Fun quickie trip to Santa Cruz.

It's a three-day weekend, so we made reservations at our favorite hotel, Hotel Paradox, and had a leisurely breakfast on Saturday morning, then made the drive at Lochlan's usual nap time. It worked great: he slept from about Davis to Fremont! We had a couple patches of slow traffic, but nothing serious, and we got to Santa Cruz around lunchtime.

Ready to go!

After settling in to the hotel room and putting a few things away, we walked downtown to Pacific Avenue. We split up a bit -- Sweetie and Z went to a comic store and L and I went into Chefworks and a couple design and clothing stores. We met up again and went to Logos, the used and new bookstore.

Then we went back to the hotel and had dinner in the restaurant. It was mostly lovely, although Lochlan is quickly heading into that difficult-in-restaurants phase that involves loudness and messes. I ended up walking him in circles around the hotel lobby until I saw that our food had arrived.

It was a big meal, so we all skipped dessert (what?? I know, right!?) and went back to the room to change into bathing suits. They have a lovely heated pool and spa, and we enjoyed both before heading back for our bedtime routine. Lochlan went right to sleep and slept soundly, but Z couldn't go to sleep with our lights on, so we turned them out and didn't read like we usually do.

In the morning, we got up, got ready, and went to Cafe Brasil for breakfast. Well, we actually got there a bit early and drove to a couple places to try to find sand toys (we had some, but no shovel). With no luck and 8am approaching, we went back to Brasil. Man, I like that place! Lochlan was somewhat better behaved, but it was also a shorter wait for food, which helps.

Clifford the Big Red Dog accompanied us.

Back at the hotel, I put Lochlan down for a nap, and Sweetie tucked in, too (he had hurt his back and not slept well). Azadeh and I walked to the park and played (I read) for quite a while. The cherry blossoms were all in bloom, and they were wafting down around us. She picked up a handful, climbed to the top of the snake slide, and set them free on "1" of a three-count. Luckily I starting clicking early.

Cherry blossom time!

Then we went back to the room, packed beach bags, and stopped at Trader Joe's for snacks.

We spent about two hours at Natural Bridges. On the way in, we took the path down to the viewing area for Monarch butterflies. It wasn't the best time of year to see them, but we saw several.

Looking for butterflies.

We made sand castles, dug holes, ran in the surf, ate our food, and just generally dinked around. It was wonderful. Lochlan was absolutely drawn to the water. He kept running towards it, and even when the surf was at his toes, he'd try to run into it. Even with both Sweetie and myself right next to him, we couldn't quite get him out of the way in time for one bigger wave, and he got soaked! But, you know, I had sunscreen, so we just let him hang out in a diaper. For the car ride home, I put him in his sweater. It was fine.

He looks crabby here, but he didn't even cry about getting knocked over by the wave. 

It was a pretty high tide when we got there, and apparently it was still coming in. We had to move our blanket further up the beach. At one point, Z found a hole someone had dug and started to hollow it out more. As soon as L saw, he went crab-walking over to it and jumped in, like, without hesitation. You could see it in his eyes: "I want to be in that hole!"

Here's a funny note: it was Iranian day at the beach. Sweetie nudged me and said, "MAN we stand out wherever we go." "Huh?" I asked, thinking he meant our family. He nodded his head a little and I saw a lovely family of olive-skinned people with, well, big noses. And another down the beach the other way. Anyway, I had noticed in myself the tendency to pronounce "Azadeh" the Iranian way -- a little more "eh" than "ay" and equal emphasis on the first two syllables rather than a stressed-unstressed -- when around Iranian people. I'm not sure why, but there you are. Well on the beach, with the other Iranian families around, Sweetie stood up to call her from somewhere and HE did it too!!

We stopped in the visitors center, where I got Z a bracelet and a tidepool chart and myself some earrings based on Hokusai's "The Great Wave." I held up two books for Lochlan and let him choose, but he kept waffling. "Which one, Lochie? Butterfly or frog?" "Butt! Butt!" he'd say, right before switching to the baby sign language for frog. Finally I decided he was slightly leaning towards butterfly, so I bought that one.

We went back to the hotel and changed into bathing suits and had an afternoon dip. Sweetie's back was really bothering him, so he didn't swim long, but he sat out on a lounge chair while the kids and I swam. Lochlan had a blast! He loves splashing and being hoisted in and out of the water. I hope I never forget the look of sheer joy on his face. Z also had a good time -- she found another kid to talk at, and impressed him by doing about 20 cannonball/bellyflops.

