One HELL of a day at the beach!

Santa Cruz Bolt in possible Waterspout?, originally uploaded by Star Lit Lotus.

So it was like 372 degrees yesterday. More or less -- hey I'm no meteorologist; I'm simply going by what my gut tells me it was. Weather Underground says it topped out at a mere 105.

I had decided the day before that no way, no how was this woman standing in a sunny park with her small kids for the birthday party Bunny had. Was calling the child's mom to say sorry but we have to run away from home, and the friend's mom offered to have Bun come and hang with them for the day. Since they were having a lot of water play at the party, and they also have a/c, I said, "Sure!" and dropped her off on the way out.

The rest of us went to Santa Cruz and decided to go to Natural Bridges, since it was so hot, and NBs tends to be the coolest spot (usually I'd skip that beach, since it's not warm on a mild day). We set up and just as I was putting the shade tent up, it started to... rain? RAIN? Who ordered that? It was only spotty rain, and we figured ti would pass. But then BOOM, BOOM!

Lightning! Funnel clouds! Evacuate the beach! At least that's what the freaked out lifeguards told us.

Soooo, we packed up (thank goodness I have a lot of practice at it) and walked to the car. It was weird, since off the beach there was no evidence of the storm, really. We drove to en outlook and watched the weather fireworks (which also started more wildfires, yaya). Then we diceded to go get something to eat at Las Palmas.

Carter wolfed down a whole serving of chips and guacamole, Paul had 4 tacos with rice and beans, and I had a burrito. Yum. Oh, and we each had a beer. Cole was really good, and chilled out making cute faces and noises at everyone, and then we went to a playground for a while.

So, it was not a very normal day at the beach, but we made lemonade and enjoyed ourselves nevertheless.

Tomorrow is day 1 of 19 weekdays in a row--except July 4--going to the beach for Bun's Little Guards. I have bought a lot of snacks, bottles of water, and about 3 gallons of sunscreen. :)