Postcard from the beach

You can quote me on this: before long, Arnie will be getting prime rib as an enticement to go into his crate.    Yesterday when I tried to coerce him into his cozy crate he looked at me like I was crazy, and went into the living room to lay down, ignoring my commands.  He won.  I left him out.  Today, Nick joined me at the beach and told me Arnie was giving him the same antics, and he almost got away with it, until Nick lured him in with canned salmon.  SALMON!  This is the end.  We are treating him too well.  But it's completely fine with me, hey, if it makes leaving easier it works for me.  

In other news, we are having a wonderful time here at the beach.  Right now we're at the coffee shop, the same one that I went to with Julia and Mom for years in a row.  We would spend the hottest hours of the day with an iced drink, and wile away the time by picking out hanging art work for each other.  Now, the shop has changed and it's no longer a coffee/ art gallery, more of a delicatessen that has coffee drinks, but it works just fine.  We're getting a little free bandwith,  having a delicious coffee beverage, and, uploading pictures for my family, who I miss like crazy. 

First, before the beach pics, we had our first anniversary on July 3.  And Theresa brought our CAKE!  It had been living in her freezer for a year.  It was great to look at that beautiful topper, my mom had meticulously wrapped it up, and it was surprisingly delicious.  The ganache on the top was a little less than tasty, but everything else was great.  

So fun to remember, and so tasty.

This is Arnie on his first beach walk.  He is going nuts over the new sights and smells.   Clearly tons of animals live in the brush before the dunes and the beach.  He darts back and forth on the entire walkway before the beach. 

The sun under the pier on one of our morning dog walks.  So peaceful. 

On a July 4th drive to escape the droves at the beach we spotted a pair of brown pelicans perching on an abandoned dock.

Also on July 4, we picked up some amazing sweet corn to grill.  Turns out I am not the only one who loves sweet corn.

He even likes corn after the humans have eaten all the kernels.  We gave him the cob to chew on and he proceeded to  decimate it by grinding his bottom teeth along all of the surfaces.  It was hilarious.

He is such a part of the family.  This is how he thanks Nick for the corn.  I on the other hand, don't go for kissing on the lips just yet. 

Nick and Arnie at sunrise in a peaceful moment.  (absent of any bikes, joggers, kids with boogie boards or any other distraction)

This might be the photo of the trip so far.  

And Lynn came!  My great friend Lynn from college and life in Chicago (she and her husband live in Boston now) came down to spend a few days at the beach.  It worked out super because she was visiting her sister and family in Greensboro, and Sunset was only a couple hours away. She just left this afternoon.  We had a great time beaching and lounging, there's something about spending time with an old friend that is so easy and special. 

We grilled road side shack fresh shrimp.  It was amazing. 

We lounged at the beach, carefully covered by Dad's umbrella!  This beach umbrella is another story all by itself.  My dad covered it with bright blue tent tarp to make sure it was sun proof.  It is very effective in both protecting me from the sun and for locating when you are in the water.  Can't miss the tent umbrella!  I'll try to get a picture on here
 tomorrow- thanks Dad, it's a great umbrella!

Here we are, only slightly pinked.  And, check out the staples on the tent umbrella above Nick's shoulder.  You get the idea.  It's awesome.

Actually, this might be the photo of the trip.  Nick was stretching, but it looks like he is frolicking and skipping along, singing a happy tune.  Really made me laugh out loud.

And here is beautiful Lynn, cooling off in the water.  Today was our first really hot day, and the water was so welcome.

And that is it for our photo recall of the past few days.  My iced coffee drink is gone, and Nick is restless, I think I'm done.  More tomorrow!