Upon waking up Tuesday morning (literally, 45 minutes before we were due to check out), we got everything packed up and headed out for breakfast at Denny's-far and away better than the disastrous meal at Cocos the night before! We watched people fly up and down the Mickey Mouse roller coaster at CA Adventure, which was right across the street! After that, we jumped on the freeway and headed to Santa Monica Pier-a bit of a drive, but we thought that would be a cool destination. We were right!
The pier was amazing. I have never been there, and Jared said this entire area made him love the beach much more (he doesn't care for the crowds or the grossness of the water, generally speaking). I LOVE the ocean more than any other place on the wold-this pier was icing on the proverbial cake! Karianna loved everything. She was pretty young last time she was at the ocean, so this was a neat experience for her. We walked the pier, took lots of pictures, wandered through the amusement park, played air hockey, and watched the waved pound into the pier supports. The day was overcast and windy, so the waves were really on point!
We had to get creative setting up my camera for the self-timer.....
After we got our fill of the pier, we headed down to the beach, spread out the sheet we had brought, and just reveled in the sound of the waves crashing on the shore. Karianna and I ran down to the surf and played wave tag for a looooooooong time. We experimented with how deep we went, giggled at the sand shifting under our feet, and shrieked when the waves soaked our jeans. We are fairly certain we saw a few dolphins a ways out-or something big. We didn't find any shells, but we were so entranced with the waves, it didn't seem to matter. Jared took a little catnap on the sheet, and by the time we got back, we all just laid there enjoying the sunshine that had finally popped out and the sounds of the ocean. Have I said I LOVE the ocean? I do. Somehow, it just puts things into perspective....makes you feel more capable and confident than you normally are, and as if the big things don't really matter all that much. I feel so invigorated at the ocean, and I think Karianna caught some of that. It was so much fun hanging out with her-I really, really enjoyed myself.
Jared saw this thing flying through the sky-I think he called it an ospry? Apparently it is a military grade plane that is really rare.
We stayed much longer than we anticipated-until 3pm. It was so worth it though. We knew we had to start heading home though, so we washed off our feet, listened to a few more verse of an unrecognizable song sung by a homeless lady who managed to locate an amp and a mic, and trudged for the car, leaving the beautiful ocean behind. Sigh. I always get sad leaving the ocean.
Our drive out of the area was horrendous, as was the traffic jam heading towards Disney. We got well out of the city and pretty close to the border before we stopped for an extremely late lunch/early dinner at Subway. Karianna slept a good part of the way, and both Jared and I found it much easier to drive on a good night's rest and knowing we were heading home to the kids. We arrived just after 11pm to relieve my mom-the house was still really clean, just as I had left it, which was impressive! We woke all the kids up after she left, and must have played/talked with them until just before midnight-it was a sweet reunion. All the kids were extremely jealous of Karianna, but also excited to see pictures and to hear about all our adventures.
I can't express how grateful I am for these last few days. They meant so much to me and Jared, in terms of connecting with Karianna and sharing these experiences with her at such a tender age. We love her so much and we are so proud of the young woman she is becoming!
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