Roarin' Good Times

WHEW! is all that can be said. After five weeks of non-stop work, this past Sunday was the first day since Christmas vacation that I felt like the world was not on my shoulders. (Ok, when I refer to “world,” I do mean wedding world – which in comparison may not be AS big as the entire world, but it is a stressful and haunting, crazy and time-consuming world.)

So back to Sunday. The day I felt a breath of fresh air. A day for family.


Breakfast at Daiquiri Dicks - Oceanside yummies. Soph spent the morning flirting with the live musician playing next to our table.


Sophia took her first trip to the zoo -




– a small, not-so-impressive local zoo – but there were animals. And there was food to feed them – corn, bread, nuts, seeds, carrots – all kinds of goo that the animals were eager to gobble up! Soph took it all in with a rather serious expression – not all that impressed by the animals or the goo they were chowing down.



Pablo got friendly with the local giraffe, and we got a free tour guide from a 6-year-old Know-It-All who apparently didn’t see the need to stay anywhere within view of his own family! He gazed on, supervising the giraffe interaction while advising that we be careful with this giraffe because giraffes are greedy.


The Oh-Wise-One also informed me (as I spoke to the zebras in English) that they only speak Spanish and Zebranian. And he, of course, spoke this rare dialect of Zebranian because (again, of course) he speaks all animal languages.

My personal favorite was the peacock. I find it a bit amusing that the biggest and prettiest peacock I’ve ever seen is at home in the smallest and dingiest zoo I’ve ever been to!



Soph seemed to liven up when we arrived at the baby bear cage. Maybe she feels akin to the beast – I only wish she would hibernate at night as well as these tykes do!


We stood on the bridge with the beautiful jungle backdrop – the same exact site where scenes from the movie Predator were filmed! We didn’t happen to need quite as much ammo to get through the jungle as good-ole Arnie did!



The zoo proved to be a lot of exercise – seriously! The paths were uphill, and Soph wasn’t keen on her stroller – she IS a 22-pounder, you know! That means we burned off, I don’t know, like a million calories at the zoo. Ok, so I’m basically looking for justification for what followed next – a stop at the local fish-on-a-stick shop on the beach!


What is better than feeling the sand in your toes . . .


. . . eating food on a stick . . .



. . . people-watching and gossiping with family?



Finally our energy ran out – after all, we had worked a 19-hour shift the day before at a wedding – and headed home.

Soph finished off the day with a jam session a la wooden spoon and tin bowls. (She gets really into it – even sings into the wooden spoon with closed eyes . . . the same way I imagine Celine Dion started off before she got into the chest-pounding stage. Those of you who are big Titanic fans know what I’m talking about.)


And then it was off to bed . . . for all of us. At 8:30 pm. Yes, 8:30 pm.

What a day! Soph’s expression pretty much sums it up – pure bliss!