We had been away from La Cruz for a few weeks, and there had been some new kid boat arrivals while we were gone. When we left there were mostly younger kids, younger than Brenden, not that he cares, he has such a playful spirit. But now there was a whole new crowd of young teens, and so now Alex and Kyle had a group to fit in better with. In fact, during this last stay in La Cruz it seemed like Alex and Kyle started connecting a little bit more as peers while prior it was always Kyle and Brenden, since Brenden is, after all, Kyle’s mini-me.
The La Cruz marina even hosted some beach camp outs for the kids. It was put on by Katrina, the marina PR lady, and Mike from PV sailing/North sails (on channel 6-8). They had one while we were gone and they tried to make it 12 and up, which I personally have no problem with, but of course wherever you draw the cutoff line some kid will be left out, and I heard there was some tears and some complaining, so they ended up letting all the younger kids go too. Well, they were going to do another one, so rather than stay at Paradise Village we bashed across the bay into a headwind to get back to La Cruz in time for the campout. Like I said, I had no problem with an age cutoff, because I understand first that it’s unfair to expect Katrina and Mike to be babysitters, and second, I think it’s fun for the older kids to have a getaway without all the younger kids around. And more specifically, I thought it would be fun for Kyle and Alex to go hang out without their little brothers along. I certainly wouldn’t want to force age segregation all the time, but no harm in just this once. So, I formed a plan to keep Brenden and Joel happy too. We decided to have a sleepover on Exodus, and once we had Fluenta and Kenta Anae on board with the plan they didn’t care one bit about the campout they’d be missing.
Tim dropped Kyle and Alex off at the dock and then picked up the Fluenta and Kenta Anae kids and as they were pulling up to Exodus in the dinghy, I saw the folly in the plan I had formed. Tim and I were going to spend the evening on a boat with 6 kids, 11 and younger. And let me just say that Brenden fits in quite nicely with this group, so saying they are an active bunch pretty much sums it up. They played with building toys that Shandro and Matero brought (they built swords, what else?!), fished off the bow of Exodus, ate hot dogs, and generally had a great time, especially if fun can be gaged by the volume of the activity. Tim and I survived, and while I don’t know all the details, Alex and Kyle had a great time at their campout too.
Our last couple nights in La Cruz the entire kid gang had sleepovers at the end of dock 11. The first night I didn’t let Alex and Brenden go (boo, Mom, boo!) because we were out in the anchorage, and if they got kicked off the dock by marina security we wouldn’t be there. However, since we stayed in the marina our last night, I pretty much let them loose the entire day and night.
The time we spent in La Cruz with all the kids was the closest the boys have ever come to answering the question, “Would you rather go home or stay cruising?” with, “stay cruising.”
Gresham Family Exodus 