkeys!  Oo-oo, Ah-ah!

High above the zoo.

A few of the animals followed us out of the zoo, and climbed into our car.

On both days we went to Old Town San Diego after the zoo.

We walked through the booths and the old architecture.  

The Keechlers joined us our second day.

 

Alex found some fossils at the mineral store, and Caleb swiped a candy at the candy shop, which landed him, and his brothers, in jail.

 

First Nate bought a mask with his birthday money.  Then the twins bought them so "Nateo Libre" would have someone to wrestle with.  Then Dennis gave in and bought them for the other boys as well.

 The rest of the trip turned into a GIGANTIC wrestling match!

Thanks, Hon.

In the restaurant.  Any wonder no one wanted to sit by us?

We ate at the Old Town Mexican Cafe.  The food was to DIE for!  There was a long wait, but you can watch the ladies making the tortillas by hand in the front window.  They were amazing!  The chips were hot out of the oil, and the salsa was spicy and perfect. (I am a big salsa connoisseur, and good salsa is hard to find.  This stuff was IT!)  Best of all, they gave us each our own bowl of salsa and kept it coming, so I didn't have to share.  The Mariachis played for us, which was so fun for the boys. I ordered the seafood enchilada, which was basically heaven bathed in red sauce!  It was so good and cheap ($40 fed all 8 of us, including tip!), that we went back the next night and all ordered the same things.

 

Then both nights we went to our favorite SD haunt, Mr. Frostee's on Garnet Ave. in Pacific Beach.  Dennis and I used to go here back when we were dating.  Sure enough, we even ran into an old friend while we were there.  Their peanut butter malt (they make their own peanut butter!) is quite possibly the very best shake on the planet, and the only thing I ever get there!

We had a great time, though it felt a bit like Groundhogs day.  

Thursday: Zoo, Old Town, Mexican Cafe, Mr. Frostee.  

Friday: Zoo, Old Town, Mexican Cafe, Mr. Frostee.

But a day this nice, you want to do twice!