2nd ANNUAL GIRLS AT THE BEACH

Last Monday I accompanied Tianna back to San Diego (Poway) for our last adventure. Wednesday we were going with her BFF for a couple of days on the beach. In the mean time we cooked a couple of the dishes she learned at Cooking Camp and of course school shopping.

Wednesday morning as we packed up the car it started to sprinkle, the sky was gray and it was cool. Since we couldn't check in until 3:30 we headed down to the Belmont Park Boardwalk. The girls spent the day riding the rides and playing in the arcade.

After numerous rides on the roller coaster, the Extreme Machine, bumper cars, etc. we headed to our hotel and checked in. We were staying at the Best Western right on the beach. It was a nice enough place, we had a partial ocean view.. but a better view of the public parking lot (where our little veranda opened up to). But, we didn't intend to stay in the room so it really didn't make any difference. The girls thoroughly checked out the room and were bummed to find the TV didn't have Disney Channel...OMG! They wanted to go to the beach but it was already 4:30pm so we went to the pool instead for a couple of hours.

After pool play we showered, changed and headed out to dinner. They wanted Joe's Crab Shack (yuck!) but since it was their vacation and it was 2 against one that's where we went. Last year it was packed and we had over an hours wait, this year there was no wait at all... I don't know if it's because of the economy but all the restaurants around there were pretty slow, as well as the hotels. We got seated right away and started with the Mozzarella sticks then the girls decided they wanted the Crab Pot. Dungeness crab, Snow crab, corn, sausage, and potatoes. The waiter suggested they get the Pot for 2 but NO.. they were not about to share crab..they each had to have their own. They both did pretty good, they ate all the crab. Of course the rest of the stuff was way over cooked. I opted for the Chipoltle Burger, I was pleasantly surprised, it was really good. Of course they had to have desert.. T had the Bananas Foster and Syd had the Sea Turtle Sundae. Good thing it's located on the Walk..it gave us a chance to walk off some of that food on our short hike back to the hotel.

We were all tired from our day so we climbed into bed around 10 and the girls watched TV until who knows when.. I fell asleep. The next day after sleeping in a little we packed up all our stuff and headed to the beach. Pacific Beach or PB as it's locally known is a great place for kids. They have life guard stations and certain areas for boogie boarders and swimmers. The surfers are in another area. We set up our area and headed to the Walk to find some breakfast. There is little Cantina with seating on the Walk that serves breakfast,lunch and maybe dinner. I got a coffee and T got a breakfast quesadilla and Syd got a breakfast sandwich. I knew T wouldn't be able to finish her breakfast so that was the plan to split with her. That quesadilla was really good. While they waited for the requisite 30 min after eating they got busy digging holes.

Then it was off into the water for the rest of the day. I think they finally called it quits around 3:00. Went to one of the little shacks and got a snack. I had a great day with my beach umbrella, beach chair and book. Just give me a book and I'm a happy camper. After the beach they wanted to hit the pool so after taking everything back to the room we headed to the pool.. me to the hot tub. I think we stayed there until around 5:30 or so when the girls decided they were hungry again. We headed for the showers and again down the Walk to dinner at The Green Flash. We noticed this Steak and Seafood restaurant last night on the way to Joe's, read the menu and decided we'd try it tonight. After about a 5min. wait we were seated inside, they also have patio seating but there was about an hours wait for that since seating was limited out there.Both the girls decided to make dinner from the starters. T and Syd both had the chowder, which it turns out wasn't very good, the shrimp cocktail then Syd had garlic bread and T had oysters on the half shell. I had Oyster Rockefeller and steak and lobster. Everything was good.. not great but better than expected. Of course desert was a must with the girls.. I don't remember what that was. I had a very yummy Irish Coffee. Again good thing for the walk back..we stopped at the little shops and checked out all the "junk" that was sold there. After we got back to the room I had the girls clean up all the stuff they had scattered around and pack up everything that didn't need the next day. In the morning we were meeting Summer and Lana (T's mom and baby sister) for breakfast at World Famous and I wanted everything packed up in the car other than our beach stuff. Breakfast was at 9 and we walked in and got seated no problem and this place is always busy. They have the best breakfast's there. I was still full from the night before as I think the girls were considering how much they didn't eat of their breakfast. Syd got a short stack of pancakes and ate maybe half, T got a veggie omelet and took a bite. I got the Eggs Benedict w/spinach and a spicy sausage. It was good, but like I said I was full and ate half. Summer had the Bread Pudding french toast.. it looked good. Lana was just being her happy baby self. The came out on the beach for a little while, Summer took pictures of the girls and videoed them on their boogie boards. They headed home and we stayed for a couple more hours until I think the girls were all beached out. Headed home for a much needed shower. After dinner that night we went to Wal-Mart and Target to buy school supplies...they have a list of what they need for the year. Saturday was just a hang out day. I helped T decorate her back pack and played with Lana..I was headed home later that night.Now it's back to reality..it's so quiet around here after a summer of having a 10 year old around.. it's really lonely during the day. Aww well, I'll see them again in a month,we are headed back down there for a couple of days.