May 2015

MORMON BATTALION:
Seth prepares to become a soldier in the Mormon Battalion.  Too bad his gear drags on the ground.

HIKING ALONG THE SANTA MARGARITA RIVER:
A nice Sunday activity with our exchange student Lena and the family

CINCO DE MAYO:  Seth dresses up for the holiday at his pre-school

RAPUNZEL, LET DOWN YOUR HAIR:
In preparation for Elaina's birthday party I re-planted this plant and it looks like Rapunzel's hair.  This type of plant usually doesn't grow this way.  It grew in my court yard with very little light.  Succulents love shade.

RAPUNZEL CAKE:  My sister Kelly spent hours on this cake and it was awesome.    At Elaina's party the girls got their hair get braided while watching Tangled, we painted lanterns, and the kids played a song game on the trampoline.

ELAINA'S 7'TH BIRTHDAY PARTY

LENA AND THE FAMILY AT LA JOLLA COVE:
 Neil and the kids got soaked by a wave

GRANDPA FILLS THE SWIMMING POOL:
He had to fill the pool twice, due to a leak, so the kids got to come over, twice, and ride their tricycles into the water.

NEIL'S BIRTHDAY PARTY:
He got Black Forest cherry cake

WHALE WATCHING FROM THE OCEANSIDE PIER:
This was amazing! While we were out for Neil's birthday dinner,  we walked the Oceanside Pier and saw 2 grey whales swim right next to it.  What a treat!  No whale watching boat required.

CAMPING IN ZION NEAR THE RIVER:
We did a whirlwind trip to 3 national parks on Memorial Day weekend.  Our first stop was Zion National Park.  We got up at 5:00 in the morning to get this camp site at this first-come-first-serve campground.  It was sunny that morning, but it rained that night and the rest of the weekend.  Amazingly enough, our Wal-Mart tent kept us pretty dry in the rain, but it was hard figuring out where to sit and eat and stay dry.  We gave up on camping and found a hotel in Panguitch.  It was hard to find one on Memorial day weekend but we got lucky.  I was sad not to camp, but we were not  really prepared for rain.  My sister who lives in Alaska says, " you plan on it raining every time you go camping."

HIKING BUDDIES:
We all had our hiking buddies on this trip:  Neil with Seth,  Mom with Aubrey,  and Elaina with Lena.  Lena and Elaina made great hiking buddies and always finished the hikes first.

CROSSING THE VIRGIN RIVER IN ZION:

HOODOOS IN BRYCE:
I loved hiking in Bryce Canyon National Park.  There seemed to be a different world around every corner.

TUNNNELING THROUGH THE HOODOOS:
We passed through 3 tunnels on the hike.  I wish we could have done the loop, but it was raining and I am glad we headed back.  Aubrey wanted to be carried, and at 8,000 ft elevation, it was too hard to carry her very far.  I limited carrying her to counts of 20.

THE NORTH RIM OF THE GRAND CANYON:
I have done this trip before with my friend Stephanie.  You can visit 3 national parks all within 3 hours of each other.  The North Rim is less crowded and less developed and 1,000 ft higher than the South Rim.  Lena really wanted to see the Grand Canyon, and I was afraid we wouldn't see it due to fog.  Luckily the fog cleared.  The Grand Canyon was Lena's favorite.

A DIFFERENT VIEW OF THE GRAND CANYON:

MISSION BEACH WITH TERRY TROMBINO AHNDER:
Terry was my foster sister, when I was 5.  She came to Southern California for a surprise visit and wanted to go to Magic mountain and the beach, all in one day.  That's pretty much impossible, but I told her you can have both experiences at Mission Beach.  It worked out great.  I got to roller blade and go on the zip line at Belmont Park and they got to ride the roller coaster.  Terry was helped by us as a teenager and in return. she has helped many other people in Vegas.  It's like my brother Matt.  He was adopted by my parents and he has adopted 3 children himself.
 PAY IT FORWARD

THE POND AT LOS JILGUEROS NATURE PRESERVE IN FALLBROOK:
Seth was fascinated by the dead fish in the pond and I was fascinated by the crawdads.  I didn't know we had crawdads on the West Coast.  I have eaten them in Arkansas and they are good.  This nature preserve also has pecan trees.

MY HILLSIDE SUCCULENTS

CABO 2015

HACEINDA ENCANTADA POOLS:

5 pools in a row, all less than 5 feet deep.  We spent a lot of time here.

