In July we wear our coats and long pants to the beach. We bring blankets to keep warm. But ... in NOVEMBER we enjoy the sunshine! Sarah, Will and I had a great time soaking up the rays and chasing the waves at Baker Beach today. Super, super fun. I love days like these.
We have a tradition on every first Wednesday of the month to go to the zoo. It's free day for all San Francisco residents so I pack up the kids and make the 25-30 minute drive. Since it's so far away I've never been inclined to get a zoo pass. Once a month is generally good for us. We've had many, many great times at the zoo. We love seeing all the animals, petting the sheep and goats in the family zoo, playing on the playground, and of course riding the Little Puffer and carousel.
So you can imagine my children's dismay when we arrived last Wednesday to the zoo without my wallet! You need photo id and a sf resident address to get in free. We were only planning to stay an hour since we had to rush up to Walnut Creek to sign the papers for our home so going home to get the said wallet wasn't an option. The worst part was that I didn't realize I forgot my wallet until after the kids were already in the stroller ready to go to the gates. (Well, it could have been worse - we could have realized it AFTER we got to the gate.) So with weeping and wailing from my kids I apologized profusely about forgetting our "ticket" to get in and we headed to the beach. For those of you not familiar with the SF Zoo, it is located right next to Ocean Beach along the coastline. Sarah wasn't happy about the change. She wanted to see Jack and Max and Kenzie (even though I had told her that those friends wouldn't be joining us at the zoo because they had moved far, far away).
However, once I pulled up to the beach and we got out to play and run on the beach things were good. I'm glad children are so flexible! We had a great half-hour at the beach before heading back home to get my wallet - I needed it not only for driving, but for our house signing. Now that would have made ME cry if I forgot my drivers license for that significant event! (Oh, by the way, my wallet usually stays in my diaper bag, but the night before I had moved it to my purse for a meeting and didn't transfer it back - unfortunately.)
Here's how much fun we had!! Sarah and I built a sand castle while William kicked a ball all around us. We only had to reign him in a couple of times and luckily he didn't want to get too close to the water. We had a blast and I was forgiven for forgetting our "zoo ticket."
Oh and we get our keys TODAY for our new home. Can't wait!
Well, the sun is keeping on my good side. We enjoyed a leisurely 80-degree morning at the beach. Not too hot with a light breeze. And a lot less people than last time. No one got lost. It was perfect.
Sarah building a fire-sand castle with her friends.
We had a real, WARM, summer day yesterday. I mean, not just for San Francisco. Weather.com says it got to 92 degrees. And oh it was oh so fine. We had such a fun, long-overdue beach day at the Crissy Field tide pools. We stayed for 3 hours! We had to re-apply sunscreen and everything.
Will, Sarah and I were in H.E.A.V.E.N. Will loved playing catch with this dog. He is so in that loving doggies phase.
The only down side to our fun day at the beach was when I left Sarah and Will with our friends while I went to pack the car and move it closer. I had told Sarah I'd be right back and to play with her friends, but apparently, that wasn't what she wanted to do. When I got back, I couldn't find her ANYWHERE. I don't think I've EVER been that scared. I mean, there were literally hundreds of people at the beach. I did notice her shoes were missing so I thought maybe she needed to go to the bathroom - not too far away, but when we went earlier, I had made her put on her shoes. I rushed back there, but no such luck. I was a wreck. I was crying and praying with all my heart.
As I walked back to the beach area where my friends were - not knowing what to do next - a woman saw me and asked if I had lost a little girl. "YES!" and then I saw Sarah sitting on a cement bench surrounded by 3 women and a few kids. She was found crying looking for mommy and they were trying to comfort her. One lady had even called the police to report a lost girl. I gave Sarah the biggest hug ever and we cried together. I was sooooooo happy to find my little girl. We went and got William and as we were leaving ran into the lady again - who was now accompanied by the police officer - and we filed a report. I'm so glad it ended happily.
See there are good people in San Francisco. There may be the random stealer of cameras and frisbees, but at least my little girl is safe at home.
We headed back to the beach to work on my photography skills. I'm really trying to work on keeping my subjects in focus while blurring the background. I'm still in the "take 200-300 pictures and 3-4 will be decent" phase. My friends Cyndi and Renato (aka Rhino) were my guinea pigs. I'm still working on Photoshop with those pics, but I did take a minute to edit some pics of my family.
We really have the best time at the beach together. It's going to be a bitter-sweet day when Rog returns to full-time employment. We love having daddy around!
Cyndi took our picture in front of the bridge. Gotta love wearing coats to the beach :)
We love having family time. Yesterday we headed to Baker Beach to run on the beach - and run away from the waves. We had a blast! It's been so fun to have Daddy around more.
"At the beach. At the beach. The salty, sandy beach. Life is a ball at the beach!"
Our apartment was sweltering by 9:15 this morning so we decided it would be a PERFECT day to head down to the beach. We met up with Stephanie and Jenna and had, well, a ball.
William was content to sit on the blanket for about an hour. I couldn't believe it!
He eventually started digging by the blanket and then ...
He was off! He LOVED the freedom of crawling all over in the sand.
He crawled right on over to the big girls and fit right in. I had to put down my camera when he crawled into the water. He LOVED splashing all over in it.
Kenzie and Sarah had a great time playing with their sand toys, running in the water and throwing pebbles in the water. It was so relaxing just to sit and enjoy the morning!
It's days like today that I LOVE being a mommy in San Francisco!