Then we showered up and got ready for dinner. We walked back downtown and went to Mobo Sushi. Luckily, even though it was Valentines Day, we didn't need a reservation. They stuck us in what we have come to realize is the kid room, which is fine. Z got the kids' "Roll Your Own," which is some nori, some sushi rice, some tempura yam, some avocado, and teriyaki chicken. I got Lochlan an avocado-cucumber roll. I had a roll with yam and avocado, and another with yamaimo (Japanese slimy potato), shiso and ume. I like shiso and ume so much that I didn't give a lot of thought to the slimy yam. It tastes like daikon, but it drips snot, so that was weird.

My wee valentines at Mobo.

Afterwards, we went to Bookshop Santa Cruz, then to several other shops. I had planned poorly. I wanted to go to Palace Arts and Paper Visions, but they were both closed. Still, I had gotten to most of the shops I wanted to. I stopped and got a few cookies from Pacific Cookie Company to bring home, and then we met (Sweetie and Z had gone to It's Sugar, the overpriced candy shop that Z loves) at Mission Hill Creamery, which has terrific ice cream. I had been carrying Lochlan on my back in a baby carrier, so I opted not to give him ice cream but handed him a cookie instead.

Then we went back to the hotel and did our bedtime routine stuff. For some reason, Lochlan woke up at midnight and could not be consoled except by cuddling (and nursing) in our bed. So he ended up being in there all night. I didn't sleep too well, but it was okay.

This morning we packed up everything fairly bright and early and checked out. Then we drove down to Kelly's French Bakery. When I was a 19-20 year old, everything at the west end of town -- at least down Swift Street, my path to the beach -- was warehouses and factories. But there's been a ton of development, and now there are both big companies as well as organic tea houses and natural foods stores and charcuteries and wineries. In one particular little plaza is the bakery we love. They have full breakfasts, lots of pastries, several different kinds of baguettes, and decent coffee. We grabbed a couple seeded baguettes, two cinnamon rolls, and a fruit and yogurt plate and sort of split it up. Well, Sweetie just had bread, but the kids and I all had a little of everything.

Then we went for a last look at the beach. There's an overlook where you can park for 20 minutes, so we went and stared out for a while. We saw some seals. When it was time to go, I told Lochlan "say bye-bye to the ocean." He looked very intensely out towards the waves and said "bye" about twenty times.

Two afterthoughts: First, we read the butterfly book when we got back to the hotel room. When we got to the middle, there was a page with no words, just a picture of a butterfly and a frog. When I turned another page, the words were upside-down. I flipped the book over. It was two books in one! We didn't have to decide at all. We'd gotten the frog book AND the butterfly book!

Also, Lochlan has started to throw some fairly epic temper tantrums. He throws, drops food on the ground (or flings it from his tray with a sweep of his arm), and yells. He's also figured out hitting. It's a real bummer. We keep working with him on "gentle hands," but I know sometimes these phases take a while. A couple days ago, he tried to hit me and I said no, and asked him for gentle hands. I guided his hand over my arm, and then he did it himself. So I think there's hope. But it reminded me that I keep meaning to tell you, gentle readers, how gosh dang sweet the boy is.

Azadeh is a wonderful child in many ways. But she's not really affectionate. She's not a lap-sitter. She's never volunteered the kisses. Even now you have to ask for a kiss, and sometimes she'll just turn her cheek to you. But Lochlan is the AFFECTION MAN! "Can Mama have a hug?" I'll ask. And he'll throw his arms around my neck and squeeze. "Mama kiss?" I get a big one, then two or three or five more. Sometimes I just have to pucker up and make the kiss noise and he'll shower me with kisses, grinning the whole time. And I don't even have to ask every time -- he voluntarily gives me hugs and kisses, pats my arm, holds my hand, rests on my lap. My gosh, it's so rewarding! And it's not even just me -- he wants to give his babies kisses, too (a couple stuffed pigs, a couple cats, a dog, and a plastic giraffe). And he wants me to give them kisses. He will hold an animal up toward my mouth, I'll pucker and kiss the thing, and he'll smile at me like all is right with the world. I even saw him make a pig and a giraffe kiss the other day, and then a cat and a truck. It's miscegenation, but it's beautiful to me.

Add caption

I just love baby at the beach pictures. I'd have gotten more of Z, but she's fast!