The Amazing Day

This weekend, our friends Chris and Adessa came to visit us! They moved to Anaheim last year, which is only about an hour away, but it's sadly far enough that we don't get to see them very often. They solidified their status as some of my favorite people when they brought dinner with them on Friday night, so I was greeted with the aroma of warm delicious pizza when I got home from work! We followed that up with Coldstone's and a walk on the beach, and then played Carcassonne until we couldn't keep our eyes open anymore. Carcassonne is Dan's & my new favorite board game. If you haven't played it yet, you're missing out! It's really fun with anywhere between two and four players. Trust us, even people who normally don't enjoy board games love this one!

Saturday was EPIC as far as packing as much as possible into one amazing day! We started the morning off with a big breakfast, then walked down to Mission Bay near our house. Five ladies from Dan's school were competing in outrigger canoe races there, and we made it in time to cheer for them during their last race of the day.

Next, we met our friends, Paul and Ann and their son Eli, at Lil' Piggy's Barbeque on Coronado for lunch. Paul, Chris, and Dan met each other through work years ago, and it didn't take long for the six of us to start hanging out. Since then, Paul and Ann had their little boy Eli, and Chris and Adessa have moved out of San Diego, but we still spend as much time together as possible. It was a gorgeous afternoon, so we walked off some of the heavy lunch afterwards.

But wait, the day's not over yet! We had made reservations for a sunset kayaking tour at La Jolla Cove that evening. None of us had been in a sea kayak before, and of all people, Chris seemed the most nervous about it (he's the only surfer in the group)! The lady who made our reservations said that it's more fun to rent double (tandem) kayaks if it's your first time, so you've got someone with you to share the experience.

All geared up and ready to go!

We didn't have a waterproof camera, so I double ziplocked our digital camera and hoped for the best! Our guide stopped the group a few times once we were mid-ocean and had us link together by holding onto each other's kayaks so he could point out landmarks and tell us about the area. The good part was that sitting still for a little while gave me chances to take a few careful pictures on the water. The bad part was that just sitting still & feeling the waves made me realize I was getting very seasick. I tend towards motion sickness, so I pulled out all my tricks - gazing at the horizon, drinking cold water, breathing deeply, etc. The thing is that when I feel sick on a windy road or in a turbulent stretch of air, usually everything is smooth again within a few minutes. When you're on the ocean, the. waves. never. stop. So eventually, the inevitable happened and the fish got a nice BBQ meal served over the side of the kayak. Suffice to say, it was not my most glamourous moment. We were linked in with the other kayaks while our guide was talking, and I remember looking back at Dan and saying "I think I'm going to throw up." He acted fast & paddled us away from the group a little bit, but unfortunately he was stuck with a front row view. I guess that's what the "in sickness & in health" part was about at our wedding - haha! Afterwards, Adessa said that she was feeling horribly seasick, too, so I'm glad Dan got me out of eyesight so I didn't start a chain reaction! He is yet again my hero.

I felt better then, and got to enjoy the fact that we were watching a beautiful sunset from the middle of the water. We didn't get to kayak inside the sea caves since the tide was too high that day, but we got good views of them from a short distance away. We had a huge pelican swim *this close* to our kayak, and man, they are scary looking up close! We also saw a curious harbor seal poke its head out of the water & watch us as we paddled our way back to shore. It was adorable!

Our guide tried to prepare us for the rough ride back into the shore with some tips on staying upright, but nevertheless the ocean won this round and Dan & I got dunked about 12 feet from the sand. We rode a big wave and it was awesome for about 3 seconds until we turned to the side & flipped over! I was so busy trying to escape from underneath the kayak and hold the camera out of the water that I forgot to hold onto my sunglasses. They, along with my lunch, were left behind as a memorial to our sea kayaking adventure. And I was reminded of exactly why I don't spend more than $15 on sunglasses.

Dan soaked from head to toe after our less than graceful landing.

Chris and Adessa made out much better than we did, and I got this amazing picture of them looking like pros with the ocean & cliffs behind them.

And thus concludes The Amazing Day.

Chris & Adessa joined us for church, lunch, and one last beautiful walk on the beach on Sunday before heading back home!