The Beach Comes to an End

 I know, I know, lots of beach posts.  Evidently, I get carried away with photos, everything is so golden and happy and beautiful in Imperial Beach.  This was the moon at 5 am on Saturday when I took Golda to the airport.  I think it's so fun that the kids get to fly alone.  It's great for their independence!  I soared through every light and was back in bed within an hour.  By that time, Golda was on her way home!  The Fifes ended up going home early for a dear friend's funeral.  We were sad to see them go, but happy for them that they felt like it was the right decision.  Next up on the friend roster:  the Atnips!  As luck would have it, they had a camping trip planned for our last weekend there, right up the beach about 5 miles on the Silver Strand.  The Doppnips joined forces for - what else  a pizza and some beach time.

 Abby was excited, can you tell?!  I didn't mention that Ruby was sick when we left home, recovering from that nasty flu where you just feel achy, cough and sore throat.  I was afraid all of us would get it.  It floored Ruby for a couple of days.  I suspect some of the other kids had already had it earlier in the month, so we all felt great the whole week, until Xanthe felt headachy the last day.  Unfortunately, she didn't get to enjoy her time with Abby, but she perked up pretty quickly later in the day.  It was such a tender mercy that we didn't spend the week taking turns being sick.

 We love Tim and Courtney.  Our friendship was born and set in stone in China, when we picked up our daughters together.

 Throw kids in with other kids and madness ensues.  It doesn't matter that they only play together once a year!

 You never thought these I.B. posts would end, but alas, our trip did come to an end.  We had to be out of our condo by 10, but we stayed all day Saturday and stayed in a hotel 2.5 hours away in Victorville, so we could enjoy every last sunshiny minute.  There was a tiny glitch in our day when Carol, the condo owner, called us to say that the housekeeper had to charge double because the place was "dirtier than usual."  No way!  I was humiliated and also angry, because, as I explained to Carol, we had laundered all the towels, sheets and pillowcases, done all the dishes and taken out all the trash, not to mention putting all the beach stuff back and sweeping the floor.  I worked as a housekeeper in a bed and breakfast, so I know what makes the housekeepers happy, and Scott and I always try to do extra for them.  There was no way we left it in worse shape than anyone else.  I mean, all the laundry was already done for them!

It was the perfect opportunity for me to practice my new years resolution of being nice.  Being nice is a great idea, but it's hard to put into practice when your emotions are involved.  I called the head housekeeper, Patricia, and she was already in our condo, surveying the scene.  She and I talked to the woman who was cleaning, and I explained how much extra I had done.  The woman had said the closet door was broken, but it turned out that it wasn't.  One thing that helped me to be nice was that I was right and she was wrong.  So I felt badly for this cleaning woman.  As Carol said, she probably was just tired, or simply needed the money.  In her defense, she was doing an excellent job when I went up, even sweeping with a broom under the beds, scaring out any dust bunnies that might be hiding.  She was thorough.  Perhaps that day, she just wanted to do an extra wonderful job, and wanted to be compensated for it.  Although it hurt my feelings that we had helped her so much and she had not appreciated it, we left friends.  It was a good lesson.  I am always under the impression that "killing with kindness" works, but some people are just not going to like you.  The best you can do is not hold that against them, and try to understand where they're coming from. I mean, maybe this woman gets sick and tired of seeing people on vacation, busting her butt to clean up after them.  She just happened to hit the wall on our watch! You can bet that we'll leave the condo in even better shape next time!

 This time, we left straight from the beach instead of swimming and changing at the pool.  I think it was easier.  We don't mind bringing home a few grains of sand!

 Old Town was fun.  I can't believe we haven't explored here more.  The other day, Scott had let the kids dip candles, so Freestone wanted to do that again and show the kids who had gone with me to the tide pools and missed out on candle dipping.  Excellent activity!  Everyone loved it!  I bought some sugar scrub in the candle store called "Achy Day Go Away," with spearmint and eucalyptus.  I had a feeling I was going to need that for re-entry into real life!

 At the Mormon Battalion site, we met a missionary from Ken and Loretta's ward in Bountiful, and texted them this photo.

And now we're safely home.  One day, we're carefree and relaxed, eating pizza and gazing endlessly out over the Pacific Ocean.  The very next day, we have 7 violin lessons, 8 dance classes, 2 orchestras, a full day of school and no groceries in the fridge.  Brutal!  In fact, when we got home at 7 pm Sunday, all the kids started pulling out homework!  Araceli had to make a 3-D replica of a cell!  Ruby had so much to do that she didn't ever go to bed that night.  She worked through the night and then left for school.

Welcome back!  Saddle up.  It's going to be a long ride!