Something hit me square on the noggin the other morning…A moment of revelation if you will…

This moment in time is only going to come around once in my lifetime.

My better half and I have been working so hard; Building and maintaining one business together and each working separately to get second businesses off the ground. When you’re striving so hard to arrive, I realized its so easy to miss life in the here and now and let it pass you on by. If you have young kids, think about how much they can change in a matter of a few months.

My wife told me in passing the other day that she really needed some time to herself. She voiced this a couple of times so I thought I should finally take the hint lest I regret it later.

I got a flash of inspiration to take my little diva down to the beach this past Saturday and spend a daddy-daughter day in the sand.

First we cruised up Pacific Coast Highway to the Ventura/Los Angeles County Line. I used to surf this area as a kid and wanted to walk down memory lane and visit some of the old beach breaks and points I used to frequent as a teenager (a la dazed and confused). We worked our way down from County Line to Leo Carrillo, then Nicholas Cyn State Beach (it was called Zeros back in the day which is a nice left point break for us goofy-footers), then Zuma Beach, and finally Westward Beach (referred to as Drain Pipes back in the 70’s – known for its monster crushing waves!). This pretty much completed the circuit of surf spots I surfed year round with the crew from 1976-1980.

I was feeling nostalgic and a little giddy at the site of these places however, the little one in the back seat didn’t seem to be too impressed. “Daddy, when are we finally going to get to the beach where I can get out of the car and play in the sand? Why is it taking so long?”

I thought a pit stop and a quick bite to eat was in order. Up ahead was Jack in the Box across the street from the famous Surfrider State Beach in Malibu. A Breakfast Jack and Cheese Burger should calm her nerves and hold us over for a little bit. Surfrider State Beach is where a lot of the old surf movies from the 50’s and 60’s were filmed. Gidget spent many a day there soaking in the sun. Surfrider is a right point break offering machine perfect waves however, its usually always crowded or “zoo-ed out” as we used to refer to it in the day.

This particular Jack in the Box was usually our first stop after a hard morning of wave riding before hitting the beaches in Santa Monica for an afternoon of sun on the sand. (Ahh, life was so simple and grand back then…)

After a while, we finally reached our destination which was the Santa Monica pier.

The little munchkin took immediately to the sand and starting frolicking – first in the dry sand and then ending up on her tush in the wet sand down at the water. Glad I brought an extra pair of clothes for her! Actually, I can’t take credit, my wife packed the back pack.

After she got her fill of playing in the sand, we went back to the car so I could change her clothes and then made our way up to the festivities on the pier. We went right to the Ferris wheel. Unfortunately, the sun never broke through the marine layer however, the views from the top of the Ferris wheel were still nothing short of spectacular!

As soon as we got off the Ferris wheel, we went down to the board walk and both scarfed down a $5.00 slice of cheese pizza. Ok, I admit it. I actually finished the other half of her pizza as well. Good thing I drank a diet coke with that. For dessert we each savored a Nestles Crunch ice cream bar (actually the loaded Butterfingers version). It was one of the most delightful $3.50 ice cream bars I think I’ve ever had!

Oh the price of having fun!

We made our way back up to the pier with full bellies. The festivities had just started because the Santa Monica Pier is celebrating its 100 year anniversary this year. There were people walking around in costumes, on stilts, organ grinders with monkeys, etc. We both got a kick out of this!

By now, it was well past nap time and the beast was starting to unravel and reveal her self.  Just then we strolled past some pink and baby blue bee hive bouffants-on-a-stick (cotton candy) swaying in the ocean breeze from a top of a food cart and all of a sudden I heard; “Daddy, can I have some cotton candy?” I then replied “Not now sweetheart, you just had ice cream”.   That comment was definitely not in line with what she wanted or expected to hear at that moment. The melt-down had begun.

I had to endure relentless crying, whining and complaining for the next 30 minutes. I kept repeating to myself; “I love my daughter”, “I love my daughter”, “I love my daughter”. I told her if she could stop crying and complaining for 5 minutes, I might let her have some.

To my amazement, she immediately went silent and stayed that way.  I relented and said she could have some cotton candy. She chose the baby blue bee hive bouffant on a stick. She took one bite and uttered; “Daddy, I don’t like it!”

We just went through all of this for???; never mind…

After that we made the journey back to the car and headed back to the valley. After two minutes in the car, she was out and bobbing her head back and forth…

All in all, I think it ended up being a win, win, win day for all.

Mommy was grateful and daddy and daughter experienced something that will stay with each of us forever!!!

Ah Good times!!!