Life's A Beach....

....in pictures!

Dude!! Remember me? Que pasa?

Nope, not trusting any child with that look on their face, that close to the edge....right after they've chased a seagull away!

Loving the feeling of sand slipping out from under her piggies.

Frolicking like crazy!

A two year old's signature pose at lunch.

Just for you....a man at the beach with no shirt

Here's a close up for you....

4 Out Of 4 Ain't Bad

I was tagged by mom x 2 over at It's a Crazy World Out There for this meme....mimi, moomoo. Thank you, mom x 2, I like it because it only required me to rub two of my three brain cells together and presto!

Oh, yeah, and I actually have to do a bit of research. Well...research for me is really just search, which is still research without the re.


Here are the rules:


1. Choose the 4th folder where you store your pictures on your computer.
2. Select the 4th picture in the folder.
3. Explain the picture.
4. Tag 4 people to do the same.

Here is my entry:

This is a picture taken in the summer of 2003. My two oldest granddaughters and I went to Catalina Island for the day. "T" on the left is my oldest granddaughter who lives in Cocoa Beach Florida, who had just turned 11 years old. "T" on the right is my granddaughter here in Texas, who was 9 years old.

It's a mere one hour ride from Newport Beach aboard the Catalina Flyer to Avalon Bay.

The Catalina Flyer is a three tier catamaran with a restaurant on the first level. One of the really special thing is we always see dolphins and whales on the return trip in the late afternoon. Always!

Now, that was easy!

I don't want to pick just four of you to do this meme because that will leave two of you out, and then come to find out five of you have already been snatched up by mom x 2.....which leaves one lone person left who reads Grandma J's blog, and that one person is a lurker!

So, if I left you out of that mathematical calculation, please feel free to do this meme. It's easy, fun, and educational.

NEWPORT BEACH ON A FRIDAY AFTERNOON

After Labor Day and the start of a new school year, things usually simmer down in resort towns across the Country. Not so in Newport Beach California. This is a year round resort town...probably more so in the winter months. More in the way of cash spending, not diaper changing tourists.

On my way down to the Newport Peninsula, I stopped at Hoag Hospital, which is on a cliff overlooking Newport Bay. I love this view. I have memories of looking over the bay after giving birth, and when I lost a loved one....several years apart, same view.

Then headed on down to the Newport Pier, parking in front of Charlie's Chili, right at the foot of the Newport Beach Pier, where you have parking meters that give you three minutes for a dime. My family has a rich history with Charlie's, through two generations of working there, marriages, divorces and lifelong friendships going back over forty years. This is a legendary place to go for great food for ridiculous prices...ridiculous as in low. John Wayne used to order their chili by the gallons for parties. But...I was on a mission...for chests, bare chests, and this was probably the best location to find them in the time alloted on the parking meter....30 minutes.

Also at the foot of the pier is the historic, still functioning home to the infamous Dory Fishermen of Newport Beach. What a site to see at the crack of dawn when the fisherman beach their boats and drag them up the sand to be filet and sold to the multitudes waiting. Well, not really multitudes, but close. Local restaurants relish in this open fish market...by eight in the morning, the place closes down, waiting for another day.

Now I wander up the pier to get a better view of the beach. Oh my, there will always be a bird feeder until the sea gulls gets ticked and peck this guy mercifully.

This guy had no problem letting me inch my way closer along the rail on the pier.

He seemed very content.

So was Lucky...yep Lucky's mom is a beautician! Who wudda guessed? She said she changes the color of Lucky's coif every so often for variety's sake. If Lucky were a girl, I think JJ would go bananas. Yes, that's Lucky's real hair.

Now Jessie didn't have a problem letting me take his picture....are you sitting down dear friend?

He asked me to take another!

These folks are tourists.

At first glance you would think they were related to Lucky!

There is nothing like stopping for a double double at In n Out Burgers on the way home.

CHAPEL DAY WITH MORE McD's AND POKEMON

Now it was Pooper's turn to take the afternoon off to go gallivanting with me. I went to the school to take him and Beauty off campus for lunch. It was Chapel Day, and the boys have to wear ties, and the girls have to wear their jumpers....at least that's what Beauty wears.

Aren't they just adorable? Pooper is a bit undone, but most of the boys have a hard time keeping their shirts tucked.

We went to McDonald's and they picked out the toy they wanted with their Happy Meals.

Then we sat inside and ate our lunch and watched TV.

After lunch, We dropped Beauty off at school and headed to Target. Originally Pooper wanted a lego Batman kit, was torn between Lego kits and Pokemon sets. I don't know, are they sets? I have never been able to understand a single thing about Pokemon....and believe me, my other grandson in Texas used to have a zillion of them, maybe he still does.

Pooper was extremely excited to find out his packet had two Dialga cards....a big one and a small one. He wanted me to take a picture of both, and of course they both look the same in the pictures.

We bought Elise a Shake Me Elmo, and she is making a blanket out of diaper wipes for him.

Tomorrow I may head to the Newport Pier and do some people watching....eh hem....CBW

HELL HATH NO FURY

Does anyone recall me mentioning the sea lions, or seals, that decided to homestead on all the boats, catamarans and yachts in Newport Harbor, California?

This is the harbor. The sea lions like to be way in there where all the action is, like parties and such. Several restaurants have docks on the water so you don't have to cancel your dinner reservation just because your car has a flat tire or a dead battery. No siree, just crank up that yacht and go the back way.

Our water lubbing friends can't be harrassed, but the City of Newport Beach has suggested that the boat owners put up netting or anchor lawn chairs to the sides to prevent the squatters access to their boats.



The boat owners scurry to net their boats.

Well, ok, but this sea lion isn't having any of it.

Nor is this one.

Wonder how many it took to sink this boat.

HIGH END SQUATTERS

It seems there's a problem with squatters in the high rent area of Newport Beach California. Yeah, all of Newport Beach is high rent, but when you claim a spot right on the bay, ten feet from someone's bedroom window, and your mere presence makes it official that no one can force you to leave......then it's saaaawwweeeet baby!

This is the Harbor, actually a long channel, with million dollar oceanfront mansions on both sides...with their yachts, sailboats and catamarans. I love that word catamaran...it just rolls off you tongue like teriyaki, or guacamole.


Here are the chosen few...the elite, the privileged.....


That's right these seals, or sea lions, were tired of being shunned, relegated to a bell buoy. What the hey? Like didn't God make the seas and the oceans for them? isn't it their home?


So what's the harm if we sun on the deck of your catamaran. So what if we bring all our fiends to partay.

So what if we keep you up all night with our barking and snorting. We know we are protected. That's what the rules say. You can't come up to us and say "shoo, shoo, cute little seal". No you can't....and you can't gently prod us with a stick or broom or kayak paddle.

And if you see us pile on and sink your boat....oh well, maybe you should have bought a BIGGER BOAT. Now please, can't we all just get along?