Aunt Karen & Aunt Jemima

This morning started off just like every other morning for me, early morning wake-up followed by a workout. Unlike other days however, I had visitors out on the beach during my run. Monica & Philip got up shortly after me and headed out the door to walk along the beach. I added a few more minutes to my route to catch up and join them for sea shell hunting. They were totally fascinated with the sand dollars still alive and leaving tracks on the beach. Even though they were diligent about only picking up the ones already dead, they still came back to my apt. with 1/3 of a grocery bag full! They soon discovered that mornings on the beach are never dull; they found themselves in the midst of a BUDS candidate class formation run and stumbled upon this really cool sand sculpture of two mermaids.

We arrived back at my apt. with growling stomachs and ready for breakfast. Every summer for the last several years, Philip and Andy have come out to my house, wherever I'm living at the time, for a week each of vacation. One of the very first times Philip vacationed at my house, I fixed him Aunt Jemima pancakes laden with fresh blueberries. For some reason, he thought that was the coolest thing he had ever had and it has become a tradition for him and I. So, being a woman who takes her auntly duties quite seriously, I always have fresh blueberries in the house and Aunt Jemima pancake mix for Philip when he comes to visit. As you can see from the picture, we were so hungry I didn't even get a shower in after my run before I started cooking breakfast! A new tradition was formed however- scrubbing the walls after pancakes! I had put so many plump, juicy blueberries in the batter that when Monica put a fork into her pancake, a blueberry exploded on my kitchen wall! Scrub as she might, my wall still has blue streaks near the table. Philip laughed all morning over this one!

Since the beach was still a little hazy, we decided to leave the rental car parked for the day and took the ferry across into San Diego to walk around a bit. We ended up at the Fisherman's Village for fish tacos and pulled-pork sandwiches for lunch. There are a ton of cool shops along the waterfront, so we strolled along and ended up listened to a South American band that happened to be playing on a little stage. I love the sound of wooden flutes and it just seemed to fit our moods for the day. We stumbled across an eclectic hammock shop where Philip and I tried out a great hammock swing. It was so comfy I started contemplating if my landlord would allow eye-bolts out of the ceiling in my living room in order to hang it in my apt! Monica finally managed to coax us out of the swing and back onto the ferry to Coronado.

The haze had finally cleared, so Monica & I donned bikinis and headed out to the beach to catch some late afternoon rays. We both fell asleep to the sound of waves breaking and seagulls flying overhead. Our very relaxing day ended with another great meal on Coronado followed by gelato at what has become Philip's favorite place on the island!

We're hoping that tomorrow will bring a hazeless day so we can drive up the coast and check out the beach towns along Hwy 101 north.