Dada’s Day Off

It started with blueberries.

Which isn’t the worst way to start a morning, but we won’t be adding them to Nora’s list of favorite food anytime soon.  Blueberry pancakes, though?  Well, that’s another story.

What can I say, the girl likes her carbs – enough to warrant one in each hand.  But, who can blame her?

As if blueberries were not exciting enough, yesterday was Chris’ day off.  Which meant time to run some errands to the landfill, where we found a great book in the “Take it or leave it” shed; a trip to Bartlett’s (where we finally decided on the CSA – remember those gorgeous tomatoes?  They’re $4.29 a pound.); and then a picnic lunch, over some sand dunes

and to the beach.

I can’t believe it took us 19 days to get to the beach!  I wanted Chris to be there for her first trip and since he only has one day off each week, it took a while to find time between all of the getting-the-house-done chores.  It was worth the wait.  We went to Cisco Beach which was quiet and nearly empty.  We spread out a blanket, slathered on the sunscreen

and ate veggie wraps, Honest Tea, and Pirate’s Booty.  It seemed appropriate.

Nora sat in sand for the first time.  She wasn’t really sure what to think of it.

And then dad took her down to introduce her to the ocean.

She was interested in watching the waves, but when I tried to get to put her feet in, she would have none of it.

She must have known the ocean is cold in June.  Or she was worried about getting her dress wet.  Or maybe she was still worrying about the rip currents we read all about as we walked onto the beach.

Either way, she was a little nervous, so we didn’t push it, and it turned out to be a great first introduction to the beach.

Maybe next time, Mama, she says.

That night, because it was Chris’ day off, I made him dinner.  Yes, I do sometimes cook dinner for the chef.  It was a decent pasta dish loaded with fresh herbs from the CSA.  But what really made the night has the cherry upside-down cake I made with some of last summer’s leftover jars of cherries.  (Recipe here.)

It was phenomenal.  The perfect ending to a perfect day.