First Day of School...Yippee!

School is back in session and I can't decide which is better, when the kids get out for summer, or when they go back in the fall. The house was quiet today and Heidi has already started talking to her imaginary friends again...Luckily she starts pre-school next week and will be occupied for two days a week in the mornings. Ashley (3rd grade) and Emily's (2nd grade) classrooms are next door to eachother so they are happy to be close together. Reed is a little nervous. He is in a tiny classroom with 36 other 6th graders. They are literally crammed together in rows like the cattle in Norco. (Good thing they had the "Hygiene" film last year.) It is also rumored by "well-connected" parents that his teacher is "not-good". So it will be interesting to see how this year pans out for him. As for me...... it's back to my Soap Operas and Bon Bons for another 10 months.

The last beach pictures.

O.K. in looking at the blog I realize just one more beach picture will annoy the hell out of anyone who doesn't live here so ... here are some more!

We had a family bbq to celebrate "the boys's" birthday and to say goodbye to Marshall as he leaves to start his freshman year at BYU. On another day Geeb visited and some snorkeling attempts were made off of shore, before they got "too tired" and came in.

Reed getting ready to snorkel.

Emily's 7 year old pictures

Here are Emily's 7th Birthday Pics. I picked them up from the photographers a few weeks ago, broke federal copyright laws and scanned them. Now, I am posting them for your viewing. They grow up way too fast!

Violated!

I got up to take Reed to surf camp and in my tired blurried walk to the car (mind you, any normal person should be able to walk to the car with full sight by 8:30) I remotely "unlocked the car", and opened the door to see all of the contents of my glove box and "secret" compartments scattered throughout the front of the car. Although I usually always lock the doors, there is occasion...... when I am caught up with yelling at a straggling kid, or my arms are full... that I forget to lock the doors. I guess yesterday was one of those times. The strange thing is...I can't find anything missing. The guy must have not had a flashlight because he didn't see the $11 in one of the compartments. And he didn't take my prescription pills. He didn't even take my spare change in the center console. And I guess he wasn't interested in Disney films because he left the DVDs on the seat. STRANGE! Dan called the cops just to tell them... in case someone down the street was actually robbed. I shall try to lock my doors from now on.

German Invasion

Last Friday we had the German class over for a pool party. We introduced them to the "White Trash High Dive" and made some of the biggest splashes I have seen in our pool.

I think they had a good time. After such a busy schedule I think they needed an afternoon of fun and relaxation. And contrary to our conceptions of europeans.....not one of them wore a speedo! I think they viewed Dan as an "overzealous, germany loving american" Kind of, as if we had visited Germany, went to a party, and the man who answered the door wore a cowboy hat and said "Howdy" in a german accent, then played Lawrence Welk music for us. They did love our doorbell that plays the German National Anthem (came with the house) and rang it over and over. We shipped Annik off to Germany this morning and will miss her.

Surf Crew

Every wednesday Reed goes to Laguna Hills Community Center for a "class" called Surf Crew. They take the kids all day to the beach and let them play in the waves. Wednesday the girls & I intercepted him at Huntington Beach and spent the day with him. The waves were perfect and it was a fun day. We had so much fun that we wanted to go back on Saturday for a full day/bonfire. Saturday morning Dan logged on the internet and the top story was that the body of a 60 year old woman washed ashore at Huntington Beach at 6:00 that morning. Needless to say plans were changed to go to the Lake instead. (Again... we were able to give Annik a little taste of what its like to live in California.)

A picture of Reed catching a wave at Surf Crew.

Yosemite National Park

Yosemite

Last weekend we drove up to Yosemite for a few days of outdoor fun and relaxation. We drove up on Friday morning with Annik(german exchange) to show her the biggest trees she probably will ever see. I was a little embarassed of our desert drive, having to go through desolate no-where to get there. Annik will think america is desert, I told her there really are habitable places to live in this country. However, early on I did disclose to her that everything in California is fake. From the faces she sees to the trees that were artifically planted 40-60 years ago. Anyways.... we got there and did a small hike to see the giant Sequoia trees and then headed to the condo we rented for the 3 days we were planning to be up there. When we got to the condo we found out that it was NOT the condo pictured on the internet. It had blue shag carpet from 1968, along with all of the appropriate furnishings from that era... right down to the briquet BBQ (when I had planned on gas). Anyways we took it in stride and had a nice night celebrating Emilys 7th birthday. The next day we went to the valley floor and wandered around for a while then inflated our rafts and rafted down the river for a few hours. Around 4:00 smoke started rolling in making visiblity bad and breathing tough. We pulled out and went back to our condo around 6:00 anticipating our BBQ beef briskit that had been slow cooking to tenderness in the crock pot all day. When we got there, we were met by a man with 6 glo sticks who told us there was a fire 7 miles away and the power had been burnt-out. The briskit was half cooked and we had no briquets. People were packing their things and leaving like crazy. After cold showers (i guess the water heater wasnt gas) and a call to the sheriff informing us the fire was 40 miles away, we decided to wait it out. After a stuffy smoky night, we awoke to a clear morning. We cooked breakfast on a commandeered gas grill and headed down to the valley floor for biking. We hiked to the falls and rode bikes all day... sure enough 4:00 smoke rolled in. There was no power in the park and the only meal you could buy was $40 a plate. So... we packed up the car and headed home. In Annik's favor... it would'nt be true exposure to california without experiencing some sort of fire... and we had an earthquake this week so now she can go back with a good grasp of our lifestyle.

p.s. We finally saw a bear in Yosemite.