Do Work, Son - Part 3

Don't forget about Part 2!

The kids at the campsite, soaking up the sun

Behold the happy little turd in the back!

Our second work day at San Mateo Campground started out the same as the first, waking up early, strolling the girls around the grounds (scaring bunnies and squirrels the whole way), and making coffee/tea before logging on to our computers (this quickly became our daily routine, so unless I mention something else, assume this happened each weekday).  On Tuesday at lunchtime, I used my 87 pound (not really, but that's what Chris calls it) cruiser bike to do a few laps around the campground for some fitness; I'm still working on building up my glute muscles before I can start running again, and although the bike is moderately inconvenient to travel with, it worked well for this purpose.  After another round of showers in the bathhouse, it was back to the computers.  Since the weather this day was sunny and calm, we experimented with working outside a bit to moderate success (nice to sit outside versus can't always see the laptop screen).

Bea and Chris attending what is clearly a very important conference call

Me peeking through the kitchen window at the outside setup

Cuddles with my Zoe

Suns out, chonks out!

After work concluded for the day, we put on real clothes and went into downtown San Clemente to visit Pizza Port, a local brewery and restaurant (they serve Armenian food.  Just kidding!).  While the food and beer were just marginal in most cases, the space was great, and the girls did...okay...during the experience.  This was Bea's first time on a patio with us, so she wasn't quite sure what was going on - why random people kept stepping into "our zone," and she had a small accident near our table.  Thankfully, we cleaned things up before anyone noticed, and overall, the training session was productive.

She's not so sure about this patio business

On the way home, we made a quick stop at a grocery store to pick up a few things we were running out of (blueberries and local beer, mainly), and the girls helped Chris guard the truck until I returned.  During that time period, Chris snapped this gem, which needs to become someone's profile picture on some social media service ASAP:

She's such a little weirdo.

TV time before bed included the new adventure race series set in Alaska (meh, just okay), and we once again slept well, despite being woken up by coyotes calling from the nearby ravine (and Bea answering them).

Wednesday was pretty much the same as the day before, although we did have an early morning "cleanup on Aisle 6" moment when Bea decided to parkour from the dinette to the couch, spilling Chris' coffee everywhere (ah yes, we do have lids for those mugs - lesson learned).  Thankfully, no one was burned, and we all carried on with the day.

"Sorry, guys."

Her little butt is right on Chris' favorite hoodie

She's so over her new little sister

After work, we took the girls to a nearby dog park, which we had completely to ourselves, and they enjoyed a good session of off-leash romping, which tuckered them out quite well (thank the heavens).  For the human part of things, we enjoyed leftover veggie burritos for dinner, did the campfire thing for a bit, then headed back inside to watch The Mandalorian before bed (nothing interrupts Mando night).

Enjoying cuddle time with Dad in the chair

A panoramic of the view from our campsite

Some of the surrounding wildlife:

Oooh, lizards!

Aaah, bunnies!

(The squirrels liked to take dirt baths here, too)

Swallows in their nests above the bathhouse entrance.

San Clemente isn't that far from San Juan Capistrano,

so I assume these swallows are the same variety as the famous ones.

Here's a video:

And here's a picture of what they actually look like, from the interwebs:

Thursday started very much the same as Tuesday and Wednesday - cuddles, walks, coffee/tea, cuddles, more walks, work, pasta salad for lunch, lather, rinse, repeat.  This day, I took my gigantic bike down to the local bike trail for some riding; although it was hilly (and I had to walk the bike up a few of the steeper sections), you couldn't beat the view:

That's the Pacific Ocean!

Around 1:30pm, Bryan, Jen, and their fur-kids, Bogey and Bronx, arrived, and we said a quick hi between meetings.  After we logged off for the day, we had a chance to hang out properly - they met Bea and Zoe was really excited to see them again - at their campsite, enjoying their firepit and some S'mores.  Everyone had a long day, though, so we all sacked out before too long, ready for another day in the sunshine!

Later!

Amy