Fun in the Sun

We spent yesterday at Twin Lakes Beach in Santa Cruz with 2 of our family friends, the Grays and the Moomeys. I made everyone a beach mix CD for the 2 hour ride to help us get excited for the beach. Driving over, I was a bit worried because it was overcast in Fremont and San Jose, but Justin assured me that if it was cloudy inland, it would be sunny on the coast. He was right (don't tell him I admitted that!) and we had a beautiful sun filled day at the beach. We've even got the sunburns to prove it! As soon as we got settled, a pod of dolphins swam by really close to the shore.



Parker was in the water immediately and Spencer didn't seem to mind it either.



Parker and Derick dug a big pit that they could hang out in.



My crazy husband swam clear out to the dingy.



Parker got into a sand fight with Derick and his dad, James.




Here are the results of the battle.




After a while in the water, Spencer was happy eating his lollie with Izzy and playing in the warm sand.



I got some girl time in the waves with Emma and Trisha. Despite my best efforts to cover up, I still got a little red. I wore Justin's goofy hat and was referred to as "Gilligan" all day long.




It was a beautiful day and the second year in a row that we've done this with the Gray's and Moomey's. I hope that this will be a tradition for us every year!

Must Love Dogs

The other day I bought Spencer a dog that barks and walks via remote. When we got home from the store, he quietly played with his dog while I put the clean dishes away. All of a sudden, I noticed it was too quiet and found him near the dog bowl. The dog water dish has recently become a favorite of Spencer's, so I immediately grabbed it from his hands. He screamed at me and pointed to his new dog. I realized he was getting the water dish to give to his new puppy! How smart is that! He was very happy when I handed it back and he was able to give it to the dog. A few minutes later, Spencer found one of Justin's Diet Mt. Dew cans in the recycling and shared that with the puppy too.

Oops, I Did it Again

Being the thrifty mother that I am, I cut Justin and Parker's hair. I cut it every 2-3 weeks and save about $30 between the two of them. Spencer recently got to the point that the small amount of hair that he does have was getting pretty long. I took him twice to get his hair cut and watched how the lady did it. Feeling pretty confident, I decided to try and cut his hair. Everything was going along great until Justin found a long spot and without thinking, I cut it without my fingers as a barrier and this is what happened.



I was able to minimize the damage with the clippers, but my baby has a bare spot in the back. I did the same thing to Justin when we were first married when I used the clippers without the guard. Fortunately, their hair grows back fast and the bare spot is filling back in each day. Call me if you ever want a free haircut!

Point Lobos

These are just a few of the many photos we took at Point Lobos State Park. By the time we were done in Monterey, we had taken over 500 pictures!





Point Lobos is famous for its tide pools. You can find crabs, sea anemones, and other sea life living around the rocks.





It is amazing the difference of each beach within the park. Some had pebbles and rocks for its shoreline, while others had the softest sand I have ever felt.



While hiking, we saw rabbits, mice, squirrels, and all kinds of birds.



We came across one of the most beautiful beaches I've ever seen. From the trail above, the water started out pale green, then emerald green, then a dark forest green. We hiked down to it and were the only ones on the beach.







Parker had fun splashing in the surf and Spencer discovered he liked sand.



Point Lobos is definitely one of the most beautiful places I've ever been too. We can't wait to go back!

Another Trip to Monterey

Parker had a day off from school this week, so we headed back down to Monterey to visit the Aquarium again and then to check out Point Lobos where the tide pools are.




The aquarium was much less crowded this visit and we discovered that we had missed an entire wing with the seahorse and otter exhibits on our last visit.





The seahorses were amazing! They had tiny ones as small as your thumbnail and then exotic ones like this dragon seahorse.




Now, I have always loved seahorses, but now after learning more about them, I love them even more!



Spencer really got into the hands on exhibits this time. He even tried to stick his toes in the water.



I love this picture. It was so fun watching Spencer point to the fish and say, "Fishy."



Parker was a great big brother, keeping Spencer entertained and taking him down the otter slide. We had another great day in Monterey!

Playing Hooky

Any of you who know my Grandpa Lloyd are well aware of his infamous fishing reports. Well, I will let his most recent report tell the story of this entry.





Family & Friends : My S-I-L, Tom B. and I took Parker Jeffs, out of school, and out to DV this morning. Parker is Vicki & Tom's oldest Grandson. He is also Karen & my First GREAT- GRANDSON. He is all of 8 years old. Kelli and Justin are his parents.
His Grandpa Tom threatened him all day long that we would take him back so he could confess to missing school, and take any tests he was missing. He also threatened to send an email to his teacher, with pics and time slots indicated.




It was a great day, and the fishing was OK. It wasn't as good as last Wed. We had a large school of striped bass boil about 50 yards south and East of us and I think they spooked the trout. We had had a lot of fish jumping, until the boil.
We were anchored and fishing by 6:25 am. I had a run about 7:10 a. m., which Parker managed to subdue.





But the fishing was pretty slow.By 11:15 a. m.Parker had his 5 fish. He had three salmon and two trout. Tom had reeled in one fish. I didn't fillet it , so I wasn't sure whether it was a salmon or trout. I had three fish , two of which were 17 inch salmon. These were the largest fish we bagged today. One salmon was about 2 1/2 #. We refer to a fish like that as a "Chunky Bugger."




There was only a couple of Quail calls early and a blank on wild turkeys and deer.
Ron, Bob, Marvin and Larry were all out today. They had a total of about13 fish in three boats.
Yes, it is true that we were out last Wed. with early limits. I guess that is the price of being old and mostly retired.
C U next time..........
Gordon

Here Kitty Kitty

My parents recently got another cat. I am not a cat person, but Boo (as my dad calls her--Farrah as she was named originally and still referred to by my mom) is a pretty cute and very playful kitty. I am not sure who loves her more--my dad or Spencer. I am pretty sure he thinks she is his kitty. He likes to bat the fishing pole toy in front of her to paw at.



Boo will hide under the furniture and attack the kids with her killer kitty paws.