Teddy bear's picnic

Jack went on his first picnic on Sunday. Mom and Dad took him and a picnic basket full of wine, cheese and Italian salami to Point Fermin Park over in San Pedro, just a few miles from our house in Long Beach. Jack snoozed for a while but when he woke up, seemed to enjoy the sunshine and fresh air. I am a little disturbed by his slight resemblance to Karl Rove in this photo, however.

The park has incredible views of the pacific and steep cliffs to the sea -- I gather there are walkways to get you down to the rocky/sandy beach areas below where seals (we counted at least 8, including a momma seal and her three pups) and whales and dolphins (didn't see any of these) frolic and relax in the sunshine.

Also, the park features a beautiful, restored lighthouse built in 1874.

It burned brightly until Pearl Harbor, when the California Coast went dark to minimize the risk of invasion or bombing. Then the top was sheared off and replaced with a boxy radar installation. It was restored in the mid 70's and actually lived in by the park ranger until the last couple of years, when an extensive restoration took place.

There's no light in it presently -- I took a little tour of the lighthouse and the guide told me the actual, original light is the subject of a lawsuit right now and they hope to return it to the gallery soon. Meanwhile there is quite a view from up there:

We had a lovely day and will go back often. On our way back to Long Beach we stopped in San Pedro's shore village area, which has seen better days and is not at all as nice as the one in Long Beach, which we hit to feed my funnel cake jones. But there was a cool little brig there, the Swift of Ipswich:Checking their website I see the vessel is one of four in their fleet, which is used to take young people to sea and teach them sailing skills. There's a volunteer meeting this week, and I think I will go!

Back in Long Beach, Jack patiently let us wheel him around while Daddy pursued his rarely-consumed treat, funnel cake.

Back at home, Jack stands up to make an important point and tries to act tough:


But it's all a charade and within moments his true nature -- that of a jolly little imp -- is revealed:


We have to make sure Jack gets plenty of tummy time! This is fun exercise for a while.... but soon the seething rage emerges from a frustrated little fellow who hasn't quite figured out how to use his arms properly, so he ends up kind of lying there like a figurehead on a sailing ship!