Chamber in San Diego Day 4

San Diego Zoo

Henson, Shef, Sarah, Ella, Q, Ryan

Ryan got pooped on in the aviary. Millie was OUT of there after that! 

Liam and his camera 

Brock: “Gyatt!” 


I love her.

I love them

Charlie R, Eli G, Marissa S, Maddie K, Brock W, Henson B, Zack Shef, Ella D, Quincy, Millie K, Genevieve L, Sarah H, Lily A. Also with this crowd were David Stewart and Henry D, but neither live to have their photo taken and were careful to avoid group pics. Tristan and Ryan spent most of the day with these kids too.

From the zoo we hit the beach for 3.5-4 hours. 

More top gun references for hours of beach volleyball and beach football games 

I lived my best life and played my uke in the shade and some kids hanging around sang along loudly to Three Little Birds by Bob Marley, Baby by Justin Bieber, and Linger by the Cranberries. My job is just Beach. I do beach very well. I am so good at Beach. 


We ate jimmy John’s and all the snackies and played and played and explored tide pools at low tide and found shells and wildlife galore. Lots of kelp because it was low tide but a fair trade for good shelling, good waves,  and lots of flat coastline for games. Kill ball was a popular one. 





Quincy is taking EMT II through NWACC at Ignite. There are no breaks or excused school business in this strand of Health Sciences. She had a quiz every night and her usual proctored exam. She tried getting an extension and sought permission to test a day early but was unsuccessful. Day 4 was full from sun up to midnight and the only 90 minute window where she could be stationary and alone was at the beach. So here’s dedicated Quincy taking an exam on reproductive health at the beach while her friends play. It was kind of sad, but she joined the fun once she finished. I admire her dedication. 

Shef leaves on a mission to Uruguay just a few weeks after graduation. He was determined to go surfing and the chaperones helped make it happen for him. Here he is making his dreams come true with a board he rented from a local surf shop. 



There’s something for everyone at the beach! Another chaperone, Nikki, said “never did I ever think when I woke up this morning that I would be putting on a wetsuit and getting in the pacific and then eating sashimi on the sand. Best day ever. We really did live it up. 
I brought a little blue tooth speaker and played music for an hour but it wasn’t very loud. Daniel and Harshith thought a step ahead. They found a JBL on Facebook marketplace, had the seller bring it to the parking lot and they provided our music the rest of the day. Brilliant. 
Lance’s family also came through big time and surprised everyone with even more food from their restaurant than they did the night before. Several trays of sushi, dumplings, chicken and sashimi. The tuna was so fresh. The crunchy rolls were delicious. 

I love that Lance specifically went to find Lily Y and Caylene and personally invited them them over to eat because he knows they love sushi. Lily is hardcore and took a full on giant bite right off the wasabi tube and was unphased. Not like a dare. She just loves wasabi. 


Q, Me, Lily Y, Harshith, Fancy, Daniel 

We went to the hotel and got fancy and had dinner on a flagship Harbour cruise that night. A perfect end to the trip. The kids put their phones in the middle of the tables and played High (something they loved), Low (something that was disappointing), Buffalo (something weird, funny, or unexpected) at their tables. 

It was golden hour and the light out on the water from the top deck of the ship was perfection. 

The OG WJHS cello row. Lily, Millie, Lance, Q.  I have so many pics of these four and their silly antics over the last 6 years. 

Q and Maddie K

Marcie took this pretty shot of Q and got these great pics of Fake Band. 

Quincy likes to joke that she breaks up the Zack Henson “bro-mance”. It’s starting to sink in that they’ll be living on separate continents soon. 

That sunset glow be glowing! Q and Sarah H. 



After dinner, the DJ gave some shoutouts and then played an Ed Sheeran show song. These kids understood the assignment! They all worked their way to the dance floor. They don’t play slow songs at school dances here, so a few of the parents were surprised, but Marcie, Jerushia, and I were not at all. A bunch of them have been going to dances at church together for years. They know the drill and jumped up and asked the girls to dance.

And then they tore up the dance floor when the beat dropped some house music. Quincy loves to dance and you can always find her in the pit. The DJ was great and kept the kids fired up. They went all out for Charlie XCX, Nokia by Drake, and Pitbull. 

Back at the hotel, spicy uno, ping pong, outdoor chess, some innocent room pranks, and the uke sing along went on late into the night. Everyone was packed and ready by 6am. 

Minutes after to took off, we learned there was a 5.2 magnitude earthquake in San Diego. Buffalo! That would have added some excitement! 

Back to reality! Goggles and pool floaters back on and all truce/ceasefire agreements for Splash Senior Assassin are off! 


It was a good trip and Quincy is definitely sad it’s over. Change is in the air and she knows it’s only weeks before all her besties start leaving her one by one. Trying to soak up all the moments with them now while she can. “Stay classy, San Diego!”