Mission Beach

           After we scattered Kimmy's ashes at Laguna Beach at Treasure Cove, we quickly gathered our stuff and hit the road for San Diego...This is our afternoon on Monday 6/13.
          Mission Beach was always our favorite beach.  So many things going on, nice, wide beaches, good surf for the bambini - and restrooms!
           It was in the 70's, the water was a little chilly, but not stopping the bambini from jumping in!  The waves were perfect for Cody to catch some good, long rides on his boogie board.

                                      Autumn wasted no time in 'taking care' of her brothers...unfortunately, the police in San Diego are not dog lovers like the ones in Laguna, and we were quickly escorted off the beach...

                                         After the beach, we went the Belmont Amusement park.  Tonio stepped up and went on all of the crazy, scary rides with Cody...

                                       There's a nice, big, grassy park just across the street from the Belmont that we ran Bella in..after buying taco's from Roberto's, a walk-up restaurant right on the corner across from the Belmont.

I thought Tonio was going to hurl after going on this ride, which constantly flips you over and over as it rolls you on an uneven surface!  He lost his flip flops!

We had so much fun at the Belmont each time we went to San Diego.  Kim liked to ride the giant, wooden roller coaster.  This was Cody's first time on it and he absolutely loved it!  I video taped our ride on my phone, hanging on to it for dear life as we sped along the tracks...and when we got back to the hotel, I downloaded it to my laptop only to find I had been holding my phone upside down!!  It's too big a file to upload to the blog, unfortunately, but we pretty much screamed the whole time...

                       For dinner, we hit the downtown harbor area and went to Anthony's Grotto!  Angie had told us about that place years ago and everytime we'd go to San Diego, we'd be sure to eat there.  They have the best clam chowder and fish tacos!  Unfortunately, after eating the fish and chips, Tonio ran for the men's room and lost his dinner!!  His stomach still hadn't found its sea legs...
                     After dinner, we walked the mile or so to Seaport Village, where they have a carousel from 1895.

                                         Autumn thought the Cinderella carriage was so neat!
                 We got back to our hotel around 10:30, and Tonio and Autumn were asleep by 11:00...Cody and I enjoyed Sportcenter until after midnight (we only have basic cable, and don't get ESPN), before going outside to look for the Big Dipper....

                       Love,
                             Dave

Laguna

       Yeh, I'm struggling with titles for my posts...sorry.  Seems to be a lot of Laguna on my mind...

Here's where we stayed:

                The bambini loved to swim in the pool...and here's the 'Big White Whale' parked in the lot, surrounded by palm trees and BMW's.
                 To get down to the beach, you walk through the Montage resort...the term 'excessive' comes to mind as you stroll across their grounds...go to http://www.montagelagunabeach.com/ and see for yourself...

                       962 steps to the bottom, where you are greeted by a curving pathway through lush flora.  Autumn and Tonio could barely make it back up them at the end of the day...

                  The hotel looms above a random, tiled seascape...grass so green and soft...

                                        Oh, here's that curving walkway...

                    And, as I mentioned, I'd wake up around dawn, and sneak out, with the bambini still dreaming of riding the surf and Bella and I would run the beach. The first morning, there was a group of environmentalists, releasing a healed seal back into the ocean.  It tentatively swam through the waves and stopped on a large rock protruding from the ocean about 20 yards off the beach.  It was peaceful, the sounds of the surf, the pelicans flying over head...
                    On the 12th, our first full day in beautiful California, I woke the bambini around 7:30 and we filed down to the office for the continental breakfast.  What a show that was.  There were a bunch of 'regulars' there, 'helping' Tonio make hot chocolate (after a night of puking, I was thankful), Autumn and Cody grabbing as many muffins as they could hold...and we all straggled back to the room to eat, before hitting the beach.
                   Cody spent the day riding waves on his boogie board and trying to show Tonio how to catch a wave...to no avail.  Tonio preferred digging for sand crabs and building sand castles.  Autumn floated in between the two.  She remembered, that on this very beach, nearly 7 years ago, a large wave knocked her off her feet and started sucking her out to sea - I scooped her up, never having run that fast before, or ever again...

                                                     Nice waves!

                                      Cody builds himself a man cave...

                                     Autumn and Cody look for shells....

A boy and his dog...

Tonio enjoyed the tide pools - there were huge starfish in them!

                We decided to head towards town for lunch, to eat at Gina's Pizza, where we had eaten the last two times we visited Laguna...

                 It was good to be back there...the kids remembered eating on the veranda the last time we visited.  Autumn got the pasta...Tonio and Cody the pizza, and I always go for the big Italian sandwhich and was not disappointed...
                We went back to the beach until around 6:30 and then ventured downtown Laguna...Cody wanted to try to get into Salerno's again...he said he had a feeling that we'd be able to get a table tonight.  Sure enough, they had one table for 4 left!

             At Salerno's, they loved my Italia sweatshirt and treated me as brethen...

