Day 3

Our third day, Wednesday, we all got up early again (sorry to keep mentioning this, but you must understand we do not have early risers so whenever we are all up and on our way by 9:30 in the morning, it must be duly noted) and stopped off at the grocery to get food and shelter for our day at Zuma. It took a while and the children were very patient while I shopped and Pie stayed with them in the car, making numerous business calls. At least I assume they were patient. I wasn't there and so it was none of my concern, really. I bought beach blankets, umbrellas (so we could have something to chase down the beach with every big gust of wind) and lots and lots of snacks. My mother always brought us to the beach with Triscuits and a can of easy cheeze. The Triscuits were a calculated effort on her part to provide us with food that already felt sandy in the chewing. Maybe they were sandy, maybe they were just normal. You can't ever quite tell with Triscuits.

Upon arriving at Zuma 12 at 10:00 in the morning, we had our pick of the spots to set up camp for the day. Sure, the pictures look warm and sunny. It was actually quite breezy and "cold", being 68 and all ocean-y. I spent a while bravely lying on a blanket trying to soak up the heat from the sand until I finally caved and put on a black hoodie. It did warm up nicely later on, something my children neither noticed nor cared about because from the moment we arrived they were busily cavorting out in the FRIGID ocean up to their thighs. My two oldest, skinniest children (who always look malnourished no matter what I do) must have burned 5000 calories each just staving off hypothermia.


Tommy had so much fun pretending to be scared of the water. Over and over, he would run out to the water and then turn and run toward shore, just barely ahead of the wave, shrieking wildly. (see picture above) I am not exaggerating when I say that he did this for at least an hour at a time, for the majority of the day. And my awesome husband was out with him the entire time. I really love that man. I sat on the blanket, eating things that were not Triscuits, and handing out sustenance to my children as they would return, wet and weary to the blankets. I was in charge of keeping all sandy hands out of the cookies and the chips. It is an important part of one's general enjoyment at the beach, and a job I am naturally suited for.

I do not know why Sid and Calvin bury themselves in the sand whenever they get the chance. Not something I would choose for myself, but they seem to enjoy it. And I say Que sera, sera.....whatever that means.

I was hoping the following picture of Tommy would come out better. I think I needed a higher-quality camera and someone with actual knowledge of photography to take the picture for me, but what you cannot see is all the sand/salt/food stuffs plastered to his eyebrows and eyelashes. If he wasn't at the beach having fun, you would swear the poor thing suffered from neglect. He certainly looks concerned about something, though.

When they weren't out in the water, the children were actively engaged in trying to move sand. This sand wall they are constructing was demolished by waves about 2 minutes after these pics were snapped. Building with sand is harder than it looks.

Josie collected many extensive wads of seaweed she was eager to save. This particular long and skinny specimen was cherished for its incredible length, and of course, its stunning natural beauty. (And kids, check out Mary Lou's quads!)

The nicest boy next to us on the beach dug this enormous hole in the sand. Jon and Tommy were thrilled to sit in the hole (which was about 3 feet deep at one point) and ruin it by filling it with sand. I was thrilled to lay in the warm sand next to this hole and sort of watch them by cracking an eye open every couple minutes. We were all quite pleased.

After spending about 5 hours at Zuma, we then went back to our motel and the kids swam in the pool while we sat there in the shade, exhausted, staring glassy eyed. So much energy these little ones have. I say youth is wasted on the young.

We headed to another In N Out for dinner (sorry Becky) and then enjoyed more shakes. In N Out has a very respectable chocolate shake. The vanilla one is sort of a waste and the strawberry tasted way Strawberry Quik. But if that's what you are into...

We ended the evening driving to see two of the 4 houses I lived in while a teenager. We walked the greenbelt between the Triunfo house to Christi's house, a path I took all the time, and ended up at the park on Evenstar. Our kids had such fun walking around and going to the park. We took a picture of all the kids on that tree that has a horizontal trunk there next to the path. (Don't we have a picture of you, Kirsten, sitting on it? And you were 5?) It was another beautiful evening with another picture taken on my cell phone that I cannot access. If I ever get it wrangled out of my phone, I'll post it here.