I wish I had time to do those things..

"What do you want to do this afternoon?" I asked B. He knew immediately. "I want to go to the library then the beach!" He exclaimed. The beach. Again. Well, at least the weather was conducive to swimming - as opposed to seeking shelter and a hot cup of liquid. We packed up towels, snorkel and digging equipment and we were off. We got home shortly before hubby returned from work. He peered at my face. "Were you at the beach today?" He asked. I touched my cheek self-consciously. "Yes. Why?" He sighed. "I wish I had time to go to the beach. By the way. You have sand and sunscreen all over your face

."

La plage? Aujourd'hui? Mais il fait frooooooiiiiiiid!

"Tu m'avais promis qu'on irait à la plage aujourd'hui," me répète B pour énième fois. "Oui, je l'admets. Mais tu n'as pas remarqué que le ciel est gris?" "Si. Et alors?" "Et il fait froid en plus. Je porte un manteau." "Toi, oui. Moi, non. On peut y aller maintenant?" "Tu es vraiment certain de vouloir aller nager aujourd'hui?" "Certain certain." "Bon, d'accord alors. Nous allons à la plage!" "YOUPI!!!!!!!"

Whose idea was this anyhow?

B wanted a cat. "I really want a cat," he told me. "I really like cats." I wasn't impressed. We have two dogs and a fish. That seems like enough, non? Apparently not. The requests for a cat, sometimes even accompanied by the word "please", continued for well over a year. Finally, B's father caved. It became my job to get a cat. From the SPCA. If we had to get a cat, I wanted a female. Actually, I really didn't want a cat but... sigh... Anyhow, we ended up with an extremely well-tempered male that gets along with our dogs; is friendly and talkative; and generally well-mannered. The trouble is that the cat is a sensitive sort of fellow and he's had the runs for a week. And he vomits regularly. Oh. Yeah. And he's got an inflamed scrotum. Guess who gets to clean up the litter box? And the vomit? And administer the antibiotics. I think I need to change my job description...

On fait quoi aujourd'hui?

La réponse est inévitablement la même : B veut aller à la plage. Je me plains. "Il fait trop froid aujourd'hui!" B hausse les épaules. "Ne t'en fait pas, maman. Tu n'as qu'à faire comme d'habitude. Tu restes allongée à ne rien faire et je vais me baigner. Si tu apportes ton livre, tu ne remarqueras même pas que l'eau est glaciale."

Cloud chasing and Big Sur

The River Inn in Big Sur has always been a favourite destination of mine. Perhaps there is more to Big Sur than the River Inn but we sure as heck have never explored that far and this day was no different. We arrived on the day of the World Cup finals and the restaurant was packed. Well, the restaurant is ALWAYS packed. The food is decent, not great, but the service is slow. I think they may have more people in charge of seating you than actual servers. But it's popular, by virtue of its location just beyond the clouds of Highway One. People do get hungry from taking so many breathtaking pictures as they drive along the coast. Plus, it's overcast all the way until you break through into brilliant sunshine at the River Inn. There's something magical about the sun sparkling through the big trees and, well, you just have to stop. When we finally drove back to the hotel, I had to take B to the pool. I'd promised and besides, we could see the pool from the hallway window each time we exited the room so B was NOT about to forget the pool existed. He wanted me to jump in but, given that there were approximately 20 kids in the very shallow pool and that they were playing a very active game of tag, I figured this was an experience best left to the children. B had a blast up until the moment he needed to use the facilities. After that, it was a mad rush back to the room. There's nothing like a good round of exercise to polish off the day right!

À Monterey!!!

Réveil plus ou moins matinal à Monterey. L'hôtel nous offre le petit déjeuner et celui-ci est fantastique! Il y en a pour tous les gouts. Je me régale avec une omelette toute fraiche. Mon mari aussi. B, pour sa part, choisi deux oeufs au plat mais ce qui lui plait le plus sont les beignes, dont un à la vanille. Il les aime tellement qu'il ne veut même pas partager! Une fois rassasiés, nous nous dirigeons vers le centre-ville, histoire d'explorer un peu. Je suis déçue de découvrir que mon magasin préféré, qui vendait des savons et des bougies, a fermé ses portes l'année dernière. Mais bon, la vie continue. Nous embarquons dans la voiture pour faire 17-mile drive. Là, c'est toujours une découverte, peu importe si on l'a fait une fois ou cent. B, qui était tout petit la dernière fois que nous avons visité, veut prendre un tas de photos. Il met même les pieds dans l'eau. Je ne le comprends pas très bien. L'eau est glaciale! Nous nous arrêtons à Pebble Beach pour déjeuner et pour prendre d'autres photos mais là, nous commençons tous à trainer la patte. Nous rentrons à l'hôtel et tout le monde se couche de bonne heure. Demain, Big Sur!

We're in Vancouver! (Are we there yet?)

All things considered, especially after a 5 hour flight in front of a screen that didn't work, I was thinking... yeah, Vancouver would be a lovely destination. And it was sunny when we landed - not a cloud in the sky! But it was not to be. We had another flight to catch and a long hike through the airport maze to get to the U.S. destination gates. I squealed when I saw our gate: San Francisco! We were going to San Francisco!!! By the time we landed, it was after 10 pm, local time. We headed to the car rental agency where the line up was short but lengthy and, of course, we were attended to by a trainee. A very pleasant trainee but a trainee. By 11 pm, we were ready to go. "Don't worry," hubby said. "It's only an hour and a half to Monterey." I think my eyes rolled to the back of my head. B and I were asleep before we even left the city. I woke up as we drove past the Denny's in Monterey. My husband is the best :)