Post-Christmas Trip: The Great Grandparent Tour (Part 2)

 Eliza has been asking about going to the beach lately.  One of their favorite Little Golden Books is Beach Day with lovely illustrations by Eloise Wilkin.  Eliza was eager to collect shells on the beach.  On our way home from Arizona, we stopped by Irvine to visit our friends from law school, the Cromars.  Together we went to Newport Beach.

The kids were mesmerized by the tide.  It was pretty chilly, but by the time we left, they were wet up to their shoulders!  They kept wanting to go deeper and deeper to get the next wave.

 Josh, who had been walking for about two weeks, loved the sand squishing between his toes and fingers.

 The kids had fun seeing their friends from Illinois.

 Mike and Caleb found a crab, so they kindly put him back in the sand.

 Catherine and a couple of her kiddos

 It was low tide and we were pretty much the only ones around, so Eliza had her pick of shells.  I found a whole sand dollar!  We came home with several bags of shells

 We stayed the night in Santa Maria at Mike's uncle's house.  Bill and Ingrid are amazing hosts.  We had so much fun catching up with them and enjoying Ingrid's delicious food, that we didn't take a single picture.

 We visited Mike's grandfather for a few minutes (the kids were crazy) and got some lemons and guava off his trees.

 We were excited to stop by and visit my grandpa in Nipomo.  We had a nice visit with him and Lois.  This was their first time to meet Josh.  They weren't surprised that he is a tank, just like Caleb was at his age.

 The kids are always fascinated with the three fingers that my grandpa is missing.  They touch them and ask if they hurt and how it happened and if they will grow back.

 Caleb is holding a picture of a boat that Grandpa built.  He was doing the flooring of a different boat when he cut his fingers off.  It was right around the time I was born.  He says he remembers his hand being bandaged when he first met me.

Ingrid said we should stop by Avila Beach on our way up north so the kids could see the tide pools. It was later in the day and it was more shaded, so the water seemed especially freezing and did not entice the kids like it had the day before.

The rocks, on the other hand, kept their attention.   They loved exploring.

Even shoeless Josh was climbing away.

 

 You can tell by her pink nose that she is freezing, but she was still thrilled to pose with this starfish.

As I look at Caleb's flip flops in the picture above, I am remembering another story I don't want to forget.  As we were starting to head back from the tide pools, a wave washed in as Caleb was taking a step and stole his flop.  He screamed and was immediately distressed.  It took a couple of seconds to realize that it wasn't a shark attack, just a lost shoe (he was quite dramatic).  Mike chased the wave back out to sea looking for Caleb's flip flop, but I was pretty certain it was hopeless.  After a few seconds Mike turned around and walked back to us admitting that it was a lost cause.  Just as he stopped in front of us, like out of a movie, the sandal floated right up behind him.  "There it is!"  I shouted.  He turned around and grabbed it.  We all returned to our car as shod as we had come.  An Avila Beach miracle.