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