Avila Beach

Avila remains our single most favorite place to escape to. Somehow we managed to visit on the most beautiful day in February last week. This is Deisha's first experience in the sand. For as feisty as she generally is, she sat there mesmerized for a long time. The sand is remarkably fine so it's like standing on shifting silk. She couldn't quite figure it out. After she realized she wasn't going anywhere, she tried to pick some up and have taste of it. Needless to say she didn't like it too much. I would've loved to catch that on film, but I was frantically sweeping out her mouth and hands. It wasn't long before she was climbing up the rocks with the rest of the kids.

Kennedy brought along a Spongebob kite that she and Dale got up high and mighty in no time flat. After he set sail into the wild blue yonder, Kennedy lost interest but not Dale. He stayed and flew the Bikini Bottom hero long after she abandoned him.

We never swim.I don't know if you know this, but there are sharks in the ocean, and more specifically shark sightings right here on this beach. More from the fact that even at eighty degrees, the water is freezing. But this mini tide pool was quite a drawing card for my young'uns; it's right in front of Jasmine and Tre in the background. Because we had been sick off and on for so long, I insisted that no one get their feet wet. I'm telling you it was a severe test of sheer will for them to stay out of it. The water was so shallow and so far from the ocean, it didn't seem like the ocean. It didn't even seem like water, it was "like, just a puddle". Tre's mind always keeps me guessing; his reasoning is so different than mine.

Since there was no hope of splashing around, the attention gradually moved to the rocks up the beach.

The boys turned to an adventure as soon as their bare feet hit the warm smooth surface of the stone. I'm sure it was Zelda related, as most of their adventures are.

After the string to the kite balled itself into a knotty mess, I spent about forty-seven minutes untangling it- long enough to wear down Dale's enthusiasm of sailing the high skies and he joined us on the back forty. I'm never less taken with the beauty of the coast; every time we go it's like looking at it for the first time...

...but then again, so is this.