Short But Sweet in LA

My alarm was set to wake me up at 7:00 since our anticipated disembark time was 8:00.  By 6:42 I was already showered and dressed for the day with nothing to do except wait.  Knowing the Hansens were only 15 minutes away made the time pass slower than usual.

I had taken this photo as we came into port.  It warmed my heart on a cool morning to see my favorite flag waving in the breeze again.

We absolutely zipped through Customs in LA, just a quick perusal of our passports not  having luggage checked, or items to declare.  And yes, we brought luggage off the ship to offload some things we've realized we don't need and a few things, mostly Christmas ornaments, that we'd acquired over the last two of months.  Lisa had a couple of bags with my Amazon orders, Karl's new computer (one that is fast enough for him to actually edit his 360 videos!), and a few snacks we'd asked for.  I mean, I can't get Trader Joe's mini gummy bears just anywhere in the world can I?  Anyway, we were through Customs and out the door of the terminal in about five minutes and waited only a few more before Lisa and Nolan drove up to the curb to get us.

After swapping out our bag contents at the Hansen's hotel we headed for Santa Monica Beach, our beloved favorite.  Even though the water was cool it wasn't too cold for kiddos who have been in 25 degree winter weather so they were soon getting their feet wet.

Erin was happy to stay dry and just play in the sand, asking me to help her with building a castle.  You can do some good work with plastic cups, plastic spoons and a paper bowl!

It may not look like it from this photo taken into the sun but it was an absolutely glorious day at the beach, the ultimate in Southern California winter outing.  I took this one just to show how clear the view of Catalina Island was.  

Melanie was more into the sand than the water, Kara dug in the sand for a while but the water started calling her.

A shout out to my favorite swimmer, Lydia, who cut five whole seconds off her 200 Individual Medley time at the Regional Swim Meet the day they left for California.

Nolan just kept daring the waves until one caught him and totally drenched him!  Erin's castle was looking pretty good, she had definite ideas of what she wanted it to look like.

So many thanks to Jeff and Lisa for making this day happen, for being willing to drive to CA and back in a matter of about 53 hours.  I'm glad they're always up for an adventure!

We had a good time watching the sandpipers running along the shore searching for sand crabs.

When you go to the beach you have to have some "jump" pictures.  Kara and Lydia were willing to humor me.

Here they are with their grandpa shortly before they decided to get really brave, or really wet, or really crazy,  as the case may be.

And here'e the "after" picture once they'd tried a little body surfing.  Kara said it was great for exfoliating and they both ended up with sand in places  they didn't want it.  They were successful in catching at least one wave.  Given a summer day Grandpa can actually get in the water to help them learn.

Nolan got this hole dug with a spoon, a cup, and his hands, then created the channels for the water to make its way into the depression.  We kept watching the waves for about ten minutes hoping that they'd fill up the hole, but unfortunately his sisters were all done with the beach and it was time to head out before he got to see the fruits of his labors.

I had to put this one in just because it's so funny.  Lisa asked a random passerby if he'd take a picture of us all.  He took three.  His finger was in each of them and as you can see half of us weren't even looking at the camera.  He tried.

Rather than just call it a bust Lisa decided to ask another stranger if he'd mind taking a photo for us.  This guy was much more practiced.  Thank you random stranger for helping us commemorate our adventure.

Time for Tito's Tacos, a family favorite for over 50 years.  The girls and I decided to take a photo to send to the grandkids group text to make everyone jealous, but....

...we forgot to call Lydia over so we needed to do a retake.  Much better photo this time!  By the time we got our tacos, burritos, chips and salsa we didn't have time to eat at Tito's so it was lunch in the car on the way back to the port at San Pedro.

Thankfully I forgot to take a photo as we were dropped off.  All our faces were so sad, and yes, I was definitely teary, as we said our goodbyes again.  This wonderful and memorable day will stick with us for a long time, which is good because it's going to be a long time before we get to see any family again.  In the meantime, we're back on Serenade and on our way to Hawaii, our South Pacific and Asia journey has begun!