A Change in Plans

Our school is undergoing a major renovation. The entire project is supposed to take two years, and is much needed. However, construction occasionally causes inconvenience, usually because they need to shut off the water after school, and that causes our after care to close.

Today was one of those days. They told us yesterday, which made me very happy that Wednesdays are one of my usual work at home days. However, Wednesdays are also a half day at school, so the early after care closing meant I had to pick the kids up by 2 p.m. I thought I might let the kids watch TV while I tried to finish my work day, but as I walked the kids to school in the morning (because of course, this was also the day Mr. Snarky had his green card renewal appointment), I decided that instead, I'd take the late notice as a sign that I should just go enjoy the beautiful weather with my kids.

And that is what we did. I had almost finished my "must do" list by the time I picked them up. Luckily, they had birthday cards to write for Mr. Snarky and my sister, and that and having a snack kept them occupied while I finished the last few things I needed to do. Then we wrapped the gifts to go with the cards and headed out for some fun.

Our first stop was my local indie bookstore. My book club is reading March, by John Lewis, this month, and since I wanted that in physical form, not as an ebook, I decided to buy local. They had to order it for me (they are primarily a sci-fi and mystery bookstore, but they are awesome: check out Mysterious Galaxy if you're ever in San Diego!) so I needed to go back to pick it up. I thought Pumpkin might like the store, since they have a nice middle grade/YA section. And she did. She loved it, in fact. I suspect I'll be taking her back there often. I let each kid pick a book, because I am a soft touch when it comes to books. And how could I say no when Petunia picked Ada Twist, Scientist?

After we got our books, we went and got ice cream. And then we headed to the beach. I have been meaning to take a celebratory walk on the beach for a little while: I have the Amazon release of Caresaway and paperback release of Unspotted to celebrate, so even if I'm not quite there on my Tungsten Hippo mailing list goal yet... I felt I deserved a walk on the beach. Why not do it with the kids?

I didn't get my usual deep thought time during this walk, but I did get a lot of smiles, and that is a good trade. It was in the mid-70s today, and sunny. The beach was beautiful and we found some nice shells. Petunia also found a lot of not so nice shells that she brought home, anyway. She always does. If anyone needs any shells, we have you covered.

Looking for shells

Pumpkin fell in love with some driftwood and insisted on bringing that home, I don't know why. She says she is going to decorate it. I am curious to see how that goes. But most importantly, they laughed and ran away from the waves, and just had fun. And so did I.

Having fun

I'll pay for this afternoon, either with some extra hours in my Sunday "make up" session or by squeezing some more hours in next week. But it was worth it.