A Down Day

"A vacation is having nothing to do and all day to do it in." -Robert Orben

The kids woke up on this, our third day in California, and proclaimed it a "Down Day". A down day meaning that their ADD mother curbs her unquenchable thirst to sight-see, and we go nowhere but poolside or beachfront. 

It is easy to enjoy a down day when you are staying in a nice hotel like the West Inn. We have dubbed this our favorite hotel.  

Between the nice warm pool, complete with beach towels, pool toys, and citrus water to keep us cool and refreshed.

The oh-so-comfy beds, and collection of DVDs to watch while snoozing in said beds.

The hot full breakfasts in the morning. Don't mind my impersonation of the Hunchback of Notre Dame there. My posture is yet another thing that motherhood seems to have robbed me of. 

And the homemade cookies and milk at night.

We feel ourselves quite the kings and queens if only for a few days.

While the rest of the hotel was out enjoying the theme parks, we were enjoying the pool and hot tub. 

This is Jonah's Incredible Hulk impersonation. Speaking of Hunchback, Sabrina had a pretty good Quasimodo impersonation going on, but kindly asked me not to document it. It's amazing how much air those swimsuits can hold.

Jessica's constant companion on this trip was her AP American History book. We lovingly refer to him as "Bailey". Bailey has no concept of down days, or vacations for that matter. Rain or shine, at home or on the coast, Bailey demands Jessica's attention. 

But if one must study, I can think of no more pleasant place to do it in. And I can see that she has Bach or Beethoven keeping her company during her laborious WWII readings.

And look, even her mom likes to read a little history whilst on vacation. I secretly wanted to steal her Bailey and peruse him poolside, but alas, it is not I who has an AP exam in one month's time.

We spent the morning poolside. We chose to spend the afternoon beachfront.

This child can not have a beach experience without flying a kite. She usually buys a kite to fly on the beach every vacation.

And this child makes a friend on every vacation. This particular friend was on the search for sea monsters.

And this child prefers to be up to his waist in sea-water at all times.

And this child enjoys a little of it all, but was most interested in flying his kite today.

The only venture we went on today was to Ruby's Diner perched on the end of the peer in Oceanside. It offered a lovely panoramic view of the ocean as we ate our burgers and milkshakes. It was a very pleasant end to a very pleasant "Down Day".