Surfer Girl

Last Saturday, Mariah and I were in San Diego, and we headed to the beach for lunch.  Mariah was instantly enamoured with the beach.  She decided that she really wanted to surf, and so she did.

 Her instructor was Charlie, and he was great!

 All lessons start on dry ground.

 Photo op while still dry.  The pier makes a great backdrop.

 Mariah and Charlie

 Going in!

That girl got up on her very first try...which is unbelievable.  The next several pictures are a play-by-play of that first time up on the board!

 Notice that HUGE smile! 

 Most of the 90 minute lesson looked like the next three pictures...a great attempt to get on the board and "something happened."  She *really* wanted to get on that board, and she used all of her athleticism to try and get up as often as she could.

On this turn, the board clonked her in the head.  That couldn't have felt good!

 So, they got out of the water and moved down several yards to find some waves that were a bit more tame.

Charlie watching the waves to find her a good one...usually then he would "push" her into the wave so she didn't have to paddle too much.

This next series is one of those "nearly got up on the board" times.  Me and the photographer were on the shore cheering her on!

You me here in the background say, "Oh, shoot."  I was pulling for her every time she tried to get up on the board.  I knew it was hard, and I knew that she was getting tired.

Cool shot with birds in the background.

This next series is her second time up on the board!!!!!!

...and I caught it on video.....

And she ended on a great note with one final time up on the board...

She absolutely loved this experience!  She said again and again that it was her favorite part of the weekend.  I have a feeling this won't be her last time surfing.

It's Baseball, Baby!

Last Friday night, Mariah and I were in San Diego and took in a Padres vs. Nationals game.

There's nothing like a big league game...even if it is the Padres (who kind of stink this year) and the Nationals (who I don't give a rats about).  Nonetheless, we had awesome seats (thanks to one of my co-workers).  Here is the view from our seats.

We were about 21 rows up on the first base line (obviously).

Before the game, the Padres honored members of the Negro Baseball League. 

That was cool!

The Pads gave a check to the Negro League Baseball Museum in Kansas City, Missouri. That was cool, too! Most people know about the iconic Jackie Robinson, but before Jackie, the men of the Negro league were playing across the country.  Really, if you haven't read about them, click on the link above.  It's quite inspiring.  The men in the picture (above) are all members of the old Negro League and were honored.  I was glad to learn more about that league and the men who played in it.

A few other highlights from the game....Anthony Rizzo.

He was called up from the Bigs last week, and in his first game, he hit a triple.  There was a huge expectation for him to perform well on Friday.  He had an error...a ball when right past him at 1st.  Some drunk jackass in the section next to me was yelling his head off about the kid missing the ball.  I said, "Give him a break, he just got called up."  The guy said, "You're using that as an excuse?"  Luckily, I got to disengage because drunk guy from the section above me came down to jawbone with the guy about dis-ing Rizzo.  There is a reason that they stop serving beer in the 7th inning! 

We at lots!  Hot dogs, cracker jacks, cotton candy, sodas, hot chocolate.  Number two reason to come to the game is game food. 

If you look closely, you can see the jackass I referenced in the photo behind me :o)

This was also "Faith and Fellowship" night at the game where those who were so inclined were invited to a devotional afterward where some of the members of the Padres (who presumably were Christian) would share their feelings about Jesus.  Mariah found this exceptionally weird.  I thought it was cool.  There probably would have been 5,000 less people were it not for the Faith and Fellowship people. Mariah was really freaked out when they announced that sections 105-109 were the seats that folks should head to for the devotional.  We were in section 109.  She made sure we high tailed it right after the last out.

Padres lost, by the way.

Then in a fit of irony, we found this message in our bulletin at church on Sunday.

Let's just say that Mariah prefers the Giants to the Padres...for many reasons...not the least of which was that the Giants organization seemed to be devoid of religious affiliation ;-)