The Beach Story

So, I am writing this to dispel any misinformation Michelle may have put out there about how her camera got broken, as well as mine, and the attempt on my life.

The story began on Wednesday morning. I slept in Daniel's bed and each morning he would open the door and poke his curly haired head in and grin a really big grin and wave as Michelle was getting him and Chloe ready for school. I think he was checking to see if I was still there. Later, that same morning I heard Chloe pronounce "I want to wake Jenny up. We never see her. She just sleeps all the time." So then Daniel said, "I'll go wake her." To which Michelle scolded, "Don't you dare!"

So I finally got up after Michelle and the kids were gone. Michelle planned to take me to the Beach that day in Las Verdes, I believe it was. We headed out late morning. I had my camera in tow, my newly purchased Hollywood hoodie on, and some sneakers. I planned to take a little excursion out onto the rocks for some really great pics.

Here I started to venture out a little further and a little higher.

It was a sort of foggy overcast day but you could see Catalina from where we were, which was really cool. Michelle and I ventured out towards the water and onto the rocks. the waves were really crashing and it was so pretty. I ventured out a lot further than Michelle. She told me that you could sometimes find shells or crabs out in the tide pools.

My shoes got totally soaked when this wave came in. I should have known then I was getting a little too adventurous walking out on these wet and mossy covered rocks.

The waves were really starting to come in.

In the background here you can sort of see what I am pretty sure is Catalina off there in the fog. Those birds were pelicans.

I ventured out a little further and noticed that a lot of the rocks were covered with mussels. I ventured a little further out in search of some little critters I could take a picture of and that is when I found the most beautiful black starfish with these white sparkles all over it.

It was perched atop a rock that was at the bottom of this 6 foot long by maybe 2 feet wide trench. It was empty of water mostly except when the waves would come in. I called Michelle out to me on these rocks to see it. When she got out there I leaned down to try to pick it up off the rock but it was really suctioned on there. Michelle decided she would try to get the starfish from the rock and she stepped a foot down onto the rock it inside the trench. However, just at the moment that she leaned down to get the starfish, a huge wave came in and she lost her footing on the wet slippery rocks and started to go down. Like a good friend, I reached out to grab her arm and hopefully hold her up. I was ready to risk my life to save hers.

However she pulled me down with her. We were both stuck in this trench which was way over our heads and the waves continued to crash in on top of us. I was standing behind her with the freezing cold water about up to my chest. Michelle kept trying to pull herself out but with the waves she kept slipping back in and knocking me down. In the meantime, I was holding my camera in my left hand above my head trying to not get it wet. Finally, after three attempts to pull herself out, Michelle finally got out and then I climbed out after her. We had to walk back across the rocks to the beach all the while I am soaked to the bone, my new sweatshirt has green moss stains all over it, my hands were sliced up and bleeding and shaking, and my camera was smashed.

So we finally made our way out of the tide pools. I had to stop and sit for a few minutes because I was so freaked out. All the while Michelle was laughing. Laughing! Lending more credence to my suspicions that this was all a ploy to off me. For example, she was not bruised and/or cut. She was not nearly as soaked as I was. And she did not seem at all bothered by our near death experience. Not wanting to get blood on my clothes, I had Michelle take off my hoodie and I kicked off my shoes which squish squished all the way back to the car.

I immediately called my mom and of course she freaked out a little bit. Probably didn't help that the first words out of my mouth were, "I just want to let you know that I am still ok." When we got back to the house, I immediately got in the shower to warm myself up.

Later we had to go pick the kids up from school. As soon as Daniel got in the car I started to recruit him to my side. I said, "Daniel, when someone does something bad to you, or hurts you , what are you supposed to do?" Unfortunately, he wasn't so interested in my story. then we picked up Chloe and I posed the same question to her. Fortunately, Chloe was more receptive and immediately joined Team Jenn scolding her mom for throwing me off some rocks and into the ocean. She said she believed me because Michelle had no cuts to speak of. I knew I liked this girl for a reason. Daniel would just have to act as a character witness.

We had an early dinner at this awesome taco place. They were so delicious! I had two fried tacos and a beer. I promised the kids I would get up with them in the morning to see them off to school.

When we got home is when we discovered that Michelle's photo card, which had pictures from the entire trip on it, was ruined. Luckily, my photo card was safe and she downloaded my pictures on her camera. We decided to put on "The Holiday" which was one of the movies that had the Greystone Mansion in it to see if we could tell which scene the house was in. As usual Michelle fell asleep on the couch (I told you it was a theme) while I snuggled with Daniel and played.

And that is pretty much the end of the trip report. The next morning I was flying home. One quick little story was that Bobby Brown was on my plane on the way back home. He stood by the door the entire time the plane was loading like he was trying to make sure everyone knew he was on the plane. Once we took off he of course started drinking and buying drinks for the people around him. Apparently he was on his way to Amsterdam for a show. Did I mention he was sitting in coach? Yep, life must be treating him really well. When he were coming in for a landing is when he finally woke up and decided that it was the perfect time to use the restroom. At one point during the flight, he cut in front of a line of people at the bathroom and went up to the first class bathroom. I mean why should the rules apply to him, right? Also, sitting next to me was the mom of one of the stars of the ABC show, Eastwick. They are originally from Michigan. She and I had a very nice chat as she got a little too personal asking all kinds of questions about me, if I have a boyfriend, my job, etc. A little weird, but it made the trip last a little longer.

I landed at about 8:30 but didn't get out of the airport till like 9:30. I was waiting at the baggage claim for about two hours waiting for my luggage. It never came off the belt it was supposed to. I kept checking in with the Luggage Claim Office but it wasn't there. My dad kept trying to call me but my phone was dead, so he was really ticked. Turns out my bag was on another belt. How the heck could I have ever found that?! Finally made it home at 10:30pm tired, sore, and exhausted from a fantastic trip! The first of hopefully many more. Thanks for a great trip Michelle!!