let's go fly a kite {Arf and Chewy}

"let's go fly a kite,

up where the air is right..."

....................

tonight the bedtime story was about a seal named "Arf" and a pelican named "Chewy,"

because he chews things.

that's what brennan said.

{i love his imagination.}
{and obviously seals make the "ARF" sound so we needed no explanation.}

so Arf and Chewy were boogy boarding out in the ocean,

and they ran into a sand monster coming out of the waves.

and Arf was in the water on his board,

and Chewy was flying through the air on his board,

but he was boogy boarding too,

b/c they were both "doing their things"

b/c seals are in the water and pelicans fly.

that's what brennan said.

direct quotes.

so they fought the sand monster on their boogy boards,

from their respective places,

and won.

the end.

then brennan told me to never take my new earrings off

b/c they were sooooo beautiful.

and then he moved my braids to the front,

so they fell over my collarbone,

and said they were better that way.

he fell asleep about thirty seconds later with his arms folded and a smile on his face.

i could hear max talking to herself in her crib on the other side of the room.

i walked out smiling too.

 

......................................................................

today we walked around the shops on main street in seal beach.

i bought some locally made jewelry

and a necklace scarf thing that was made of strings of fabric.

really long light blue ones that swoop around my neck all cozy and warm.

we ate fish tacos for lunch.

my kids were crazy the entire time.

my fish taco tostada was ALMOST too pretty to eat.

but my hunger won, thank goodness.

the men took the children to the pier and watched the seals playing in the water

AND

they got to see a naval ship {crew all lined up on the deck} depart.

i was so sad i missed it when i heard.

i was window shopping with all of the women and my boyfriend, baby man chase ray.

valerie bought a kite at a store called "up, up, & away,"

that we all flew on the beach when we got home, while ashlie and kenny made dinner inside.

my second most favorite thing we've done here.

{beach cruiser on the pulled back shore still wins the #1 spot.}

the last shop we went into was the surf shop,

i talked brennan into getting a surfer hat with the store's logo on it,

"HARBOUR Surfboards Seal Beach, CA", 

which i stole from him for most of the evening b/c i loved it so much.

he loves hats,

and i love them sometimes.

PLUS, 

we both have the same size head circumference,

so we don't even have to change the hat to pass it back and forth.

{it's been that way since he was 2. no joke.}

WIN/WIN:)

it made me feel so homesick for half moon bay.

and the surf shop on main street.

and then really happy b/c i get to take a piece of california home with us,

with a little bit of my old half moon bay style in it too.

when i took the picture of brennan boogy boarding above he yelled out,

"i love the beach!!!!!"

and then flew right past me.

check out his little happy face:)

THAT'S IT!

we're selling the house in utah and moving to seal beach.

it's been decided.

a sheet of glassy sand

{my favorite thing i've done so far=

ride the beach cruiser on the beach when the tide is out}

....

when the tide goes out

in the afternoon,

it rolls out a sheet of glassy sand,

full of shells that you've only seen in books and magazines.

{or on the little mermaid}.

whichever.

the sand is so packed from the weight of the water,

that it is easy to ride a bike along it.

so while the kids boogy boarded with sean yesterday afternoon,

i pushed the red beach cruiser in the garage out to the beach and down to the shore,

and rode that beautiful red bike up and down the beach until dinner.

it was the same free feeling that i get when i'm sitting on the front of my dad's boat at the lake house.

an exhileration of peace and calm,

with the entire ocean there just for me.

i have found my happy place on the little red beach cruiser.

so if you need me,

you'll know where i'll be.

................

p.s.

some of the best stuff happens while i'm inside nursing chase.

for example:

they found two ALIVE star fish,

one ALIVE crab,

and

drum roll please,

one ALIVE OCTOPUS

by the rocks at the end of the beach.

by the time i came back out,

sean and his dad had bothered the octopus enough that it had swam away.

i was so bummed.

so SO cool though.

{AND they dug a hole that the kids couldn't climb out of.

i couldn't either, so kenny had to help pull me out. beach life dream!!!}

sting rays sting when they sting you.

"back away max, these are aggressive with kids."

-brennan

{talking about the crab i found and tried to get to walk on the sand}

{see picture above}

where does he come up with this stuff??? ha!

landon and emily got stung by sting rays today.

not at the same time.

not by the same sting ray.

or maybe it was.

one minute he was boogy boarding,

the next minute he couldn't talk.

the pain was descirbed as excrutiating pain that makes you scream like a girl.

that's what the paddle boarder said to us when he saw landon go down on the beach.

he came over b/c he said he knew that's what it had to be.

he had long snarly hair pulled back in a low pony tail,

a dark tan that looked a little red from the heat,

with a big, long paddle board and a paddle in one arm.

then he told us to get landon's foot in hot HOT water.

as hot as he could stand.

as soon as possible.

he kept saying as soon as possible as landon hobbled back to the house with his entorauge.

then he told him to have two or three beers while his foot was soaking in the hot water.

i told him he should have gotten his medicinal marijuana card for having cancer.

he just politely smiled and said no thank you.

so they got landon's foot in hot HOT water as SOON as possible,

and about an hour later grandpa bill comes walking down the beach with emily on his back (not ME emily, nat's emily) who had just gotten stung by another sting ray by the tide pools.

so nurse nat got her second patient set up with hot HOT water as SOON as possible.

and they sat there together like little sting ray stung twins for a good two hours.

both patients report that their stings still hurt.

should have drank those beers i guess.

or not (if you're us).

whichever is your fancy.

so now you know how to treat a sting ray sting if you ever get one.

or just shuffle your feet when you're standing out in the ocean to NOT get stung by one.

whichever.

also, i ran 4 miles with sean.

and survived.

truly a christmas miracle.

the end.

..................................................

FUN FACTS

about our beach house:

camreon diaz has a house 6 doors down.

she was there this weekend.

we didn't see her.

good thing, b/c i definitely would have embarrassed myself with my camera.

i just know it.

next door lives the coach of the olympic swimming team.

her name is Joke (yo-key).

they have a small dog.

and the neighbor across the street parks his rolls royce on the street in front of his garage.

he wears t-shirt, jeans, and flip flops to work with a backpack and black ray bans.

we are wondering what is IN the garage if the rolls royce has secondary status to the street spot.

just sayin'.

 

chase MEETS beach.

chase EATS beach.

what day is it again???

i'm losing track.

must mean i'm on vacation.

i can't get over the gold flakes in the sand and water.

glory be, i haven't missed a sunset yet!

:):):)