Day 4 & 5

Day 4.
low-key day but lots of sewing. it was overcast and cool when we woke up. i went for another walk. visited a coffee shop--so-so mocha. the kids & paul played a game of Sorry and then we went to a local park--one that we had gone to last year. funny--it seemed much smaller this year now that the kids are a year older! still, they had fun, and we had a picnic lunch there. sewed while waiting for the kids (it's nice to have paul there to play with them!)

we wanted the kids to take a nap so decided to drive around UC Santa Cruz, but there was a lot of traffic and we kept getting lost, and so by the time we figured out where we were, the kids were asleep in the car, so just went home instead. sewed while in the car waiting in the traffic jam!

then, an afternoon at the beach. we're certainly getting our money's worth of this beach! around 3 hours or so there. the usual, splashing in the water, me collecting shells, lots of digging in the sand. another starfish :-) actually sewed at the beach--poor dresden plate is getting a little grubby and wrinkly :-)

simple dinner of costco lasagna (kids didn't like it) and leftover hot dogs and pulled pork. then movie night--Wall-E (which is why i didn't post last night). got to sew during the movie :-)

after the kids went down to bed, i thought i would finish the chapter of my library book, Maisie Dobbs (found it through another blog) and ended up finishing the book at 1:00 a.m. good read!



Day 5.
another walk in the morning though woke up a little later due to my late bedtime. much better mocha today at another coffee shop :-)

ann & kids came at around 10:00. we were milling around outside getting ready to go to the beach, when the owner came out and started chatting (very nice lady). she mentioned she wasn't looking forward to cleaning our house today--and i said, you mean tomorrow. she looked me at funny and said, no today. called paul over and he said, yeah, we're leaving tomorrow. so she calls her husband and finds the paperwork and of course THEY were right--they actually had another family coming to stay that very day which is why she had to start cleaning right away. yikes!!! don't know how paul made a mistake (i.e. screwed up)--just a brain freeze.

luckily ann helped with the packing and L & K played with the kids and kept them out of the way. so we were able to be done by 11:00 (check-out time) (though the owners were very nice and i don't think they would've been that mad if we were late). sigh.... had to call Carol who was coming with J and the parents and say it was better if they didn't come since we didn't have a house (i.e. bathrooms anymore). that was the major bummer. otherwise, really not a big deal to leave a day early (which is the nice part of santa cruz being local).

we ended up going to the beach (the owners let us use the key :-) and stayed 'til 3. today was actually the nicest day weather-wise (yesterday was sunny by the afternoon but windy so it was kinda cold). the sea was actually a little calm at times. no major shells to pick but found another starfish (3rd one of the trip--unless it was all the same one :-) L&K are really comfortable in the water but probably most of the time the kids worked on big digging projects. Sophie is so much more at home in the water--in fact she'll go in when no one else is around (a little dangerous!) but the boys are careful to only go in when paul or i are in the water.

the boys pee'd against the cliff, but paul took sophie down to the water to pee. she refused to do it in her swimsuit, so paul took it off, and then she wanted to be naked after that :-) max then joined in (he actually gets too cold wearing the wet clothes)--very cute to have two little naked bodies scampering around. alex also wanted to join in but we wouldn't let him :-)

paul also took out a kite and got it up in the air for a few seconds at a time. unfortunately he also got stung by a wasp but at least the pain subsided after a bit!

so we left around 3 or so--took a little while to clean up and then headed to McDonalds to have a snack. ann & the girls went back home. we headed back, cleaned up, and then had dinner with the parents & carol & tim & J (Hometown Buffet of course)--so it was nice to at least hang out with them a little bit.

it'll be nice to sleep in own bed again (though i really liked the bed at Madeline's Cottage!) but it's a bummer that we had to come home early--did laundry tonight :-(

we're headed down to Monterey tomorrow as originally planned so technically we're still on vacation!