San Diego Day #3 – La Jolla

  I fell in love with this wondrous place:  A little beach at low tide just south of La Jolla town center.  We stayed for hours, delighted by all the beauty and curiosities around us.  These little canyons running into the sea were a perfect place to plan and explore, for big and little kids.  The clear water, blue sky, foamy waves.       There was room to run, places to explore, seagulls to feed.  The kids wanted to stay forever.   We stayed so long and had such a great adult kid ratio that I got to spend a little time with each of our children, bathing in the beauty with each of them.  Stopping enough to watch their eyes sparkle.  I don’t do that enough. Em and I counted 11 different colors in that tide pool.  Hazel and I watched this Heron and sang “For the Beauty of the Earth” together as we sat on the rocks.  We talked about the “love which from our birth, over and around us lies.”  She is a deep soul.  She gets it.  She even let me recite to her my favorite “Ode to the Sea.”  I can’t be in a place crashing with waves like that without going through that poem.  The kids spent a big chunk of time tearing these muscles from their resting spots and throwing them to the seagulls.  They claim they all got eaten up.   Kristi was such a trooper toting her four little ones around without Noah there to help so that she could show us the beauty of where she lives.  I loved spending some time with her kids, they are awesome.        I loved looking closely at the amazing sculptures of the sea.    After the tide pools we headed a little further north to La Jolla cove to see all those seals basking in the sun.  The kids were excited about the seals for about 3 minutes until they discovered the sandy wave crashing cove beach and were smitten.  They let those waves chase them silly, filled with delight in their wet bathing suits while I stood fully clothed and freezing.  Oh, to be a kid, filled with more excitement and wonder than sense. I couldn’t get enough of these pictures, their faces are just too full of expression and glee. I didn’t get a picture, but would like to document that Hazel actually went all the way in.  Head under and all.  That girl has warm blood and an adventurous soul.     Noah met us there after his long two days of work.  It was good to see that guy and drive home with him and catch up.  I love my bro. We left all the kids eating dinner with a brave babysitter while we took Noah and Kristi out for Thai and good adult conversation.  We miss having them live just a few little states away from us. 

Another perfect day.