Spring Break!

Breakfast/Lunch with Jaymes and his family went spectacular, I think.  They are absolutely delightful, and I wish we lived closer.  Their son got along swimmingly with Thing 1 and Thing 2, and they mostly kept out of our hair while we talked.  I like Jaymes' wife a lot, he certainly found a girl who deserves him!  They have an aging Rhodesian Ridgeback, so she and I talked dogs for a while.  She brought easter baskets for the girls, with some of the best battery operated bubble blowers I've seen in years for all the kids.  The only down side was it was raining cats and dogs most of the afternoon.  Hubby's quiche was delicious, the kids wolfed down his french toast, and everyone had a great time. Jaymes' wife brought an Easter basket for each of the kids, with the most amazing battery operated bubble makers in them. We sent the kids on the porch to play and I looked up to see the patio chock full of bubbles. Of course, when I went out with the camera, the bubble making slowed down. Why is that?

Thing 2 used her bubble maker like a weapon.


Thing 1 and Duncan were less intense about their bubbles.

Monday hubby wasn't going to the client, so we went to the Monterrey aquarium.  Again, a wonderful time.  The kids freaked over the seahorse exhibit, the hands-on exhibits, and the million gallon tank.  Well, they were pretty excited about everything.

The touch pools were great, though Thing 1 was reluctant to put her hand in there at first.

Thing 2 befriended a giant penguin.


Believe it or not that is a seahorse, one of the two really unusual ones in the exhibit. The other one was so weird it was hard to photograph. This is a Leaf Seahorse.


We weren't sure what to do with the dog, and were worried he might get destructive if we left him alone inside, or bark too much if we left him outside.  So we decided to take him, park in the shade, crack the windows, and leave him in the car. He did beautifully.  He hung out in the car while we were in the aquarium, and did just fine.  He didn't even kick over the water bowl I left for him.
It turns out, of all the beaches we're walking distance away from, we're next to the only off leash dog beach in Santa Cruz.  Fancy that!  Yesterday (Tuesday) Hubby worked so I waited for it to warm up a little and the tide to go out, then I took the girls and the dog to the beach.  The dog loved it, the girls not so much.  The problem was it was cold, and there was a gale force wind blowing for most of the time.  The sand is nice, the shore is nice with no drop-offs lurking beneath the surface that I could find, just a hundred yards of inch deep water after each wave.  The girls lasted about an hour and a half.  Thing 1 got sand in her eyes, and that was it for her.  Not that I blame her.  The girls were kind of disappointed, the beach was more of an endurance test than a real fun time.