When we arrived at the point, we discovered a beautiful sun-tarped sanctuary that my parents and cousins had arranged, complete with red, white and blue streamers and linens. The barbecue was already smoking, there was fruit and crackers and dip adorning the tables, the sun was shining, the air was warm. It was perfect.
Then it got even better when I looked over and saw our lawn-neighbor wearing these.
Did she make them herself? Did she special order them for the holiday? Were they substituting for bathing suit bottoms—and was that why she had them hiked up so high? Did she have any idea just how much joy she was bringing to my entire family by wearing them? Of all the people I saw throughout the day, this woman had the most spirit and all-American pride of anyone.
We took 3 runs on the boat. The first being a quick cruise through the harbor, armed with about 7 supersoakers and an on-boat hose with a spray gun. We defended ourselves relatively well, although I accidentally smacked my brother-in-law in the head with a squirt gun, and we were all completely drenched when we got back to “camp.”
Trip #2 on the boat took us far out past the jetty on a whale hunt. We were lucky enough to see a gaggle of sea lions. Wait, that’s not right. A school of sea lions? A pride? A posse? I don’t know. Anyway, they were all lopped on top of one another on a buoy. Very cute.
When we caught sight of the whale watching yacht, my cousin sped up to follow it in hopes of spying Moby Dick, and sure enough we were able to see the blowspout spray and dorsal fin of this blue whale. It was quite amazing.
On the way back to shore, we played with a pod of 6 or 7 dolphins. I was tempted to jump in the water and try my dual-dolphin skiing skills, but with my luck, I would’ve accidentally grabbed onto the back of a great white.
The biggest highlight of the day, however, was watching my dad in action during our last harbor cruise and H2O battle. Some of the younger kids had made off with the supersoakers, so we were left with a few puny-stream guns and a couple of buckets. As you can see, saltwater turns my father into Rambo. My sister and I decided we would like my parents to send out this pic as their Christmas card in December.
Happy belated 4th everyone!***Please note that I took Geekhiker's advice and cropped Shorty Short Shorts' head off. ***
16 comments:
We can never get Dad to smile a natural smile in pictures, but frankly, this is much better than we could have ever hoped for from him. My new favorite picture of Dad for sure. The star spangled wedgie shorts are a close second. What a fun filled day we had!
This sounds like an awesome weekend! Whales, dolphins, smiling Dad, food, food, food...
I'm so coming out there next year.
But those shorts. Those shorts. Thank you for taking a picture. They had to be seen to be believed.
wow....what a great picture....the one of your dad isn't so bad either. Maybe your mom can make you some of those shorts for next year so you don't feel so unpatriotic.
Great seeing you and the rest of your family this weekend....and glad there is photographic evidence of the highlights!
Your family gatherings look waaaaay more fun than mine! I think Uncle Art would have stayed awake at yours!!
I love the shorts and love even more that you got that picture of them!!
Just a minor suggestion: always blur the faces of strangers in pictures. You never know who's online.
A weekend of boating in Dana Point? Sounds like incredible fun, especially as I've never done it. Man, am I 'po! LOL
Those shorts can't be real. They simply can't.
*Covers eyes*
Oh my...I can't believe I missed such an exciting family gathering. Maybe MH won't be working next year and we can join you...I know Lex would have enjoyed seeing Grandpa in action and maybe shorty short shorts wears them every year, but hasn't noticed that they don't fit anymore?? Glad you had such a good time :)
I'm not sure what's more priceless - that woman's choice in clothing or the look on your dad's face. Awesome!
Whooooa, I thought shorts like that only existed in the south... Maybe she traveled from Virginia to Dana Point just for the holiday!
You know, I was just thinking that this would be a great sunscreen ad - the bottle is nicely sitting right on the table as she carefully applies to all the exposed leggage. You gotta hand it to her for being sun safe, which may account for the fact that she had pretty nice legs for her age, which I'm guessing was around 50.
Those shorts and your dad are AWESOME!!!! We don't get cool stuff like that out here in UT!! We did go to the most pathetic parade I've ever been to, though - it made the Montrose Christmas parade look almost as good as the rose parade. Happy 4th!!
Sounds like one hell of a good time!
Those may qualify as daisy dukes, but she ain't no daisy duke.
I couldn't see anything past the shorts photo. My eyes burned out of my head!
Sister - It's totally better. And we got to see it live!
Dingo - Yes, words alone would not have done the shorts justice.
Laura - I still can't believe you talked to her in the bathroom.
Wow TWA - My family gathering usually are quite entertaining. :)
Geekhiker - Thanks for the tip. If my cousin wasn't a lobster fisherman, I doubt I'd be boating down there either. I guess I lucked out!
YGTBKM - They're real and they're fantastic.
Poopy - You guys SO have to go next year. Maybe Shorty Short Shorts will be there again!
Nilsa - I have to say I prefer my dad's face over the shorts. :)
Charlotte - I don't know if she traveled, but the shorts had to come from somewhere far away...maybe Betsy Ross's closet.
Sister - Ick.
Amy - I'm sorry to say, but I think CA beats UT on the coolness/fun factor. :P
Michael - I think they might've been Daisy Pukes.
Sizzle - Imagine seeing it live in person!!
Ah, that sounds like the greatest of weekends!
As for the shorts, had I not seen that I would not have believed it. YIKES!
She strikes me as a woman that has special outfits for every season: Pumpkin Pasties for Halloween, a Ms. Claus thong for Christmas, a "Flashdance"-like tuxedo for New Years. Keep us posted!
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