Annual Smith visit to Mission Beach

Lucky for us, one of my Dad's closest friends, Andy Smith (aka Biggy) has a fabulous brother and sister-in-law (Don and Janet) who happen to have a beach house in Mission Beach that they visit often.  The plus for us is that we get to spend time with them when they are here visiting.  Since my parents moved away from Cincinnati, we don't get to see Biggy with any frequency, so his visits to the San Diego area are very much looked forward to.  Many of you know that Quinn's first name is Andrew...well Biggy is one of the two Andrews for whom Quinn is named (the other is my brother, who happens to be named for Biggy (the name was a result of little A's inability to say "big Andy").  

Well on this visit Don, Janet and Biggy had a free evening and were able to come over to our house for dinner.  After all of the many fabulous meals that we've had at the hands of these folks it's very nice to be able to repay the favor for once!

Don and Janet

Biggy

Today I took the day off to spend with the trio at the beach (rough life, I know).  Since we got up and moving early we also took a quick trip to the zoo where we searched for baboons named Babooby (a Richard Scarry character)

And then we found the beach!!!  Quinn had lunch in the sand with me, followed by a nice long nap.  

After naptime the rest of the crew grabbed chairs and we headed back out to enjoy the perfect weather.  

Q is currently fearful of the ocean, but had a blast climbing on another family's sand castle!  Up and down up and down.  He also very much enjoyed being buried by Daddy and shaking all of the sand off.  More photos to follow once Don emails the good ones he took...  After the beach we had a great fish dinner and were joined by the ever popular "EE-EE".  A very nice day indeed...

That's about all we have to report at the moment.  Thinking of all  of our friends in NC who are currently bracing for the arrival of hurricane Irene.  She's currently projected to make landfall tomorrow right in our little town, but hopefully she'll go easy on us.  Sending positive thoughts to all of you in Beaufort, MHC!

Our typical Sunday

Last Sunday began as it typically does, with a lovely breakfast at the Living Room Cafe.  We walked down with Merlin and sat outside.  We never go anywhere without trains these days.  Oh, and check out Q's new big kid haircut.  It's always tough to snip the wispy, shaggy do, but luckily it grows back fast!

On the way home we went for a wild hike in our neighborhood canyon.

Quinn likes to jump

 He likes to jump so much that we continued jumping once we got home

After nap it was time to get to work washing Dad's car.  We figure it's about time he start pulling his own weight around here!

Anything involving water is a hit for Quinn....in fact he washed Mom's car later in the week!

OK, so this photos isn't from last sunday, but it's cute.  This was Quinn's first ride on the bike with Dad.  It's now a nightly ritual.

Dog Days Car Jam

The post title says it all.  Quinn jammin' to his favorite song and making sure that cousin Kyan knows what song it is.  

EE

How did we manage before Emily (EE) joined us out here in San Diego?  

It's hard to imagine.  The hardest thing about leaving NC was leaving all of our friends behind.  While there it was nice to imagine Quinn growing up surrounded by other adults (and now kids too) who cared about him and with whom he would have a lifelong relationship.  I had that with my parents' friends and feel lucky to have many people out there in the world who feel like second parents to me.  I want that for my son too.  It takes a while to forge such relationships in a new city.  We have definitely found a few, but it was such a relief to have Emily back when she unpacked her belongings in May.  She bravely uprooted herself for a short-term job.  Now we're crossing our fingers that she can make it work long term.  

She and Quinn picked up right where they left off when we said goodbye in New Bern on New Years Eve 2009.  So did she and Merlin.  They both adore her.  I actually think she gets a warmer greeting from both the boy and the dog than Jeff or I do sometimes!  His eyes light up when he sees her, he flashes his dimples and joyfully yells, "Q.......BERRRRTTTTTTT!" expecting that she will join in his game.  Of course she always does.  

Yesterday she popped over for little while and the two of them had this sweetest moment on the couch together.  He was kissing her and then cracking up.  The other day I asked him who his best friend was and he gleefully exclaimed, "EE!"  We're glad we were able to lure her out here...now we just can't let her leave!