SUMMERTIME FUN

I'm back on-line after the most wonderful 9 days!  And I didn't even have to get on a plane or pack a suitcase.  And I also wasn’t quilting or doing anything related to sewing.  Do you give up wondering what I've been up to?

Well, my oldest son and his two boys, my grandsons ages 7 and 12, have been out here from the East, visiting my husband and I.  It has been a whirlwind of a week too!!  Included in all this activity has been my youngest son, his wife, and their two sons, my grandsons ages 9 and 11, who live close by.

Our days have been spent at the beach or at our pool, since all my grandchildren, and us adults, absolutely love the water.  I feel like I have been magically transported back in time as we load the car with boogie boards, sand toys, food and drinks, and surfboards tied with bungee cords on the roof.  

That's exactly how my summer days were spent when my two sons were growing up.  They learned to surf when they were young, and some of my fondest memories are of our regular trips to the beach.  Before they could drive I would sit on the beach and watch them surf.  Such amazing balance and control!  Only once did I attempt to surf, with help from my sons and husband.  Each time I tried I could only get to my knees before falling off.  I finally had to give up and realize that me becoming a surfer was not going to happen.  And my many bruises the next day reinforced that fact!

Now, as I sit on the beach as a grandmother, I marvel at the passage of time.  I'm now watching my grown sons and 3 of my grandsons out in the water on bogey boards and surfboards.  My 9 year old grandson gets to enjoy the surf in the floating wheelchair provided by the city lifeguard station.  When he's not in the water he loves to sit and dig in the sand.  

I haven't spent this much time at the beach and in the ocean in many, many, years.  It was such fun to be out in the water with my grandsons, who are fearless.

After a long day at the beach we would come home and jump in the pool.  Dinner was on the patio, where we talked, laughed, and told family stories.

Besides regular trips to the beach, we went on all the boats at the Maritime Museum at the Embarcadero, went to the Reuben H. Fleet Science Center to see “Madagascar, Island of Lemurs” on the IMAX, and went to a birthday party for my second grandson’s 11th birthday.  We finished our last day together by going to the Chula Vista Challenge, where we watched my oldest son compete in the sprint triathlon.

After tearful goodbyes at the airport that night, my husband and I came home to an oddly quiet house, exhausted, but so very happy inside.