Taking on the Waves

Yo, what's up friends and family?  We are West Coast beach bums for a few days and loving it.  We miss everyone back in the heat of Sacramento, but are enjoying the last bastion of nice weather in the Southern half of the US:  Los Angeles.  Perfect temps day and night.  We'll take it and hold on tight to the last bit of outdoor activities until after summer is over in Phoenix.  As soon as we settled into the Rosa residence we drove down their street, which dead-ends into Redondo beach.  Hooray!

No swimming suites, but we just wanted to chase some waves and smell the fresh ocean air.

Easton was caught off guard and knocked over by the wave.  Oh well, vacation is about relaxing and going with the flow.  No disciplinary action needed.  Lessons are better caught than taught.  He caught this one right in the shorts.  We did have to strip him down to his undies in the beach parking lot for the ride home though.

Kendra's finger is pointing at a sand crab, which Layla dug down in the sand to retrieve.  She was really proud of herself and giggled as it crawled down her arm and fell off into the sand.  Quite a different attitude than the other women in her blood line...

The Rosa's palatial living quarters were plenty big to accommodate 4+4 of us.  Even their table was perfectly sized.  Sharing a few meals together was a highlight of the trip for me.  April and Kendra served up a great dinner and breakfast.  I could get used to this kind of treatment...

The hand-made ice cream shop is within walking distance of the Rosa's house.  Talk about dangerous.  The three amigos (Easton, Layla, and Layla) wanted Blue Bunny confections instead of the amazing flavors of hand-made ice cream.  It's hard to compete with Sponge Bob no matter how good it tastes.

Landon took on the big-brother role like a champ.  I was very impressed with his patience and interest in showing Easton a thing or two.  Mancala, Legos, and  ipod touch games were all new skills Easton gained.

The other was how to play Star Wars with Kinect on the XBox.  Landon even brought out his own collection of light sabers to feel more realistic.  Jedi training is now in session.

Our beach day was outstanding.  We were all out standing in the waves.  This year Easton and Layla (and even Layla Ruth) were brave enough to boogie board with me.  Easton earned another bravery badge by walking straight into the waves with no fear.

He hopped on my back and we waited patiently for an excellent wave.

I gave my sun glasses to Kendra so that's why they are on my face in the picture above, but not in the surf riding picture below.  Easton held on well and giggled the entire way as we washed up on the beach.

He liked it, but only wanted one round of boogie boarding.  After that it was Jason's turn to brave the waves with me.  There were some serious big boy waves further out.

The three amigos spent most of their time making sand angels and attempting to get sand in every crevice known to man.

Mission accomplished.  She'll be picking sand out of her hair for the next week, but it is absolutely worth it.

Layla came around eventually and agreed to catch a wave on Daddy's back.  She hung on for dear life.  As we waded out into the ocean she said, "Daddy, are there sharks in the water?"  I stopped our march out toward the waves and said, "Yes, but they are small ones and Daddy will keep you safe."  She paused for a moment and said, "OK, Daddy.  Let's do it!"

Her death grip on my shoulders was fierce and her laugh as the wave pushed us up on the beach was one of those moments I'll never forget.  She cheered as though she'd conquered the summit of Mt. Everest and I cheered right along with her.

There was one set back during our beach day...  I lost my wedding ring.  My original right was too tight so I often took it off in the heat.  I tied it into the strings of my shorts one day when I went for a run and it fell out along the way somewhere.  Then I bought one off Craigslist for $30 to replace it.  The ring was too big and too thick, but i thought I could have it re-sized.  I thought wrong.  When the temperature is cold it is too loose on my finger.  When I stood up to get Layla off my back, the cold water was just enough cold and just enough slippery for my ring to fall off into the outgoing wave.  Bye-bye ring.  What better way to celebrate our 10 year anniversary than by losing my ring?  (not)

After 7 weeks out of the state it is time to return home and get reacquainted with our life in Phoenix.

See you soon!