San Diego Trip, Day 3

Today we had visitors coming, with no time to waste! Claire, Scott, and Holly, college friends of mine who have become great friends of ours over the years, were coming from their SoCal homes to visit us in Coronado for the day. We had big plans to hit the beach and hang out. Once we got their ETA, we calculated that we had enough time to go to the bike rental shop and snap up a one-week rental of two adult bikes, one with a baby seat on the back for Alton. The little guy, naturally, was most interested in the unusual bike and surrey rentals available at the shop. He was giddy over this four-wheel pedal car because he thought he'd finally gotten to sit in a real ATV.

With locks and helmets in hand (we even brought Alton's helmet from home in case they didn't carry one small enough, which appeared to be the case), we dashed home and packed up a brief sandwich lunch before pedaling to the beach and coinciding our arrival just before our friends'. It was great to get to bike to the beach: short ride, avoided the seaward-bound traffic I'd gotten stuck in while driving the day before, and although parking at the bike rack was getting tight, it was available and right at the entrance to the sand, no block-circling required!
We had a great time introducing a tentative Alton to the water, tossing the frisbee for him, and splashing a bit. We dashed home to put him down for his nap and snacked and caught up with our friends. After waking up refreshed, Alton had a little playtime (Holly brought him a present: farm-themed Duplos! He loved them and she considerately chose toys with small, light pieces, knowing that we wouldn't have been able to bring many toys for him OR have a lot of room to bring ones home. What a sweetie!), then caught an early dinner before our friends hit the highway. He cracked up at the silly faces Scott made to him from across the table and made some back. At one point while we waited for our food, I picked up one of Alton's crayons and began writing on his kids' menu, asking him to say the letters aloud: H-O-L-L-Y. I told him it spelled Holly. Then I began a new word, and got as far as C-L-A-I-R when Alton proudly said, "Claire!" Smartypants can read?! On the sunny walk to the restaurant and back, Alton made it clear who was #1 in his eyes (although he also insisted on holding hands with Claire after this picture was taken).