Who says you can't go swimming in 6 inches of water?!

Just another day of fun in the sun with Robby!

Ooops! Sean gets too close to the shark!

And I thought I loved the water

It looks like there's a new lime green fish in town!
When I was little I absolutely loved swimming in our pool. My mom had made me a lime green swimsuit and the nickname, "lime green fish" stuck with me. But since this little guy's favorite color is green, I now think the nickname should be passed on to my nephew! Robby and I had so much fun "swimming" in his pool today. We made a water slide, searched for a penny underwater, made lots of waves and practiced our kicking. He's a definite lime green fish in training!

Humiliated

We were no more than 2 feet from shore, when he fell in. 5 minutes - he couldn't even last 5 minutes before he was sopping wet! My favorite part of the day came when the onlookers from the shore clapped when Sean was able to haul the dog back into the kayak without tipping over! His "accident" (I'm not entirely sure he didn't try to jump out) sure put a damper on the evening as he continually tried to stand up so he could shake himself off in the kayak. I haven't read the owner's manual yet, but I'm sure wiggling around, shaking back & forth and circling around & around before you sit down is not recommended in a long, skinny and somewhat unstable kayak! And to make matters worse, my new kayak was not in proper working order!

How could we not?

How could we not use our new kayak the first chance we got? It proved to be a very profitable evening as I became the paddler, negotiating us between buoys & shorelines, boats & piers. We cruised around Mission Bay, near Sea World, where we saw penguins and enthusiastic tourists riding the skytram overhead that wanted to see what the heck we were doing. I tried to oblige each passenger by waving while paddling and Sean was more than happy to hold up his trophy for the skytram passengers that yelled, "Hey Canoe-eeey!" 10 fish were caught, in all, but 9 released back to their home. The one we kept: a spotty bass, I'm told. Surely, there will be many more to come as we were able to appreciate the quietness of a warm summer evening in the middle of a big city.

This is turning out to be...

...one fantastic summer!!!
There is nothing quite like getting up at 3 am to support a husband's love of fishing! My husband and I have been talking about how fun it would be to own a kayak for years now. With our recent fishing adventure in Mammoth last month and our even-more-recent sport fishing adventure off La Jolla last week, Sean's love of fishing has been rekindled. So, he decides he wants to enter a kayak fishing tournament to see if it is something he would enjoy. He spends a few hours on the water fishing for the tournament with nothing more to show than a tale of catching a Baracuda (the wrong type of fish) and a seasick stomach! As we sit on the La Jolla shore watching the hordes of tourist kayakers try to make their way out past the break water with the swells getting increasingly bigger, we feel inclined to join them! So, he and I hop in our one person specially-rented-just-for-this-tournament-kayak and head out. We are laughing and enjoying each other's company as we head over to "the caves." I've always heard about "the caves" but could never really understand what all the fuss was about until we entered one!
Such a beautiful adventure on a beautiful day. But the fun does not end there...
...after we paddled back in through the ever increasing swells and larger waves and Sean spotting an actual shark (yes, I said shark, but it's a really small one that can't hurt a person I am "assured,") we head over to the fishing tournament bbq.
We get to the bbq too early and are tempted to leave until we are told this is the best part of the day because there is fantastic food and an extraordinary raffle with a gazillion prizes where almost everyone is assured to leave with something. Well, that's enough to keep us around, and although Sean did not come home with the biggest fish of the day, he did come home with the big raffle prize of the day. We are now the proud owners of our very own kayak!!! And yes, the person that presented us with our new kayak was none other than the person we rented our kayak from! We are so completely blessed and are already planning it's maiden voyage!!!

"We Were Meant To Live"

My diary page (see yesterday's post) reminds me of a good old fashioned carnival. Living in a small town just outside a big city gives us the benefits of a simple country life with big city living at our fingertips. We have our share of craft fairs, the Big Red Barn Country Folk Art Sale (!) and small, church sponsored carnivals, but we often find ourselves going into the city for our bigger entertainment. The Del Mar Fair (oops-now supposedly called the San Diego County Fair) has just the right amount of old fashioned charm mixed with big city life. We've been to some great headlining concerts at this venue, only to be followed up with a visit down the rows and rows of animals.
Last week, we saw Switchfoot in concert at the fair. I've never been disappointed with one of their shows, even when they were just starting out, playing in a jam-packed room to a bible study in Pacific Beach. Their shows are always energetic and the lyrics, thought-provoking. Here are the lyrics to one of my favorite songs, Meant to Live:

Fumbling his confidence
And wondering why the world has passed him by
Hoping that he's bent for more than arguments
And failed attempts to fly, fly

We were meant to live for so much more
Have we lost ourselves?
Somewhere we live inside
Somewhere we live inside
We were meant to live for so much more
Have we lost ourselves?
Somewhere we live inside

Dreaming about Providence
And whether mice or men have second tries
Maybe we've been livin with our eyes half open
Maybe we're bent and broken, broken

We want more than this world's got to offer
We want more than this world's got to offer
We want more than the wars of our fathers
And everything inside screams for second life, yeah

We were meant to live for so much more
Have we lost ourselves?
We were meant to live for so much more
Have we lost ourselves?
We were meant to live for so much more
Have we lost ourselves?
We were meant to live
We were meant to live

A Sneak Peek

The oh-so-talented, Fantazya is putting together a diary with help from a "few" friends. A few weeks ago she posted her grandiose idea of having different shops that sell products on the Internet design one page for a 2008 diary she is putting together. Once I saw the post over on the etsy forums, I jumped at the chance to be included. So here's my contribution which incorporates a few of my favorite memories. I chose June 11 as it is our anniversary and I incorporated this photo I took of the Santa Cruz Boardwalk when Sean surprised me with an unforgettable trip for my 30th birthday. I think it's perfect summer fun and I can't wait to see what everyone else's pages look like. Thanks, Fantazya!
Please be sure to check out Fantazya's etsy shop where she features recycled fashions and natural beauty products.

It's Monday

A little splash of color to spice up your Monday morning! Visit the etsy treasury to view for yourself.

Happy 4th of July!

I think the 4th of July just might be my favorite holiday ever! This year, Sean and I paddled out on a surfboard to watch the fireworks go off right over our heads after being shot off from the pier. The finale was full of patriotic red, white and blue - Spectacular!