Under the boardwalk, down by the sea...

On the second week of July, my older boys attended cub scout camp.  They both loved it, especially James who attended it for the first time.  My friend's husband was his group leader, so I felt totally at peace with my boys being away from 8:30 to 3:30.  Needless to say, Gillian and I used this time to our hearts' desires shopping, eating lunch out, reading, going to the pool for hours, watching movies (Pride and Prejudice being one of them), and of course talking.  

Gillian also helped me clean the house.  We were doing another spring cleaning. My mother left on July 9th, and as soon as she left we returned Gillian to her room and suited it up for her needs.  We transferred Jefferson downstairs where Gillian was sleeping while mom was here.  I transformed our guest room to feel a little bit like a boy's room with sports theme lamp, decorations, decals on the walls, etc.  

When he got back from cub scouts, Jefferson was extremely excited to have his own room.  He kept hugging and thanking me for making his room special to him.  He then proceeded to bring all of his books, as well as his paraphernalia.  I had to put a stop to it after he kept bringing more stuff.  I asked him to return all of them where they belonged in the upstairs toy box, but as I noticed an heart-broken look on his face, we came to a compromise.  The thing is that the downstairs is my area, and I can't breath if there is too much stuff around.  As it is the books are taking over our life, but I can't do anything about that except pray for a new house with a library room.

The week after scout camp (the week of the 15th), my friends and I had planned to chill for a few days at a beach house down in Santa Cruz.  I left late morning on Monday right before traffic got bad, and arrived there early afternoon.  I was there first, with my friends, caught in traffic, planning to arrive later.  Although Amy had made all the arrangements, payments, and email exchanges with the person who was leasing the house, I decided to check in, get the food out of the car, and then let the kids go for a swim.  When I arrived at the house, I found a note taped on the gate informing the reader that if we had rented this house on craigslist, we had been robbed and that that transaction was a scam.  They had written down the name of the sheriff and the case number, explaining that this was an on-going scam.  I couldn't believe my eyes, thinking this was a joke.  

I knocked on the door and got to talk to the real owner, who felt instantly bad for three women with three/four kids each.  She told me this had been happening for months, at times huge groups of college friends from east coast arriving to realize they had been robbed.  She helped me write down numbers of hotels and nearby cottages. The truth of the matter, however, was that we had been played.  I was praying that Amy hadn't pay our stay in full, or at least if she had, with something refundable.  I didn't want to call either of them and disturb them while driving.  My kids were very upset, so I said a quick prayer to receive inspiration and peace.  At least I was prepared.  I had brought a cooked pizza for my kids with lots of fruit and water, with lots of left over for my friends' kids.  And lots of books and drawing sketch books for them to use.  That was a blessing, since it kept the kids busy and fed.  Translation: not cranky.  Through my phone, I found good hotels in the area, as well as involved Elijah in the search.  

As soon as my friends arrived, and I informed them of the our situation, we started making plans.  The idea of turning back was thrown around, but I was really thinking about the kids and their crushed expectations.  I was determined not to allow evil people and events destroy our fun times.  I told them that much when we initially realized our problem.  Gillian, almost bursting to tears, hugged me and whispered in my ear that she was so grateful to have me as her mother.  She told her brothers that as long as they had their mother around, they needed not worry.  Life was good.  You can imagine now why I had to make this work for the best.  My kids were looking up to me to change this horrible situation into something enjoyable.  Big responsibility for anyone, but turning back was not an option.

Earlier, I had made a reservation with the Marriott hotel for three rooms, and after trying and driving around checking various cottages and hotels, we decided to go with the Marriott hotel.  I called them back, and explained a bit of our situation.  They were very kind and reduced the price for each of our rooms.  That was a blessing.  The kids had a great time being together.  We fed them dinner, let the older kids watch a movie in a different room, and the younger kids watched some cartoons in another room.  We chatted and caught up with each other's lives, as if the early events had not really happened.  The money might be lost (Amy wired all of the money!), and the dream vacation in a beach house by the ocean with your best friends wasn't probably going to happen, but we were still together, the kids were happy, and we had awesome plans.  As surreal as our vacation had started, we were going to make fun and a wonderful experience a reality.

