Maiya & Amani bus it to the beach

Amani enjoying playing in the sand

Maiya running towards the water while Laura and Amani look on

Maiya looking like a buff little ballerina sporting her tutu swimsuit

After spending a lot of time in the water, Amani has a snack

If Amani's having a snack, then Maiya wants some too!

After working 9 days straight (including the weekend, and till 12:30 am on Tuesday) working to finish my yearend reports for the state due Wednesday, I took off Thursday & Friday. On Friday morning, Laura, Amani, Maiya and I took the bus to Venice Beach. For 75 cents each way, it is a great deal. No need to take separate cars (with car seats) and pay for parking. We all sang "Wheels on the Bus" on the ride to the beach.

The kids had SOOOO much fun! At first, Maiya wasn't too crazy about having sand on her feet, but then we went in the water and she was loving every wave. She fell into the water a few times (while squeezing my hand tightly), but came up sputtering and squealing. Amani kept wanting to go deeper into the water. We stayed in the water a long time. Then, the kids were loving the sand toys and playing in the sand. I showed them how to make little sand castles with cups, and then make silly sand on the castles. It brought back fun memories of when I used to go to the beach with my family when I was a child. Maiya enjoyed stomping on my castles, while Amani preferred to grab them and throw the sand in the air. Ahh, toddler fun at the beach. What a blast. Can't think of a better way to spend my day off and beat the summer heat.

Tony was helping his friend Hector a few blocks away, so we met Tony where they were having lunch on our way back to the bus stop. Maiya fell asleep nursing on the bus, and I carried her home where she slept a good time before going back out in the backyard pool to rinse off all the beach sand. I think we'll go again before the summer is up.

Anyone want to join us?