Autumn ate cioppino - from the adult menu - and demolished it!!  It had clams, mussels, calamari, shrimp and scallops over pasta.  Tonio and Cody had calarmari and I ate caprese and scavenged from the bambini.

                I asked the waitress if they sold t-shirts, she said sadly, they did not.  I explained that Solerno's was Kimmy's favorite Italian restaurant in all of Laguna and that I needed a souvenior...she let me take the Moretti glass...Now, 5 or 6 years ago, we were in Little Italy, San Diego, at Zagarella's, and they let me take a Moretti glass, as it was Kim and my wedding anniversary...I wore that glass out, so it was very nice to get a new one...
                We went to her two favorite shops, Crazy Tees ( I found a great T with sea turtles on it) and to Bubbles, kind of a Bath and Bodyworks type shop, before heading back to the hotel so the bambini could recharge their batteries...
               Sitting on the beach that day, I could feel Kimmy's presence...as I watched the bambini play, and looked at the beautful surf, I felt as though I was seeing it through her eyes...
               Love,
                    Dave

                     Tonight's sunset...full of peach...just like Father Harry promised....

Laguna Beach...

          I have a lot to catch up on...I wanted to keep up while we were in Cali, but, could not find the words two nights and the third night, when I was set to fill in some blanks, the hotel WiFi was not working...so, I'm going to get a little out of chronological order, but, bear with me...here we go..

           June 13th, 2011 -

          I woke before sunrise and slipped out of our hotel at the Travelodge Laguna Reef accompanied by Bella.  The bambini snuggled in their blankets and dreaming (yes, blankets!  A. it was only about 60 degrees that morning when I left and B. Isn't it great to CRANK the A/C when you are on vacation???).  We walked through the beautiful ground of the Montage resort across the street from our hotel to get to the beach...and we ran.  Bella loved this time...she splashed in the waves and ran hard...there were only a couple of people on the beach this morning...I ran to see if we'd be able to access the little cove Kim so loved. 

          The tide was up pretty high as I approached the rocks that we'd have to climb to make it to her cove.  I knew Cody could make it.  Not Bella.  I'd have to leave her in our room.  Autumn...maybe.  Tonio - I was going to have to help him and it would be tricky.  The way the waves were breaking, you had a split second to ascend the rocks, scamble to the other side and leap to the beach below.  Tonio is not our athlete.  But, I knew there was no other way, no other choice - we needed to do it for Kimmy.

          I finished running Bella and went back to wake the bambini.  They quickly got ready and we somberly wound our way back to the cove...the tide had come in a little more, but Cody had no trouble making it across.  Autumn got drenched, but made it.  And, at the right moment, I picked up Antonio and threw him on top of the rocks, praying he would no go hurtling over the other side.  Amazingly, he got his balance and deftly leaped to the safety of the beach below!
         We gathered ourselves on the beach of the secluded cove, alone, as a family.  I pointed to the cliffs, with the trailing bougevalias, hearts and flowers and ice plants...brilliant flowers...to the beach, white, soft sands and to the sea, stunning blue, light waves, gently lapping at the beach - each curl of a wave, as it broke, reminding me of Kimmy's eyelashes, as she winked...and the blue/green ocean, nearly the color of her beautiful eyes...

                                  Here is the opening to the cove. Once through the archway, you have to climb the large rocks pictured in the back to drop down to the beach.

                      The plants and flowers cover the towering cliffside, making the cove somehow more Kimmier.

                                 Here's the beach...just us and the birds - seagulls, pelicans...

                                 View of the cove while climbing the rocks...

                                We huddled together, as dawn came upon us, and said the Lord's Prayer together...I asked the bambini, to please remember their Mama, on the beach - her happy place...I told them how much she loves them, and to remember how special she made them feel, every day...never forget.

                                   Each child took a handful of Kimmy's ashes and walked away...

                                   As I scattered the remaining bit into the shining sea, I looked down and saw two, perfect, conical seashells, the spirals highlight in peach...Kimmy.  I told her, if you are really here, send me a sand dollar...the next day, as we sat on Mission Beach, early in the morning, we saw about a dozen dolphins playing in the breakers...I walked to the water's edge, to try to grab some video and looked down and saw a partial sand dollar right at my toes...

            I did not realize that Aut was filming some of this...she's invisible sometimes...like her Dad...Towards the end, you will see me reach into the ocean and find the shells I spoke about...well, I tried to upload it, but it must be too large a file...I let it for 1/2 hour and it was still trying...sorry.

                           

Little blurry, but this was the only sand dollar I saw the whole time and to find two of the shells on the right, in perfect condition, right next to each other...well, you decide.  The peach on the spirals does not come out very good in the photo - I tried with flash, but that washed it out.  I tried on several different color surfaces, too.

The bambini did well.  They had a nice trip.  Autumn, God love her, as we were leaving Little Italy, San Diego yesterday, proclaimed "this was the best vacation ever!"...making the best of everything, just like her Mama...

Love,

 Dave