We so longed for it, we so needed it and we so found it!
It's called Pismo Beach and has been our secret hiding spot for many, many times and has ALWAYS been good to us!
It was especially good to us this time.The weather was PERFECT (72F and sun, sun, sun), the timing was PERFECT (not many tourists at all), the hotel - PERFECT (Oxford Suites ... our go-to-place down there) and time spent with the Ls - PERFECT!!!
L skipped school and we left Milpitas as fast as we could on Friday, the Dork in the back, doped out on meds to keep him from barfing for 4 hours straight ...
The cats left behind to fend for themselves (with enough food rations to last for months, water all over the house and Pat even left the toilet lids open ... just in case :).
And then we were outta there!!!!
A few hours later we saw the ocean, the beach and the sunny shoreline and already our hearts were a bit lighter and the mood went up a notch or two.
We stopped and shopped (mainly chocolate), went to the hotel and jumped right into the pool and hot tub until our tummies were hungry . We washed off and went straight to ....
THE BEST SEA FOOD RESTAURANT IN TOWN!!!
We always eat here when we visit and it's always awesomely amazing and oh-so-yummie!!!
The Ls in their newly chosen attire ... they had to match of course.
Ls table decorations :)
The Ls didn't believe us when we told them "tonight they will dump our food on the table" but ...
... once the bucket full of crab, crab and more crab, corn, potatoes and cajun sausage was DUMPED onto the table they believed us :)
L had a blast!!! She cracked crab, hammered it and skillfully opened each and every leg for us. We were quite amazed. She loved it so much she wanted to "offer her services" to the table next to us ... we stopped her just in time :)
Lulu on the other hand stayed FAR away from poor dead Sebastian (Ariel's best buddy of course). Her comment was "poor baby crabby, now she can't go home to it's flamily. Thats terrible! She'll be so sad!"
... spoken like a true vegetarian. Jakob will be so proud!
.
This is all that was left of the HUGE bucket ... shells and shells and then it was ...
This concluded day 1 of the CZ Happy-Cation 2011.
The next morning we woke up to a sunny day and Pat took the Ls to the Dinosaur Caves Park to let them run and give me some time to relax and find my happy-mode for the day.
Oh, on the way they saw a "Willie-Look-Alike" and Pat took some pics of him for me :)
After they came back we hit the boardwalk for lunch (at this point you should have noticed that this entire trip was about eating, shopping, more eating, playing, eating, shopping, more playing and spending money and not giving a damn about it!) and then hit the beach.
The Dork aka Beach Rat
Priceless!
L and I took the Dork for a walk on the beach.
L and I LOVED it BUT Dork, on the other hand, spent the entire time trying to run away from the big, bad wet as hard as he could ... unfortunately he was on a leash!!!
Here you can see the Dork trying VERY hard to run AWAY from the water, however his sad attempts were stopped by the 185 lbs man (I am such a nice wife!!!) holding him on the leash :)
Safe in Papa's arms! What an ordeal. I am not sure what made him shivver more, the cold or fear.
Sharing some lovin aka candy.
rolling down the dunes is OH-SO-MUCH-FUN
Lulu and her newly acquired Ariel bracelet ... her treasure of the trip and for life!
L deep in thought
Papa and his girls.
Happy Times!!!
Me playing with my new baby ... my new camera that Pat bought me.
Thanks Love!
I am still learning to use it and trying to get a feel for it but it sure is nice.
On the way back we stopped AGAIN for more sweets ... by the end of the trip they knew us by name and what we wanted! Chocolate Covered Caramel Apple!!!! OMG .. happiness covered in chocolate!
Oh yeah ... and then it was food-time AGAIN (after a dip in the pool and hot tub to wash off the beach and get in the mood for italiano and vino and deserto :)
This time it was Rosa's, our other favorite eatery in town. Yummie Italian food (sea-food pasta!!!),
great wine and oh so calorie rich deserts!
Pat had dunked Lulu under water in the pool and we bribed her with cake and ice cream to keep her from screaming for help ... so of course we had to keep our promise (for the second night in a row).
And then came THE MOMENT!
January 21, 2011, Pismo Beach, CA
8:15 PM
Rosa's Restaurante
Lillie Marie Sigrid Agnes Czarnota
was TOO FULL for Whip Cream!!!!
NO WAY!!!
Not in a million years did we think we'd ever hear this coming from the
Whip Cream Eating Queen of Milpitas.
A moment to remember for sure :)
Thats what play, beach, pool and swim plus way too much food will do to you ...
Day 3 was spent much in the same fashion, eat, play, eat, play and more of both.
We started off with Lulu's daily morning photo shoot ...
Then went and visited the Monarch Butterflies, who are vacationing in Pismo until it gets warm enough to travel again.
all huddled up on the Eucalyptus trees
... hundreds of them!!!
And off to the beach we went, one last time.
And this time we DROVE on the beach to make the camp-out a bit more comfortable :)
Prime Parking Spot
Camp Czarnota all set up and ready for action
Beach Diva
"I don't have no glasses Mama :("
Beach Mermaid-Princess-Ballerina
still loving her Ariel Bracelet
just playing with the camera and it's settings ... not bad!
Oh yes, of course we had one more task to complete before leaving.
Pismo was one of the places we loved to go with Willie.
He ran and ran and ran along that beach, chasing every bird and seagull and LOVING it!!!
This was one of the places he was the happiest and we have wonderful memories of being there with him.
His tail must have been sore from all the wagging and he sure was coarse because he would NOT STOP barking the entire time we was at the beach (oh so lovely!!!).
L calling up to the heavens to tell Willie "he is home!"
L and I walked out to the water, chatted about how much we still miss him and how happy he was here and this is THE PERFECT PLACE for ...
THIS!!!
The last of his ashes are now a part of Pismo Beach and will ALWAYS remind us of him when we come back. Which we will ... soon!!!
The sandpipers came to join in the celebration.
I took a moment for myself.
Talk about emotions, the last two weeks "of hell", remembering Willie ... but in a sense it came all to a calm end and I think I found a bit of peace out there.
And if it wasn't for the perfect day, weather, location and time it must have been for the smiles that I saw on the Ls faces and the joy I felt watching them wrestle in the sand with Pat and not one of us being stressed out, grumpy, anxious, ...
This truly was the best medicine for this family of ours.
The best decision we made and we must thank the little birdie, that whispered the idea into Pat's ear when we picked up the Ls on the dreadful Wednesday of last week. What a nice Nimi-birdie that was :)
Oh here, in case you thought I was exaggerating, Ed trying to escape with all of his 10 lbs might ...
MUST FIGHT!!!
Run Forrest, run!!!
Meanwhile, the Princesses of Pismo Beach had a little party going on ...
Pat and Lulu (safe on Papa's shoulders) were enjoying a moment of Papa-Daughter-Time
And this concludes the CZ Happy-Cation!
Now we are back to reality but it's much easier to deal with than it was last week.
With good thoughts and peace in our hearts we will start living life again and let the past be the past, focus on the future and definitely sign up Eddie for a Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome Support Group for Dogs who had to face the ocean
... poor Bubbie is still shaking :)
D-O-R-K!!!!!
... and then there was light again ...
