To Carlsbad

I do believe I could stay here for weeks more, but such is not to be. Today we head north to Carlsbad today where more beach and Legoland await. T has been working a ton since we arrived but is now at a fantastic playground with the boys while I finish packing things up. As an aside, I am so proud of him (T). Like never before he is able to immerse in work but then put it aside when he can or needs to. The boys and I have been a happy, adventurous triumvirate, and then when T joins, we become an even jollier foursome. The power of a new context, if only for a short time, is remarkable.

I am happy to have a half hour of quiet right now and have spent most of it looking back over the pics we've snapped since Saturday. Also, it is snowing in DC as I type, and it would be difficult to adequately express how grateful I am to be here instead, short sleeves and a light skirt on, winter gear left thousands of miles away. Gratitude, gratitude is a'flowing!

Last night we grilled burgers for the boys and bacon-wrapped chicken for us. I needed to use up the mess of spicy mustard greens I'd bought at the farmers market on Saturday so sauteed them and then tossed with some roasted golden beets and fresh favas I picked up at a nearby Whole Foods (where I also purchased the 365 frozen shoestring potatoes which are actually really, really good. You should try some!). To go alongside our chicken and warm salad, I made a mint-pistachio yogurt sauce. Wonderful!

And we're off!

The Birch Aquarium, Seal Rock

The boys and I spent the morning at the Birch Aquarium at Scripps and had a fabulous time. It's a great place, and we all learned a lot. Sardine scales are often used to infuse opalescence into nail polish; California sea hares are 90% water and look like giant, smooshy slug bags; some fish change color as they mature from baby to juvenile to adult, and the adult Garibaldi is an outstandingly beautiful example of that; sea horses are the cutest things ever and are related to the also-charming pipefish and shrimpfish, both of which look as if they're dancing on their noses; wolf eels look like grumpy old men; and sea dragons are works of art. We loved everything we saw, and this sequence of photos of the bell jellyfish continues to take my breath away. Go iPhone camera!

More Mexican for lunch, a quick respite of couch-and-drawing at homebase and then to Seal Rock to see, you guessed it, the giant sea slugs the seals really are. I love them. Their faces remind me of Percy (pug), their feethands are so odd, and their tuberous rotundity is perfectly magnificent.

Prep Kitchen La Jolla

Yesterday was just fabulous. Just before bedtime, my boys (all three) decided to hot tub. Jack and Ol decided to shed their bathing shirts and go topless which made them blush. I have no idea why since they love being naked when at all possible, but it was pretty cute to see three barechested guys hanging in the bubbling tub together. I'd share a pic but T would kill me. Heh. Ol and I read How to Catch a Star and then Jack and I read more from The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe while T worked, and then we called in some takeout from the well-reviewed (Tom is obsessed with vetting via Yelp) Prep Kitchen La Jolla. I arrived a bit early, and seriously, one could not find a more sincerely friendly hostess. She set me up with a carafe of cucumber water to sip while I waited, and I read the news and relaxed. PK is a really cute little spot; no more than six tables inside, a covered patio with heaters just outside; chalkboards everywhere sharing wine and beer lists, specials, sourcing, etc; all around a good vibe.

And then our food emerged, lovingly packed (or at least it seemed), enticing aromas escaping every sealed box and tub. I chose the warm white bean salad with arugula, red onion and Parm, as well as a cheese board and a strawberry-rhubarb crostata with chantilly cream and pistachios; Tom opted for the house burger with bacon, Gruyere and a fried egg.

T always chooses the house burger when we try a new place. It's his "roast chicken" choice by which I mean, if the restaurant can do it really well, the rest of their menu probably won't disappoint. The tangled mess of skinny fries, residual bits of peel and some flakes of chopped parsley brightening the whole tumbleweed up, that accompanied his burger reminded me of a large group of Sirens: zero chance you could stay away. Observe.

Nice! I wish I'd snapped a pic of the crostata before we devoured it because it really hit the finale spot of din. Turbinado sugar should always be dusted on any pastry. The tiny crunch it imparts to each forkful is utterly, repeatedly pleasing. And ooh-la-la on pistachios plus straw-rhu. Lovely! Same color scheme as this happy plant we walked by yesterday, funnily enough.

The boys woke up at 3:30 this morning instead of 2:30 so we're slowly making progress on that front. Giving so many thanks for the iPad.