Playing Hooky

Mike earned so much comp time when he was working like a dog back in May and June, trying to wrap up Driver: San Francisco, that he has been taking a day off here and there when work is slow-ish. Today was one of those days. We walked Merrit to school at 9:00 and got a coffee at Sugarloaf, a cute little coffeeshop and breakfast spot between our house and the boys' school. Since Ollie doesn't go in until 12:45, he was with us. 

After coffee and a muffin, we were walking home and I said, "Let's go for a drive." So we hopped in the car and started driving north. We've been to Alnmouth twice (once on our own and once with Jer and Kara). Even though we've been there twice, we've not yet gone down to the beach. 

Steps and little paths lead to the sand.

Looking back up at the homes in Alnmouth.

Ollie was glad to be out of the car and free to roam and run.

How fun to be three feet tall in four-foot grass!

We found people footprints, dog footprints, and horse hoof
prints on the beach.

The tide is coming in to the little harbor in Alnmouth.

Lots of smooth stones to throw in the water.

I picked this one as a keepsake. I now have one from
Whitley Bay, one from Lindisfarne, and now one from
Alnmouth. Mike seriously questions the wisdom
of collecting rocks when we'll have to pay by weight
to move back to the U.S., but I can just see these in my
herb gardens when I'm 65.

Across the rising harbor is Church Hill, marked with an
ornate stone cross. A church used to stand on this hill, but
in 1806, after a violent storm, the church was badly damaged
and the hill badly eroded. The church was later destroyed.

After our little walkabout, we got back in the car so we could get Ollie back to nursery school by 12:45. We dropped him off and grabbed lunch--just the two of us. What a treat!

Arm's length self-photo. These are always fun.

Sharing a pizza and salad at De'Meo's pizzaria.