San Diego
Dave sewed this giant red duffle bag to transport our boogie boards. It was big enough that Dave could fit inside it, so now we call it the "body bag".
Afterwards, we walked through these flowers to the pier in Oceanside. (Our condo was in Oceanside, not San Diego, and only a five minute walk to the beach.)
Spring was a great time to visit southern California, because there were flowers everywhere! Even though it was a sometimes overcast and the water chilly, it was very beautiful.
The pier is twice as long as the Florida Juno pier. We saw lots of big gulls and in the water, 2 dozen surfers in black wetsuits trying to catch waves.
That afternoon almost everyone arrived, and we went to the beach. We went every day, sometimes twice.
The beach has very fine sand with almost no shells, only a few round black stones. The sand is tan and black with gold flecks. The water was cold, but it was worth it!
Here is the original family (plus little Sammy): Dave in straw hat, Danny in ball cap, Melanie in front in black, Julie in sunglasses, Matthew with the red mop, and Jill in back, plus Mom and Dad. They are a tight crew who get along better than a bunch of bananas.
It wasn't the only wacky event. Sammy was lost for 10 scary minutes. Danny had a sudden bout of a childhood illness. We were rained out trying to cook Dutch oven cobbler on the beach. Our Mother's Day present almost died when we found Walmart closes at 10 pm in California. And Mom's turn to cook ended up as Sunday breakfast on Mother's Day. Oops! Oh well!
These are two fantastic parents: ever since Kali's difficult birth, they've worked hard to keep her alive and growing and to give her love. She's a year old now, and when I saw her for the first time, I loved her too. She's a little doll.
Here's Sammy watching the hippo as it swam through it's tank. A great part of the zoo was the double-decker bus tour, and tram ride, which saved lots of walking. We enjoyed the sea lion show, and I liked the scrapbooking stand with zoo-themed supplies.
(I must say, we decided, attractions aside, that the famous San Diego zoo has close to the same animals and lush landscaping as the San Antonio or Houston zoos--but at three times the price. I recommend that my Texas friends take advantage of local zoos.)
After church, we gave Mom her present: an 8x10 framed photo of us at the zoo the day before. Then we had a very touching testimony meeting, followed by a family council about our next reunion, set for 2007 in Florida.
The funniest one was the Jarvis family singing "Jingle Bells", while Nathan ran laps around them. They also pretended to be zoo animals who got popcorn for doing stunts. Sam talked about the board games he's invented. Melanie and Jill did a head/legs pregnancy workout. Melanie, Jill, and Mom sang a round.
Danny's talent was baking his famous cookies, but when they didn't turn out, he served Oreos. Mike and Sam, the 'brothers-in-law', proved their lack of talent by singing Happy Birthday to Julie as badly as they could.
Here's Dad played his harmonica. (Even with his 'serious' talent, he likes to be funny--such a Robertson!)
The last number was a classic family skit: "Sweep, sweep". Here at the end, they're chanting "He's dead. He's dead. He's dead he's dead he's dead!...Now we don't need the money for the mortgage on the farm!"
After lunch, most of us snorkeled in a little bay. Those of us who had contact lenses saw big orange fish (Garibaldi--CA state fish) and other fish and sea grass and people's legs. Those who had to take off their glasses only saw the orange fish. We doggie-paddled quickly to stay warm, and had fun riding the big waves.
Ticket to Ride is one of our favorite games, although we call it "the train game". We had a train game tournament Monday night. Sam was expected to, and did, win. I got to the winner's final game, but came in last. Oh well, it was fun! Tuesday we reluctantly flew home. It was a fantastic vacation.
Dave and Liz Robertson
Family
Home About
Us e-Scrapbook Letter Special Fort
Family