While camping at the beach at South Carlsbad, as per one of Eli’s requests, see wish #4, Eli decided he wanted a leaf from a palm tree, see wish #31. However, the rules at the campground didn’t allow for tampering with the vegetation, so we didn’t let him keep the palm leaf he had pulled off a tree there before we informed him of the rules. Yeah, yeah, we should have let him bring it home since the damage was already done, but with all the crazy rules and unpredictable reactions to minor infractions, we just didn’t want to risk potential repercussions.

That was in July. Now it’s September and we’ve gone to the beach again. When Eli’s meds were finally approved and provided by Bayer, we didn’t have to sign him up for a clinical trial. This was actually a disappointment for Eli because he had decided it would be fun to travel to LA regularly for meds and visits to the beach and my sister’s house (she has a pool, so added bonus). So I promised him that we would visit her anyway and go to the beach again.

Yesterday we spent the day at the beach.

When we were packing up to go back to my sister’s house, she and Eli went off and found a palm tree to fulfill wish #31. Their endeavor was a success:

Eli has been calling it a pom pom leaf and we drove through the pom pom forest on our way home.