
My daughter and me in the backyard of a house we used to rent in Laguna Beach.
We rented a house in Laguna Beach to escape the high temperatures of Palm Springs in the summertime. We rented with another family from Memorial weekend to Labor day, splitting the summer in half.
The family who owned the house were school teachers. They took off to Alaska each summer as rangers.
I was worried the first time I visited the house. The backyard dropped off into a canyon. There were railroad ties between the lawn and a cliff. Having a two-year old son, I was worried the yard was too dangerous.
The owner laughed and said she raised three boys in that house and there was never an issue.

Me and my son at the beach in Laguna.
I’ll never forget the first time we rented the house. We told our son we were going to the beach. He grabbed a shovel and bucket and said, “Let’s go!” He was headed to the edge of the lawn and railroad ties, where there was a view of the ocean.
“No!” I stopped him. “We have to drive to the beach.”
Later that summer, I couldn’t find the T.V. remote control. My husband worked in Palm Springs during the weekdays and I was alone with my son except for weekends.
I was six months pregnant with my daughter at the time.
“It’s down there!” my son said pointing to the cliff dropping to the canyon.
“What?” I asked.
“I threw it down there,” my son said, pointing.
I strapped him in his stroller before I ventured into the canyon. I made my way over the railroad ties, clinging onto shrubs for dear life, as I scrambled along the steep incline. Needless to say I was a wreck by the time I made it back up the steep cliff into the backyard. No, I didn’t find the remote.
My son seemed fascinated watching me from the safety of his stroller.
I pushed my son in his stroller into the house, unbuckled him and collapsed on the sofa.
My son joined me on the sofa and fetched the remote control from under a throw pillow.
“Here it is!” he said.

To this day, I have no clue why my son told me he threw the remote control into the canyon. I’m sure he was entertained watching me as I held onto branches and bushes to not tumble down the cliff.
What unexpected things have your kids done to make your life exciting?