Rude awakening

As the boys and I lounge on the beach, I slide my foot slowly into the soft speckled sand, toes wriggling until they find a cool and comforting spot. The fading rays of sunlight stream through the rafters of the lifeguard stand and filter onto the two small faces in front of me, illuminating streaks of blond hair that blow in the warm afternoon breeze. I close my eyes and hear sounds of laughter amid the crashing of the waves, and as I lift my hand, tiny grains of sand cascade onto the - HEY! Stop throwing sand on my head!!!!!

Whew, sorry about that. For a minute there I thought I was over at ticklecookbreathe. Let me go pick some of the sand out of my scalp so I can get back to the business of writing about the ridiculous, low-brow adventures that you've come to expect around here.

Yesterday was the last day of t-ball season, which is one of my favorite days of the year because I love hearing Dave get all of the accolades he so richly deserves. He's really one of the very best coaches out there, and I love the fact that our players and families appreciate him so much. This year as a coach's gift they gave him a fancy beach chair with "Coach Dave" monogrammed on the front - which is fitting, because he that's what the kids call him throughout most of the year.

We followed up the final game with a trip to a real Dodgers game. Luke was in absolute heaven watching baseball with all of his best buddies and his dad. Zach and I decided to skip the game due to some extreme irritability and crankiness on Zach's part, which was fine, because we wound up having a great time with our friends Julie and Madeline, eating pizza and ice cream. ("That was a GREAT party," Zach declared on the way home, even though it had only been the four of us.)

Today the boys had an AWESOME (actual quote) time going out on a friend's boat. It's a 29-footer and it has enough room for their family of four to sleep inside, so the kids had a great time playing in all of the cozy little nooks down below while the grownups braved the windy upper deck and watched the scenery. I have a few pictures but they're tied up in my new phone right now and I have no idea how to get them out. If I had the chance to write some florid descriptions you might be able to picture it. Heck, I'll give it my best shot: Here's Zach's yellow hair blowing like crazy in the wind as he pops his head out of the skylight from down below, here's a huge toothy grin on Luke's face as he chows down watermelon on the windy upper deck, and here's a gang of sea lions lounging in the sun without a care while the rest of the world drifts by.