More Pacific

       It's in the 60's...and beautiful!  Bella and I hit the beach running this morning at dawn - this girl loves the beach so much, running into the waves - you would not believe how high she can jump!  And, although we see a lot of other dogs on the beach in the morning, she only wants to meet people, growling at all of the dogs - I guess she doesn't realize she is a dog.

        Autumn purchased her own boogie board today.  She's hooked.  Her and Cody rode waves for hours, leaving Cody with a red back (not enough sun screen) and Autumn worn out.
        Uh, well, first we had breakfast!  The Boardwalk Cafe on Mission Blvd and Santa Clara...this was Kim's favorite breakfast spot.  We came here each time we visited San Diego - sometimes more than once (as will be the case during our visit!).  Kim thought it was a great 'joint' - how she classified a casual, non-chain establishment that served great food, had great atmosphere and friendly people working there.  It's one of the few places she wanted to buy a t-shirt from - Autumn has claimed the shirt as her own...
          There's not a lot of parking here, and I felt lucky we found a spot about a half block up from the Boardwalk on the right side of the street.  We brought Bella, so the maid's could repair clean our room without getting the Tigger treatment - it's so cool, that we knew she'd be fine while we ate breakfast.  As we walked to the Boardwalk, a man yelled to me that I'd better move my car, that they were ticketing right now and he pointed to the sign next to our car.  I thought it read 'No Parking Thursday mornings' for street cleaning and told him so.  He told me it does say no parking Thursday, but also said no parking Monday, too.  "What day is it?" I asked honestly.  "Monday."  "Oh, thanks! I'd better move my car!"  He told us that he had just done the same...Just as I started the car, the meter maid (is it still politically correct to call them that?), the ticket giver outer, pulled up and shook her head at me.  I thought she was going to ticket us anyway, but turns out she told me that since the street cleaner had already passed, I should park there.  She also told me not to forget Bella, since The Boardwalk is dog friendly!  Lucky Bella!

The "Joint" had sprouted a leak in the ceiling...apparently, the tenants above had left the bathtub running a tad too long, causing a beautiful, waterfall effect in the establishment below.  We were not put out....well, I guess we were, as we decided to sit outside.  Our waitress hooked Bella up with a fresh bowl of water.

     The breakfast was fantastic and I felt compelled to purchase a t-shirt...then, it was off to the beach!

Cody and Autumn rode some killer waves...

Tonio bought himself a big shovel and got busy digging an ever bigger hole.

Soon, the bambini joined forces to combat the incoming surf and preserve Tonio's engineering feat!

Jumping backwards a bit...here's a photo of last night's dinner at Anthony's Grotto - again, a family tradition.  We managed to get a window seat, which thrilled the kids.

OK, back to the present...after the beach, the kids like to swim for awhile at the pool to de-sand themselves.

All of the surf, sun, swimming and digging has given the bambini a hellacious appetite...off to Little Italy and Filippi's!!

After dinner, we walked Old Town, where the kids enjoyed Mexican hot chocolate (I stuck to cappuccino) and looked for souvenirs...Kim really enjoyed Old Towne and I shared stories of times we ate at Cafe Coyote, or Rockin' Baja Lobster and the time Kim got us a little efficiency apartment right in Old Town and we could walk to get late night ice creams (and margaritas for us!).  Cody and Autumn remember finding many snails in the bushes during that trip...

Little Tonio, ever thoughtful, kept finding little reminders of Kim - hummingbirds feeding from flowers...a Kimberly license plate in one store...at Filippi's, he wanted me to drink a bottle of Chianti, so we could write on the bottle for his Mama and hang it from the rafters with the billion others up there (think Pinnacle Peaks steak house and their ties...but Chianti bottles instead)...and he's struggling with traumas that we hope to get resolved soon for the poor little guy, makes me wish we could just stay here and live on the beach, but, I know we've got to face things...Then, it was  back to the hotel for a late night walk with Bella on the beach...they actually had no problem hopping into bed when we got home around 10!!

As Autumn fell asleep, she said to Cody "Can't wait to do some more boogie boarding tomorrow!"...Hoping their dreams are as sweet as their day was...