The boys jumped into the water immediately and had a blast! Clara, on the other hand...had to warm up to the idea a bit.
After all...that water was pretty chilly! She wasn't at all sure that that wet suit was going to do her one bit of good! After debating it for a good while, she too joined in the fun and a blast was had by all! On Tuesday night, my sister, Donna and her charming hubby, Grady, came over and joined us for a steak dinner and some wonderful sunset watching.
We had such a good time with them. And then, we all went the next day, to visit the San Diego Zoo. The hippos, flamingos and polar bears were my favorite subjects to photograph this go round!
WHAT is with this poor hippo's tail? I mean....geez?! Did God make it that way? Or did it get stuck in an electrical outlet somewhere?!
Then on Thursday, we were back out on the beach. Chris did some boogie boarding with the kids. I kicked back in a chair to take it all in. I had put my camera away when this nagging little voice started telling me to pick it back up again. I watched Chris and the kids and decided I had enough pictures of this excitement. But the voice refused to go away. Eventually, I decided it must be the voice of God. After all....I had JUST prayed for something dazzling to photograph, because, to this point...nothing had really moved me or gotten me too excited. It was just the same old, same old. I needed something dazzling. So I kind of challenged God on it. You know...come on...make my day, etc., etc. Well...the "voice" was very persistent, and so I finally picked up my camera and headed back down into the freezing water. My family wasn't doing anything too exciting, so I proceeded to take some pics of this bird and his reflection there on the beach. 
When suddenly, I swung my viewfinder back over to my family in the water...just in time to capture.....THIS!
WOW! Talk about cool! Apparently God was up to my little challenge! And my three boys were swimming with the dolphins! Better the dolphins, than the sharks, if you know what I mean! It was so cool to see the dolphin swimming so close to them! The day ended all too soon and before we knew it Friday was upon us. We had a nice breakfast of bacon and eggs and pancakes and then proceeded to break camp. I asked Chris if he had gas in the truck. He said no...but assured me we had PLENTY. And so we set off. Chris is famous for wanting to get "out of town" before he stops for either food or gas. The unfortunate thing about this habit is that often, when you get "out of town" there is NEITHER food NOR gas! I have been on the disappointment end of this logic of his many a time before. And today was yet another adventure in the land of "I told you so!" . As we both watched the gas tank fall lower and lower, closer and closer to the big "E" as in EMPTY...Chris kept assuring me that we had plenty of gas and were absolutely going to make it to the destination that he had in mind. In the meantime, we are passing MANY gas stations. We were by NO MEANS in a desolate land, void of gas. No...we simply sailed right by them. And I just sat back and said "Fine...do it your way." Well. It wasn't very long before I caught the worried glances and heard Chris telling me that the gas station was "just over that hill by the big windmills". I said that that was all fine and good, but I didn't think for a second he was going to MAKE it to the windmills...that they were a good bit farther away than our gas tank indicated we could make it. (of course, by now...there are NO gas stations anywhere and we are traveling SO uphill. Of course!) No sooner does he tell me not to worry, than the truck begins to sputter and shake and buck and we come to a grinding hault along I-8. (Go ahead! Click on this picture to get the full picture of our gas guage! It's fantastic!)
Nice, high, noonday sun beating down on us. And there we are. Totally and completely out of gas. Just sitting there on the interstate. With a nice huge "I told you so" just teetering on the edge of my lips. After a call to roadside assistance, it was only a short hour and 10 minutes until we were on the road again. It was just delightful. The kids in particular loved the whole "out of gas", stranded on the side of the road thing. Big fun it was! Oh yes. It's quite sad when the hero of your day is no longer your husband, but a guy named Dennis in a blue Ace Tow truck uniform bearing a giant can of diesel gas! 
Needless to say....after that whole experience, Chris seemed to have a lot less trouble just pulling the stupid truck into NORMAL, populated exits and gassing up. I think he knew better than to risk that whole experience twice! He kept telling me that at least now, the trip wasn't boring. That we now had a story to tell! And sooo...consider it told! We FINALLY rolled back into Tucson a bit after 8:00 p.m. on Friday night. Totally exhausted. Kids in full melt down mode! It was a week to remember for sure! And so...that's a wrap on Fall Break 2008!
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