PLAYA CHILENO:

Snorkeling at Playa Chileno.  I helped the kids to swim out with goggles on and then had them stick their faces in the water.  They did see fish.

LOUNGE CHAIRS, JUST SETH'S SIZE

EL ARCO

SKULL IN THE ROCK:

LOVER'S BEACH:

Aubrey doesn't know how to swim, but she kept body surfing at this beach.  The waves were turbulent, because this is where the Pacific meets the Sea of Cortez.  She kept body surfing for an hour.

CUCUMBERS FOR AUBREY:

Aubrey ate 2 of these in one sitting.  It was amazing to watch.  Her poo even resembled cucumbers.

THE OTHER SIDE OF PUNTA BALLENA:

On the other side of our hotel you find this rocky beach and more hotels.

MEXICAN HARP:

It was fun to talk to this guy and play this harp.  The strings have a lot less tension, and you stand to play it.  The sound is different too.

IT'S ALL ABOUT THE VIEW:

SAN JOSE DEL CABO:  

We spent some time here before going to the the airport and went shopping.  I thought these lamps were fun.

SAN JOSE DEL CABO CATHEDRAL:

APRIL 2015

EASTER MORNING:

My 3 bunnies get presents for their birthday, Christmas, and Easter.  Otherwise they have to earn them.  It is a good policy, because it is so easy to collect too many toys.

OUR EXCHANGE STUDENT LENA AND HER EASTER BASKET:

THE EASTER EGG HUNT AT GRANDPA'S:

NESTLE ANIMALS FROM LENA'S FAMILY:  They chose perfectly. A lamb for Aubrey, a hippo for Elaina, and a goat for Seth.  

TRYING ON HATS AT LOWES:

We stopped here while getting the car aligned.  Our car is always going out of alignment. It must be our curvy roads.

FATHER SON OUTING:

Neil, Keith, Greg and Seth all went on a hike together, and had a lot of fun.

A BAYMAX PARTY:

Merrick, Elaina's 1st grade friend, throws a good party. This one was at a bounce house place, in memory, of how it would be to jump on Baymax from Big Hero 6. 

ELISHA COMES TO VISIT:

We enjoyed going to the beach with my niece Elisha Goodson and her family.  This is Chloe, Elaina, and Genevive running on the beach at Oceanside.

THE GARDEN SHOW:

Elaina is playing scared of the dragon.  This house was incredible. Everything was cultivated and there was a great collection of bird houses.  I love going each year to get ideas.

UTC MALL IN LA JOLLA: 

We like to go here after I go to the temple each month.  This night, there happened to be an ice skating competition.  We like going to the fountain and getting frozen yogurt at Yogen Fruz.

MARCH 2015

BONSALL'S DADDY DAUGHTER DANCE:

LENA & I AT THE JAPANESE TEA GARDEN:  We got to San Francisco's Golden Gate Park early so we could get in for free.

GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE:

MUIR WOODS:  

Elaina standing in a redwood tree.  Muir Woods is one of the few old growth redwood forrest in California.  It is only a few minutes outside of San Francisco.

ST. PATRICK'S DAY PARADE:  We went to down town San Francisco.  Lena and I were greeted by a naked bike rider convection, while down town.  I just keep flinching, when I think how uncomfortable it would be to ride a bike naked, ouch!!

SUNSET CARMEL BEACH:

I believe it is one of the prettiest beaches in the world.  The sunset is beautiful, the sand has the consistency of white sugar, and the cypress trees are stunning.

POINT LOBOS STATE PARK:

This is also one of the prettiest places I've been to.  It was a nice 1 mile hike through a lot of poison oak, but the kids did great.  We will make hikers out of them yet.

THE FLOWER FIELDS, CARLSBAD:

Aubrey loved looking at the renunculus flowers in Carlsbad.  Now whenever we pass by a plant nursery, she yells, "look the flower fields."

THE YELLOW DELLI:

On one of Neil's rare Thursday nights off, we went to the Yellow Delli, but Aubrey was in a bad mood. She kind of ruined the unique Disneyland atmosphere experience.  I thought she was sick, but maybe she just didn't want to get out of the car.  My kids love riding in the car, it must be the DVD player.  Aubrey is one stubborn girl, and refused to take IBprofin.

BALBOA PARK ON A SUNDAY:

It was a fabulous day.  We got to watch street performers, and walk around the old architecture.

SUNSET CLIFFS:

They remind me of a beach scene in a Barbie movie.  Lena and the kids had fun climbing cliffs and watching people jump off the cliffs into the ocean.