Red-Lobstered

My mom, sister LaVoy, and neice Kristen are coming down next week to spend a week with us! I am so excited I can hardly stand it and have been counting down the days for a month. LaVoy has been so great to come visit me about every six months before I started working. I'm pretty sure she comes to see us and to have fun, though In-N-Out Burger may have something to do with her vacationing here every few months.

The very first time LaVoy came down, we decided to spend a day in Santa Cruz with the kids at the Boardwalk. Kristen loves the beach and we had not been to Santa Cruz yet. So, LaVoy and I got our map and off we went with three kids in tow. It was a cloudy day and looked like it really wanted to rain. I figured the beach would be too cold for us to stay at very long. On the way there, LaVoy asked me if I thought we should stop and buy some sunscreen. I simply told her I didn't believe in it (I don't know why I said that) and she didn't say anymore.

We got to Santa Cruz with very few wrong turns and headed to the beach. The kids played in the water, built sandcastles, and had a good time. We had packed a lunch and LaVoy and I sat on a blanket and suntanned our legs. At one point I remember thinking this was a waste of time because the sun wasn't out and what was the point of sunning our legs. We were there quite a while and then walked the boardwalk and let the kids ride the Merry-Go-Round. LaVoy commented to me that she thought we looked sunburned, especially the kids, and I looked at her like she was crazy.

After we had had all our fun, we decided to head back to Pleasanton and eat at Red Robin for dinner. Little did I realize that we would hit all the Bay area traffic on our way back. We were stuck in traffic for a couple of hours. The kids all fell asleep and they looked a little pink.

Once we got to Red Robin, we realized just how burned the kids and LaVoy and I were. It was bad! We get seated at Red Robin and Colby has the meltdown of his life. He starts crying and saying, "I can't move, it hurts!". That's when I realized it was going to be really bad.

To say we were burned would be the understatement of the century! We were lobstered! We were so red we were almost orange. We peeled for months! Not days or weeks, months. Colby and Taylor were so burned on their back that they developed little blisters that they would pop.

I now faithfully buy sunscreen and make sure the boys have bathed in it before they head outside. Every time LaVoy comes down, this story comes to my mind and I laugh about it. I had no idea how powerful the California sun is but I learned a very quick lesson. So, LaVoy, do you want to go to Santa Cruz?