David Multer

What better way to spend a beautiful Santa Cruz day than at the beach. We wanted to try out a beach that was a bit more remote to avoid the crowds. Manresa State Beach fits our needs perfectly. The shallow area is just packed with sand crabs. Monica even manages to find a clam. This is as close to the water as Nick will get. He’s a warm water kind of guy. Nick could have pointed out the gob of sunscreen on Charlotte’s chest sometime during their walk down the beach. ...

A big day for Monica. Next year she’ll be going to Middle School with Nick, and Gabe will be on his own. Time marches inexorably onward.

It’s the last week of school and the kids are obviously very excited. The last week is also filled with more fun and less work. Today is crazy hair day and Gabe went all out. I wish my hair had turned out this good. Meanwhile Nick gets a few well deserved awards for a very good year of effort.

Gabe and I haven’t been out fishing for quite some time, so it’s time to break out the poles. Gabe got up bright and early at 4:30am this morning. No way I’m getting out of the house before 6:30am. It’s a great day and there’s no one else out for some reason. I’m sure happy to not see the usual mob scene down at the wharf. Once out on the bay, we start catching kingfish almost immediately. We even snagged a pretty big octopus this time, though the picture is a bit blurry. Nothing like a nice cup of cocoa to help pass the time. ...

Some of the latest work from Valri’s studio.

Charlotte headed over to Aunt Bea’s house with Valri today to visit with her Aunt Dorothy and her cousin Britta. They were up from southern California, so it was a great opportunity to visit with them.

Monica’s artwork was on display at the Brook Knoll open house tonight. I think we have another budding artist in the family.

Gabe gears up for a swim at La Madrona, while Nibbles dries off after his dip. Notice any resemblance?

We’ve had a great trip, but it’s time to head back home. The happy travelers endure one last ride in the airport shuttle and then a long flight home.

We stayed with my mom for our visit out east. Kyle and Rachel spent the night, but now it’s time to head over to Lynda’s for hanging out and BBQ. Carole, David, Jonathan, and Joni headed down for the day as well. It was great seeing everyone. Lynda likes Valri’s paintings so much, she created print versions from some postcards she had picked when she was last out in California. They turned out great. I wanted to show Valri and Charlotte how great they looked. ...