This is my last California post!
Our beach outing was wonderful! It wasn’t cold or windy, so it was just perfect. And the overcast skies made the shadow-free pictures so easy & fun to take. I love the photos I was able to get (despite not having the skills)!
Chase & Charlotte were so very busy & happy at the beach (until the very end, when Chase had some sort of awful stomach cramp & tantrum rolled into one & we just had to book it outta there… But we won’t dwell on that).
The huge pile of seaweed was disgustingly fascinating.
Chase constructed a “water obstacle course” in the sand.
Charlotte collected treasures.
Grandma had a cold, but was a good sport & still had fun!
Quite the collection of beach treasures.
I love these two photos of Charlotte.
Afterwards, we stopped by the notorious pink & white striped shop. I’d never been inside! Chase was still throwing a wild fit & screaming in the car, so I left my long-suffering mother with him while Charlotte & I went in to check out the whimsical little shop.
I was amazed by the variety of unique salt water taffy flavors they had there: Buttered Popcorn, Pomegranate, Birthday Cake, & Root Beer Float, to name a few! I bought salt water taffy, some little polished rocks, shark teeth for Chase, & a bracelet/necklace thing for Charlotte. Yes, my kids are spoiled. I’m working on it…
Charlotte wouldn’t take her eyes off of her bracelet for a quick photo! You just can’t separate this girl from her jewelry.
An update on little miss piggy bank. She has passed the penny! Charlotte had her shots scheduled for yesterday so after her shots Charlotte got her first x-ray ever. Joy told me she wasn’t scared at all but instead asked the x-ray tech if she liked her sandals. Two hours later Joy poked around Charlotte’s logs and found a hard metal item. We are SO glad this experience is over. And Charlotte is now a big advocate for not eating money. I also made the mistake one last time of calling her my little piggy bank, she quickly said “no daddy, I’m Charlotte!”
Being the amazing husband I am, I was watching the kids while Joy went to some relief society thing. While having a great time putting the kids to bed I found a penny in Charlotte’s bed. So I put it on her night stand and said good night to them both. I went into our room across the hall. I enjoyed listening to them laugh with each other and then for me to say “sssshhh”. After a while they were being more quiet. Then all of a sudden Chase the vigil lookout and defender that he is started screaming “Charlotte is choking! Charlotte is choking!!” This freaked me out quite a bit as I jumped up. I found Charlotte gagging but luckily still breathing. So frantically I asked what she had eaten. She said in a very small princess voice “money”. I chuckled and took her to the bathroom to stick my finger down her throat and see if I could find anything in her mouth. It was too late. She swallowed the penny. They both got a very stern reminder about only food going in their mouths. I figured Joy would freak out when she came home, but she just laughed and said Gino used to eat money all the time. We are still waiting for confirmation that the penny has passed. Charlotte doesn’t like her new nickname of Piggy Bank.