Surfing Seal Beach

Today we took the kids to the beach.  Kenny wanted to work on his surfing techniques, and we are always game for the beach.  What free fun could be better?  Gina actually took Zack out to teach him the basics of surfing.

Teaching Zack and watching Kenny awakened the surfer girl in Gina Marie.  In her mind, she was ready to shred some waves.  (Is that a real surfing term?)  I watched her grab the board and work her way out there near Kenny.  The waves were rolling in, and I imagine she was so ready to catch one.  But after a short while, she came back to shore board in hand.  The last time she surfed, she did indeed get up on the board, but when she "fell" off it exacerbated an arthritic shoulder and ended in surgery that included the shaving off of bone spurs. She'll ride again!

Kenny caught some good waves and was excited that he was feeling more comfortable maneuvering his board.

Zack actually went out on his own while I stood near the shore to take pictures.  He caught a few "waves".  Really today he road the white wash, but for his first time, he did amazingly well. He didn't even need us to push him into the wave or to be out there to hold the board for him. I think before long, he and Kenny will become surfing buddies.  




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This part of the beach was solely for surfing so Sophia and Josh had a good time playing in the sand  together.  They were good sports.

Free Fun

The bookstore is always a fun place to go!  Zack always seems to be drawn to the anatomy books.  I'm wondering if this will be a passion of his that will lead him into the medical field.  It is still too early to tell, but I hope I can be the type of mom that can pick up on the kids' natural likes enough that when it comes time for college, they'll know what direction they want to go. Of course, there are no guarantees.  It's okay to hope though, huh?

After the bookstore, we went to Mothers' Beach at Alamitos Bay.  Nothing like a park for free fun!

I'm starting to wonder if Zack's top two front teeth will ever grow in!

In Long Beach, it is always a good idea to have at least 4 quarters on hand!  That'll buy you an hour of parking just about anywhere!

My Belated Birthday Weekend

Life has been busy with the move and all so my birthday pretty much just came and went so we decide to celebrate it this weekend!  Today started with kayaking in the Naples canals and ended with going to see G.I. Joe.  In the in between, we went to Open Sesame, and went to see the sand sculpture contest!  Tomorrow the celebration continues, but it will be much more relaxing in nature! 

The great thing is that we never had to leave Long Beach once and had a day packed full of fun!  Here are a few pics from the day.  

A Short Trip to City Hall

We had a small fiasco with the gas company.  I did everything online as instructed but due to a fraud alert placed on my account, they did nothing with my request; however, no one informed me of this.  So, while I assumed the gas was running in my name, it was actually in the old tenants' name.  Strange that he had requested that it be turned off on the 30th of July.  So, I guess the city will pay for our first 13 days of use!!!  So glad they put mandatory furloughs in place to save money because their daily business doesn't seem to be cost effective!

Because of the fraud alert on my account we got to visit City Hall in person to handle this situation.  I grew up in the Long Beach area and worked at the Main Library which is adjacent to City Hall.  The kids got to take a trip down memory lane with me.  I, of course, went with camera in hand.  

I drove by this wall a few weeks ago and thought it would make an awesome urban backdrop.  Today, we just happened to walk by it!  

We're all unpacked and enjoying our new life near the beach.  We road our bikes to the beach two days in a row.  The first day we got to ride into the sunset with Downtown Long Beach as a beautiful work of art before us.  Zack often comments on aesthetic beauty such as this.  I love that about his personality.  This morning, it was chilly out and when downtown with all of the exhaust type smells, he said, "This smells like Russia, Mom."   

Long Overdue Update

Well, since I posted last, we have moved once more!  The owner of the condo we were leasing lost it to foreclosure.  Truth is, as it all turns out, he was losing it since the time we began leasing it!  We leased through a property management company so we felt safe and in the end, other than the inconvenience of moving again, we were safe.  Our deposit and last month's rent had been held in an escrow account so we got it all back which enabled us to walk away without losing any money.  That was a blessing!

So we are replanted in Long Beach just about a mile from the ocean!  Such an awesome place to live!  We're looking forward to taking part in the many festivities around here!  We are enjoying our new house, and the kids are looking forward to starting school which is right around the corner! :)   I did my homework on the schools in the area and this is one of the better ones.  Amazing how decisions are made once kids are in the picture.  They have been troopers during the move and feel incredibly secure and loved.  

Zack, as of late, is working on paying more attention to listening to instructions.  He often times seems to get lost in his head...always thinking, but not always thinking about the here and now task at hand.  Any parent out there have a trick to helping bridge this gap? 

Sophia is working on preparing for 1st grade!  She is reading now and also grasping the concept of addition.  She says things are easy that use to be hard so that is a sign of progress!  As far as behavioral training, we keep working on her sassy attitude that comes out now and again and her bossy tendency.

I have a friend whose young adult daughter is so incredibly rude, and my friend claims that is just how she always has been.  My friend thought it was important to let her be herself.  I disagree with this reasoning and the outcome is enough reason to get me to help Sophia to manage her drive.  She is not rude, but gone untrained she certainly would grow up with that bend.  I am a firm believer in breaking the will while preserving the spirit.  Gentle reminders of kindness and appropriateness will serve any kid well...and sometimes not so gentle.

I am so fortunate because Zack and Sophia both have teachable spirits.  Sometimes I catch myself thinking that if I've told them something once, they should never make that same mistake again, but that isn't realistic.  A great friend of mine reminds me often that this is what parenting is all about - repeating yourself and never stopping the repeats until they get it. Surprisingly, they do pick up great habits and then those habits make me realize I have some bad ones myself.  I realize kids should never correct adults, but I do find it humorous that when I cross a line, they know I've crossed it.  I just need to be careful not to raise little ones who expect others to tow the line 24/7.  That would make for tough marriages, huh? 

Life is a sum of the little things...the little moments in time that when added together make for a childhood worth remembering.