tried to go fishing but there was a little man who kept pulling on my shorts demanding I give him the rod.

Noah’s fish finally have a name. Nemo and Sushi. Go figure.

We decided to camp at the beach overnight and settled on site 33 at San Elijo State Beach. I use the word "camp" loosely - as it doesn't quite conjure up images of traditional camping. Instead of majestic mountains and cool streams, you're faced with blue skies, steep bluffs and smashing waves upon the cliff faces. I guess that part would be great, if your camp didn't butt up to two more campsites, one of which had an obnoxiously loud 6000 watt generator running full bore, exhaust aimed in our general direction. It also doesn't live up to the "camping" ideal when Amtrak trains run through the area late at night and within visual eyesight of your campsite. Nevertheless, for those that spend any time at the beach, it provides a nice change of pace from driving break to break searching for that perfect wave. Instead, you can wake up nice and early, brew yourself a nice cup of coffee and look at the waves... all about 5 feet from your tent or RV.

Anyway - We were hanging out at the campsite and we found Noah abnormally quiet - and as all parents out there know, a quiet child is either hurt or is up to no good. I looked around and found Noah in the cab area of the van looking very focused. At the same time, I acknowledged his amusing face and realized he was shoving a quickbooks cd into the van's cd player. I grabbed the cd, in which I though was the nick of time only to realize later that there were 3 other cd's shoved into a single compact disc audio player. Not good.

We spent a good hour or so trying to remove the cd to no avail. I was getting upset and then I realized that he had done exactly what I had done over 27 years ago. Instead of multiple CD's into the cd player, I had inserted toothpicks and paperclips into the ignition switch. So as much as I needed him to learn it wasn't correct, I smiled inwardly remembering he is almost exactly as I was. I can hear my parents rolling around laughing and saying "What goes around comes around..." They're exactly right. Damn.

Decided to go stay overnight at San Elijo SB. That evening, we decided to paddle out for a nice glassy evening session. Noah and I hit the waves again on his GIANT blue longboard. We're off to a good start cause he LOVES it. When he was done for the day, I decided to paddle out and catch some waves on the blue beast. I was pleasantly surprised at how well that big foam pier caught waves and maneuvered into the waves. You're not going to win any contests with the board, but you will have lots of fun. I plan on taking it out on nice small summer days when we're at the beach ALL DAY LONG. There's no wax to melt!

Ok. The pictures suck, but don't blame Nicole for taking them. I had told her I adjusted everything so that taking pictures was as simple as point and shoot. I was partially right, but I forgot to reset the lens setting from Manual Focus to Auto Focus. SOooo.. Everything came out blurry. No matter. Noah and I paddled out for about 4 or 5 waves and he's as good as hooked. Today we were cleaning the garage and he pointed up to the big blue surfboard and said. "Dada! Mine. Dada Beach?" I was proud.

We picked up a new 8' soft foam surfboard at Costco today for $99. We originally had thought about buying Noah a bodyboard, but thought it would be best if we rode the white water together. It will also serve dual roles by allowing visitors a chance to surf without damaging my precious other surf boards. I modified the board by installing a "body board" leash to the front of the board so that I can secure Noah to the board in case of wiping out.

Today was a milestone in our family. Noah got his first pair of slippers. I guess its not a big thing for most people, except that we live for the beach. This week we went 3 times to play, and two times to check the surf and today to buy his flops at Hansen's. Read More...