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Playdate in Balboa
You can always tell when it’s heating up inland because it starts getting foggy at the beach. Of course we have fog for all kinds of reasons but we get it a lot more of it in the spring and summer. I don’t really mind the white fluffy stuff. It makes the ocean into a dreamland. I know I’ve written about this a lot but I always like to say that the fog makes the public beaches my beach again.
The beach near our house is ours all winter. We can walk and walk and walk without a care in the world but once the weather starts heating up, the streets start getting clogged with cars and the beaches start getting clogged with tourists. They tromple our beach blankets, they over-flow the trash receptacles, they spit out their gum on the hot pavement, they pitch their tents blocking our view, they blare their music… you get the picture. It’s not always pretty but it’s a small price to pay for living in such a beautiful place.
So when it’s foggy AND sunny at the same time it’s sort of like the best of both worlds.
Bug and I had a play date with my friend Jbomb (not her real name of course) and her little boy. We took them to Balboa Island and had a really fun time playing in the fog. The ferris wheel is a great way to take in a fog-shrouded view.
The kids loved the ferris wheel but Jbomb and I were so ready for it to end. It’s old and rickety and even though it’s probably only a couple stories high, it still gives me the heebie jeebies when I look down below. For some reason they really want to give you your money’s worth on this ride so it just kept going and going and going. Both Jbomb and I were a little green by the end of it.
(This photo cracks me up because Jbomb’s little boy is only three but he’s already half her size and very very strong. He’ll probably he’ll pass her up by the time he’s five.)
After some lunch on the pier and a quick romp around the playground at the beach, we headed back home on the ferry. This is one of my favorite little trips around here. If you’re ever here visiting me, I’ll probably take you here.
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Happy Birthday Bethany!
Bethany‘s birthday was yesterday and it was super fun, of course. Why wouldn’t it be? Well, let me tell you. Things got off to a bit of a rough start.
I woke up early, with the intention of making a surprise breakfast of chocolate pancakes (i.e., occupy the crack-of-dawn—loving kids while the birthday girl got to sleep in a bit) but then I proceeded to break the Actuallys’ garbage disposal.
“Hey look! I made some foul-smelling bubbling coffee-ground water for you! Happy Birthday!”
I guess a broken garbage disposal isn’t going to ruin somebody’s birthday but I have some history with possessed garbage disposals. I had visions of hand-washing dirty dishes in the bathtub and waiting around all day for a plumber to show up. Maybe I’m just paranoid.
To make matters worse, I think Bug woke up on the wrong side of the bed. Every little thing set her off. Who knew that making pancakes could be such an ordeal? I pretty much wanted to order a do-over and go back to bed.
Then Bethany woke up early. At seven o’clock or something obscene. Bethany is not a morning person. She was not supposed to wake up early. I hadn’t even started the kids on the surprise banner we were going to make. Coffee wasn’t brewing. Everything was going to hell in a handbasket.
Bethany took it in stride of course. Maybe she just wasn’t really awake. She said Troy would fix the garbage disposal later and we went about our business, which meant that Bethany finished making the pancakes and made her own coffee. So much for my birthday surprise.
Then Bethany chipped her favorite mug while she was hand-washing it and we started to think the day was cursed. What next, a car wreck? We had a day full of activities planned but I was beginning to feel like it would be too dangerous to leave the house.
Good thing I don’t really believe in bad luck. Things got MUCH better after lunch. Bethany chose to go to Einstein Bros Bagels (a favorite of hers) and that went over really well with everyone. Bagels for lunch! A green bagel sandwich did much to improve Bug’s mood. Plus, my mom, sister-in-law and nieces joined us there and that meant that all the kids started having fun exponentially.
The cool thing about Bethany’s birthday (or not-so-cool depending on how you look at it) is that much of the fun of the day was for everyone and not just the birthday girl. My personal take on it is that when the kids are happy, everybody is happy but I think Bethany is the type of person who just really likes to share her fun with others.
Bethany and I set up a treasure hunt the night before for the kids and that was a blast beyond our hopes. It probably took us two hours to draw all the clues and hide them around the house but when all four of these kids got together, they blew through the clues like a wildfire. Their glee was contagious. If anyone is looking for something to do with a group of four kids, I can’t recommend a treasure hunt enough. The prizes were silly dollar items from a local import store but you’d think they were hunting for real pirates’ gold based on their enthusiasm.
Next up was cupcake decorating. Guess who made the cupcakes? Bethany. Of course. They were sooooooo good. Lemon cheesecake cupcakes are my absolute new favorite favorite cupcake now. If I ever end up dying of something and someone asks me what I’d like my last meal to be, I will pick lemon cheesecake cupcakes. They were divine.
Unlike Bethany, when my birthday comes around I will be completely selfish and special-request a dozen of them from my number-one cake-baking friend (aka Bethany).
Too bad Bethany isn’t starting up a catering business. She’d be a gazillionaire.
So anyway, the day was super fantastic. I wish Bethany celebrated her birthday every day. I don’t know why I was so worried about the garbage disposal ruining everything. Troy fixed it in about five seconds and everything was fine. All I can say is, all’s well that ends well.
Happy Birthday Lewus, may you have many many many more years of happy birthdays! (Heh, heh. If that isn’t a selfish comment, I don’t know what is.)