The next day, after a continental breakfast, we took the kids down to the beach.  We had all been by the main beach in front of the boardwalk before, so we decided to attend another one.  We tried Pleasure Point, a huge hit for surfers and photographers, but the parking was limited, so we moved on.  I had wanted to visit Natural Bridges beach as part of our four day vacation, and since we weren't going to follow our previous plans, we decided to go there right away.  That was a right decision: lots of good sand, beautiful views, not too high waves, plenty of benches to sit and picnic, and spacious parking lot.  We stayed there all day.

After dinner, we took the kids to the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk Amusement Park -  fun for everyone, or as we found out later - heaven for kids of all ages, but hell for mothers with more than three kids each.  Our kids really had a fantastic time.  We sent Laura with the older kids, since she was the only one who loved roller coasters.  Yours truly might be a great mom with magic in her hands, but when it comes to roller coasters I'm truly a chicken.  Just looking at them makes me sick.  While Laura was screaming alongside our older kids, Amy and I took charge of our little brood and tried hard to keep them together and happy, not an easy task.  Fortunately, there were a lot of rides for them to have fun, and the lines weren't that long.

And that was the end of our second day.  Stay tuned for more...

Queen of the ocean

My friend Alice asked us if we wanted to join her going down to Santa Cruz Beach. Did someone say 'beach?' Of course, we would join her. I love the beach, and the more South you travel, the warmer it gets. As soon as we arrived at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, we were surrounded by crowds of people, exciting amusement parks, delicious smells, and everything else you would like to find at the beach. Most of all, we felt no wind, and the weather was perfect. Santa Cruz Beach had me at 'hello.' We found a nice warm spot near the shore, and settled down. The older children went straight to the water, dipping their feet in the foamy waves, and Charlton found his spot of sand to snack on. I sat on the towel and enjoyed it all. After putting his feet in the freezing cold water of the Pacific, Abel was contemplating whether he should take a dip in the water or not. Gillian didn't have the patience to wait on anyone, so she went straight into the water, immersing herself in the waves. I'm telling you, this girl knows no fear. The water was truly very cold, winter cold. I admired her from a distance. Gillian stayed in the water for the remainder of our stay there, with the exception of the time when she wanted to eat or when we strolled toward the sea lions. I called her my sea creature. She has something of my genes after all!



After they realized how cold the water was, the boys decided to play building sand castles. They did that for a while. However, when they saw Abel and Gillian playing with the waves, they gathered their courage and got into the water. The waves proved to be exciting and fun for them. I loved it that they were enjoying themselves so much!

Charlton was in his favorite world of sand and food. He was very satisfied playing by himself with sand toys, tasting the sand, and eating a bunch of food, especially his favorite, strawberries. He ate ten or more at one sitting. At least, it's healthy fruit, right? I did take him into the water a few times, but Charlton wasn't ready for the cold sensation that the water shot throughout your body. He hadn't had a nap all day, and I was very proud of him for not complaining even once. I'm glad he adjusts easily to the various circumstances his mother puts him.

Abel was a great help to me by playing with the kids. They all love him and whatever he does, they want to do. With the exception of Gillian, who wants him to do what she is doing.

There was a pier with a lot of sea lions nearby our spot where we were staying. We all decided to go for a walk and check them out. The sea lions were all napping and sun bathing in quiet enjoyment. I thought that was the life to have, and then decided against it. I would get bored within a day. But it seemed appropriate for them.

Perhaps, you are wondering why this post is called "Queen of the ocean." Let me explain. As I observed my fearless Gillian brave the waves with such confidence, I thought maybe it would be fun to do that with her. She was very excited when I told her I would come with her in the water. When I dipped my feet in the water, I thought I was crazy for having agreed to go in with her. But a promise is a promise. I immediately immersed myself into the water, and started to swim. I swam and swam for a long time and a long distance. I had told Gillian I would be back soon, but for the moment I was taking it all in. There was nobody in the water that far for miles and miles on each side of me, and I felt this thrilling feeling of being alone in the water. I felt the queen of the ocean. Poseidon had nothing on me, a mere human all by herself enjoying a swim in the cold waters of the Pacific. That, hands down, was my favorite thing. Later, I played with Gillian and I took her at the "deep end" for a little while. She was very excited and happy to be with her mother swimming.

We finished our outing getting the most delicious ice cream from a nearby shop, that was so small there wasn't enough room for all of us, so we had to eat it in the car, against my better judgement. Nevertheless, it was the best ending to our fun day.

On the way back to Concord, I took this picture of the San Jose rolling hills while stuck in traffic. The drive back was long, but very picturesque. Another bonus to being in California.