Beach Bums

Ah - spring break! The kids are home and Dan took the week off. I'm not quite sure how I ended up working this week, but when I thought about getting subs for my classes, I just didn't want to leave them. That must be a good sign.

My kids have been telling us about their friends' spring breaks. Among the destinations of our rich and famous minor friends, they are traveling to: Hawaii, Tahoe, Disneyland, Lego-land, both Disneyland and Lego-land, Arizona, and Utah. Not wanting to disappoint, when my kids asked, "where are WE going?", I said, "the beach!"

Now, I won't tell them my super-secret plan which is to teach my classes, plan my garden, use them for child-labor to plant and weed that garden, clean their closets, and more. To get really good quality child-labor out of these precious few days off of school, I'll have to throw them a bone or two.

Enter, the Pacific Ocean:



It's only 90 minutes away, it's gorgeous and peaceful, it's inexpensive, and everybody is happy.



Well, maybe not ecstatic. When did our San Diego beach baby refuse to put on swim trunks and run away from waves? Poor Brandon spent gorgeous beach time with his headphones on, connected to his phone. I guess the beach just isn't his thing right now. Bless his heart, he didn't complain once.



Who needs Hawaii? Don't get me wrong - if I had thousands of dollars lying around, we'd be in Hawaii. But we don't NEED Hawaii to have an amazing beach day. And, the added bonus is that the kids toughen up. Literally - as in, they go numb and learn that comfort and joy aren't necessarily dependent on each other. Have you swam in the Santa Cruz Pacific before? Brrr....



My friend Lisa (who grew up in SoCal but isn't a "beach person" (what kind of craziness is that!?)) makes fun of me because I bring a BIG garden shovel to the beach. A garden shovel, and a book. It's the big frugalista secret for pure entertainment. You can dig a huge hole in record time for a massive sand castle/mote. Or, dig a huge hole for each kid and tell them to wait for the tide to come in and turn it into a swimming pool, buying you hours of entertainment while you have a romantic dinner at sunset with the hubby. Or, bury them alive and you won't have any disruptions to your peaceful beach reading time. This year, Dan told the kids that in nature, the animal parents don't help their young hatch out of their eggs, ensuring that the little baby turtles are strong enough to make it through life. It took Kieran a good 30 minutes or so to break free from his sand trap. All on his own! That was 30 minutes of good reading time, without having to even look up and make sure the kids weren't drowning or kidnapped. Score!

The only whining yesterday was about not wanting to leave the beach. So, we always bribe them with Pizza My Heart in downtown Santa Cruz. They get to eat the "best pizza on earth", let a little grease drip down their elbows, while people watching. Santa Cruz has it's own charm and culture, you just don't get this kind of quality people watching anywhere else. Just be prepared to answer some fun questions. "Mommy, how did he get his ear to stretch down to his shoulder? Was he born that way?", or "what's that smell?", and "How come the stores here don't let us use their bathrooms?" (I was tempted, but didn't have the heart to take a picture of Drew holding herself for 3 blocks on our jaunt to go potty. The girl's gotta keep some dignity.)



The slices are HUGE. Guess who got the award for eating the most pizza yesterday?

Nope, wasn't the boys. Wasn't even Dan....



Little Drewby ate 2 big slices, plus nibbled on crust. Running in the ocean must build a huge appetite. Plus, I'm not sure what they put in that pizza (it is Santa Cruz, after all) or why it's better in Santa Cruz than Mtn. View. Drew's reward was a Pizza My Heart t-shirt. It's only a buck with a slice and a drink.

And no trip to the coast is ever complete without making a quick stop by Aunt Shelley's house in Campbell for some time with the "fuzzins", Roo and Rabbit:



Good, simple, cheap fun. Hopefully it will bleed into today - I'm hoping to get some weeding out of these kids!