Shopping, Swimming, Seder...

So the day started out quietly enough, with breakfast at home whilst our visitors slept in, we hoped, at their hotel. We even managed to get in a half-hour's workout at the gym, before heading downtown to meet up with the gang. Shopping, it seemed, as the first order of the day. There were necessities like swimsuits and shorts to be purchased, along with California sweat shirts and the other goodies with which the stores on our main shopping street, Forest Avenue, are replete. Joe and Georgia managed to have fun...

(Joe, who is as full of mischief as a young boy should be, dreamed up this performance, and Georgia happily joined in. It's a little odd, by the way, to have two Georgies around the place, especially when one of them is of the canine kind!)

And Alice managed to find a broom named after her...

We found a much needed cup of coffee for Matthew at the beachfront Starbucks, and some of us headed out to the boardwalk for a stroll while the shopping chores were being brought to a conclusion.

Here's Diane, with her two beautiful daughters...

By this time, we were all ready for lunch. There's a little food stand in the village, La Sirena, which provides excellent Mexican food at reasonable prices, so we gathered there and enjoyed, variously, tacos, quesadillas and burritos at two conveniently neighboring tables--one vacated for our crowd by an obliging couple who saw our need and responded with kindness.

Returning to the hotel--some on foot, others in the car with the shopping bags--we decided to take advantage of the still beautiful weather (there's rain on the way) to try out the beach. A good idea, as it turned out. I had thought the kids might have some fear about the waves, not being used to them, but they had an absolutely marvelous time romping in and out of the surf...

... in what seemed to (paddling) me ice-cold water. Such a pleasure to watch them scream and plunge about--and to remember how much I loved this when I was their age! Here's Georgia, testing out the flippers...

... and Joe in his brand new swimsuit...

... and Alice, looking gorgeous in her new green bikini...

Ellie and I returned home to get ready for the seder. Not much left to be done, really, but to set the table, and to ensure that the proper symbols were provided in their proper place.

The ceremony went off fine, with myself leading and everyone joining in along the way. Here we all are, at the start of things...

Ellie and I were much impressed with the way the children read their pieces, and participated in the meal despite growing fatigue after their long journey--a fatigue obviously not limited to the youngest...

All in all, a wonderful day. Much love spread around, with much joy and laughter. A special thanks to Ellie, for having proposed the seder as a good idea for kids and adults alike, and for having organized it all from start to finish. Sad that she's the only one with a picture at the ceremony... but she does have a nice one with the grandchildren, above.