AHOY! I'm Sailing!

Saturday we went sailing with our friends Jeff & Karen. They have a cool boat that Jeff built 10 years ago. It is made entirely out of wood and I was fascinated to learn how he made it. I also got some ideas on how to re-surface our diving board at home from him. (sand and epoxy resin). We had a super relaxing day at the Los Alimitos Yacht Club. I love Ashley's super model pose in this picture.

Someone has seen "What about Bob" one too many times.

The kids loved laying on the pontoons and mesh nets, dragging their arms and legs through the water.

First Day of School

Couldn't get a picture of Reed this year before he headed off to school....They are growing up so fast!

Emily's 10th Birthday

For Emily's 10th birthday, we spent the day at the Lake. She loves swimming so there is no place she would rather be than in the water. We gave her and itouch for her birthday before we went on vacation so that she could take video and pictures with it ...so unfortunately, on her birthday she only had a few things to open. But she didnt mind at all. She spent the day with her friend Renley, and Bjoern, Melanie, and Martin from Germany were all with us at the lake.

High Adventure Scout Camp

Reed returned from High Adventure camp today. He went up to Sequoia National Park and hiked approx 25 miles over 5 days. He had a fantastic time and said the views were the most spectacular he had ever seen. When he was dropped off, his leaders told us what a great kid he was and how he never complained and was a ton of fun, and they were so happy he came. (that makes it all worthwhile) I was hoping he would catch a fish this trip...but my theory once again is upheld..."there are no fish in California". He had two run-ins with Rattlesnakes and saw a big bear. He came home with a peeling sunburn, and mosquito bites but was happy as can be. He said the worst part of the trip was his tent partner's breath....only to realize, he was actually smelling his own armpit. Ugh!

Splash 2011

Although I had invitations printed for him, Reed opted out this year.... I think "planned parties" are not cool. The guys just want to "crash" and destroy everything on their own terms.

Reed's 8th Grade Graduation

On Tuesday we attended Reed's 8th grade graduation. Now, don't take me wrong.... I am happy that Reed is moving on to high school....and extremely grateful that he passed all of his classes.......but is a graduation ceremony really necessary? It seems to me that the only graduation that has some merit is high school....rounding out the whole "education accomplishment". We sat on the bleachers for 2 hours, each speaker repeated what the first speaker said, and then watched a parade of gangly boys in dress clothes and girls dressed for "the club" walk back to the tennis courts. There were around 500 graduates of which there were 86 valedictorians. That number seemed a little too high to me. I think there were 2 in my class...maybe 3.... is school getting easier? Are the kids getting smarter? or is just everyone a winner now days?

LA Weekend Getaway

Last weekend we had a little escape up to LA. Although it is only 45 minutes away from home we got a hotel and had family watch the kids for the weekend. We kicked off our weekend with a Rammstein concert at "The Forum". This is probably our favorite band and we always thought we would have to see them in Germany. We never thought they would tour in America. So I was elated when I found on Facebook that they were coming to LA. The band is a German heavy metal band so the crowd was a little "rough" I think there were 3blondes in the whole crowd. The rest of the women were "goth girls" or of Mexican descent. And Dan & I were some of the "older" fans (although we are still younger than the band members).
Before the concert, we saw 'Flake" the keyboardist in the parking lot. He looked a ton older and I didn't recognize him in time to ask for a picture. So Dan shot this one.
Here's us in our nosebleed seats...surrounded by pot smokers. (My hair smelled like pot for the entire next day, until I had time to wash it.)

The next day we got up and went into the Fashion District and Fabric District in downtown LA. I bought some fabric for some projects and got out of there. We then stopped in at the Mormon Temple in Santa Monica and took a 18 1/2 years later picture of where we got married.


We then went to The Getty Museum for 5 hours of "Art Exploration". Dan had his picture taken in front of Van Gough's "Irises" worth over $150 million. ( My interpretation is that it is a strange picture painted by a strange person and I would never pay that much for it. I don't think I would even pay $1.50 for a poster. (But then obviously, I guess I have no taste in art.)

I had my picture taken in front of "Old Man Winter" . I just liked him, and he reminded me of Christmas and the curls in his beard matched the curls in my hair.



The next day we woke up at 11:00 (I don't think that has happened in at least 15 years.) Went to lunch at one of our favorite places in Capistrano and went for a walk along the beach in Laguna. It was the perfect ending to a nice weekend.