Getting up at three in the morning and driving for ten hours was totally worth it. There was no stopping except once to get gas. And there were no movies ... Just the audio book of Science Fair by Dave Barry. (We recommend it!)
As soon as we arrived at Kelley and Bogie's house, the kids hooked up with their boys and headed to the beach.
Left to right on boogie boards are Will, Rex, Amira and Valerie.
Michael spent most of the time in the water too. Here he is waiting for our children who happen to be mer-people. I swear they have find and gills. They must get that from Michael's side.
Really, it's my job to hold down the beach and make sure it doesn't get away (can be tricky in California).
Bogie gave surfing lessons to the girls.
Here's Valerie:
And Amira:
And Bogie:
That night Bogie and Michael got to play some music together.
The kids got together for some old fashioned slot car races.
Then we had an amazing dinner (thanks Kelley!)
Wednesday was more beach romping followed by dinner at a Mexican restaurant in town.
Rex ordered an impressive looking shrimp cocktail.
The following morning, Michael took the kids back to the beach while Kelley prepared to go to an Independence Day event at a friend's home.
The kids were in for a real treat as there was a pool and hot tub situation (in case they didn't get enough beach).
In case that wasn't enough, there was also a bounce house and a splashy bounce house.
The Kona Ice truck was available to all ...
Here's Michael & Kelley poolside:
Michael and I loaded up at the taco bar and then Bogie took us for a walk in the hood. The Western White House for former president Nixon was right across the street.
Then we continued our stroll through the double gated community down to the water.
I couldn't resist taking a picture of what was Nixon's back yard.
Not saying I'm proud of being a gawker. I was just overcome by the moment. Love the variety of plants that grow down here. This neighborhood would not put up with my yard shenanigans.
We cruised back to the party for some pool and bumper pool.
And splashing ...
Then out to the hills for photo ops-a-plenty.
The kids were getting a bit surly at this point.
Once that was over we went home to freshen up for the fireworks display. Bogie & Michael jammed again as Amira played the part of groupie.
Before long, the sun had set. Here is their house at night.
And although we walked to the beach, the kids couldn't resist sitting in their "red" car.
We were down at the water again where we were going to see San Clemente shoot off the pier. We could see the impressive display from Dana Point as it had started earlier. When San Clemente finally started, a voice could be heard over the Oohs and Aahs, "In your face Dana Point!"
We could see the silhouettes of people bobbing on surf boards in the dark water when the sparks rained down. Eventually San Clemente finished and we turned our heads to watch their rival's finale. I heard, "shown up by Dana Point again."
We toyed with the idea of Lego Land on the last day, but no one could get enough beach time. So, back down to the beach with us.
There were sand dabs to catch ...
Seaweed to collect ...
Kids to bury ...
Mustaches to create ...
As resident land lubber and photographer, here is the view extending out over my toes:
On Saturday morning we said good-bye to our friends and turned north. We dropped Michael off at LAX to fly out for a job at 11AM. We didn't stop again until Pea Soup Anderson's at 3PM.
And then we were home by 7:30PM. Well, Amira would remind you that we were technically home at 7PM, but I had given my house key to our house sitter and Michael took his to New York. So, fortunately my in-laws had a spare for me. They also stayed behind to suffer the heat wave and bury a couple of chickens that expired during that spell. We were so lucky to be at the beach!!
We are grateful for our good friends, good family and good house sitter!
