Rumblings and birthdays

So we have now experienced our first California earthquake. It really wasn't much here, even though we were only ~60 miles from the epicenter. I was sitting at my desk and there was a back-and-forth, back-and-forth motion. It couldn't have lasted more than a few seconds - just enough to get that 'what is that?' feeling. I immediately tried to call Sweetie, but, of course the phone lines were jammed. I didn't realize that it had been a much bigger quake on the mainland. The Things were a little freaked out by it, but like I said, it wasnt' much.

Both Things have had birthdays recently, Thing1 turning 8 and Thing2 turning 5. Thing1 got a boogie board which we took to Shark Harbor last weekend to try out. It took a little while for him to get hang of catching waves, but by the end of the afternoon, he was getting some pretty good rides. I had to try it out, too. It was fun, although I did get a lot of sand in my suit. Today we are having a combined, belated birthday party for the Things. Since there are a limited number of kids in town, everyone's invited. It'll be a simple fun-on-the-beach, grill-some-food party.

Tourist season is really in full swing here. The harbor fills up every weekend, and there are many people visiting the lab and wandering around town. Despite this, it still seems quiet here (except Friday and Saturday nights, when we can quite clearly hear the DJ at the bar until about 12:30am).