. . . plan "b" . . .

. . . good thing we're flexible . . . 

. . . plan "a" was to head 

to the beach . . . 

. . . juggling four children, 

beach towels, 

toys,

 chairs, 

drinks, 

and snacks 

proved a bit much . . . 

. . . something had to give . . . 

. . . unfortunately, it was 

the car/apartment keys . . . 

. . . did you know 

there's a two or three inch gap

 between solid ground 

and the inside of an elevator? . . . 

. . . yep ~ a black hole 

just big enough 

for keys to fit through . . . 

. . . if you've either got great aim,

 or you're super unlucky . . . 

. . . amber's gotten 

a great tan living in cali, 

but her face went completely white

 when the keys

fell down the shaft . . . 

. . . bless her heart . . . 

. . . a couple of hours later, 

the keys were safely returned ~

 albeit with a ring that was 

quite bent out of shape . . . 

. . . apparently, this happens 

all the time . . . 

{according to management} 

. . . at that point, 

we decided to head 

to the pool instead . . . 

. . . one of several lovely facilities

 in the complex . . . 

. . . it oughta be lovely . . . 

. . . a two bedroom apartment 

 rents for three thousand dollars 

per month . . .

. . . holy california, batman! . . .  

. . . i especially love 

the magnolia trees . . . 

. . . see them 

in the background? . . . 

. . . white blooms the size 

of dinner plates . . .

. . . the kids were good sports . . . 

. . . they played together

 and with every other kid 

who entered the water . . .

. . . their philosophy? . . . 

. . . what's your water toy 

is my water toy . . . 

. . . it worked surprisingly well . . . 

 . . . addi and tate . . . 

 . . . halleigh and tagg . . . 

. . . i've always felt like 

the good thing 

about summer swimming 

is it keeps the kids 

relatively clean

 and completely worn out . . . 

. . . not to mention 

ravenously hungry . . . 

. . .  nonstop

 snacksnacksnacksnacks . . . 

. . . grampa got a little hungry 

just watching 

from the sidelines . . . 

. . . but he had a hard time 

reading the el torito menu 

on his iPhone . . .

. . . my glasses helped . . . 

. . . he looks good in cheetah . . .

. . . don't you think? . . .