Calm before the storm...

Lately I am feeling like it is the calm before the storm. I have about a week and a half with not much on the calender and then....chaos irrupts. It really isn't that bad, but feels that way. Cameron is back from camp and now I have both kids back at home and things feel normal.

In between the camps we went on a field trip to the J.Pual Getty Museum and took advantage of one of there many amazing lessons, Body Language. It was very cool to see how the art work told a story by the way the bodies were positioned and the stories went from one work of art to the next. Very cool. I do love the Getty though. The grounds are just so beautiful and the cafe has actual good food (though a little pricey). It is a shame that it is so far from us. I was hoping to have pix to share but my daughter forgot to take any and I haven't received any from anyone else yet. This Friday we go to another museum called the Muzeo. It is in Anaheim (much closer) and has Jane Goodall's Chimpanzee exhibit at present. This will be my first time at this museum, as it is pretty new.

There is just so many fun things coming up I am feeling a bit anxious. Chalise turns in a decorated cake to the OC Fair this Saturday. We need to go to that fair! Then there s the CHN Expo, the picking up the cake and see how she placed, then....a Food Show! Oh, this food show looks like so much fun! We have never been to one but have watched challenges on tv. They will have a cake challenge and food from top restaurants. Not to mention Duff, Marry Ellen and Geof from Ace of Cakes will be there. Chalise loves that show and is inspired by Duff and the crew. I hope we see them somewhere walking about. Are blackout day will be over so we can again run and play at Disneyland. Then Chalise starts back up going to classes. This time (hopefully) at IVC, she has registration yet. She will be there three days a week. Cameron will be starting drum lessons about the same time. I can't believe summer is almost over and we only have been to the beach once! What a shame. We need to move closer to the beach! OH, and we need to still go to Raging Waters in San Dimas! That place is awesome! I guess you can see why I am a little anxious....right?

This morning though, we are helping a neighbor plant some flower. Well, I guess that is enough for this morning....

Second Half of our Vacation

We left Tombstone AZ after staying there for two days. Our next destination was Sedona, AZ. On the way back through Phoenix we stopped to see my dad's tomb plate. He's remains are at the National Memorial Cemetery of Arizona. It is funny, when you think of Cemeteries that hold the remains of our Veterans, you usually get a mental picture of grass and white headstones as far as the eye can see. This place is a desert, no grass in sight and no white headstones either. They have the flat grave markers instead even though there isn't any grass. (Most Cemeteries now use the flat markers so that they can just ride the mower right over everything.) We still got the same feeling though with all those markers and knowing what they gave up so that we could, well you can fill in the blank with your own thankful thoughts...

It was a nice drive to Sedona, lots of open spaces. Sedona is where my dad last lived and I took a drive past his old house. I was thinking that it would have sold and been torn down to make a newer, more modern house, but it was still there. If you ever go to Sedona you will find that the red color in the earth there is breathtaking. No pictures can do it justice, but after a couple of hours, it looses the aaawwww factor. We had heard about the vortexes that are in the area and had to check it out for ourselves. The vortexes are where there is minerals in the earth that make a type of magnetic field. People have all types of ideas about these areas. We took the animals for a hike to check one out and see what (if anything) we would feel. Well, we definitely were hot! You could feel a little something....almost like static but no shocking discharges.

The place we were excited to go to was Slide Rock! Oh, that was fun! It is a national park, so we couldn't bring the animals. It is a stream that meanders down moss covered rocks that make a natural water slide. There were a few places that you could dive into nice deep clear pools. A few of the dive areas were 10ft high. Here are a few pix of the kids and Jim having fun.

On our way home we swung through one of my old stopping grounds, Jerome. It is a mining ghost town that I have wonderful memories of. Of course, it still looks pretty much the same. We had lived in what was once a miners house. It was nice to visit and share my memories with my family.

What a fun exhausting trip!

Chinatown Field Trip in LA

We had a very exciting time in Chinatown last Friday. We were given a walking tour explaining some of the buildings and how the immigrants started their new lives in America. It was funny to see that they had re-opened a former French Hospital that had a Joan of Arc statue and memorial in front. The Chinese had left the statue/memorial there and takes care of it to this day because Joan of Arc was important to the French. We also were treated to a temple. Beautiful temple, such gorgeous workmanship and the incense smelled so good. We got to go inside and experience it all, some even lit incense.

After the walking tour we had luch! The food was good and they even had a show. We saw a traditional fan dance and ribbon dance and were told about the hierarchy of the Imperial family down to the Imperial Guard. They had asked a person from several tables to dress up like the family. :) Then there was a wonderful balancing act and a funny magician. It was all very good!

A smaller group of us decided to go shopping after all the festivities and the teens ( and one young adult) decided to try the Century Eggs. Century Eggs are fermented duck eggs and they are so purple they are almost black. I didn't even have the courage to smell one, by my daughter was one of the teens to try one. Ugghh I staid away from her for a while.

If you would like to see the pictures you can go to share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8AZuG7VuzZM2NQ You might have to copy and paste it in your address line. Some of the pictures there are from an earlier field trip to Tucker Wild Life Sanctuary. These photos are courtesy of Karin. Karin is kind enough to take them and she is the other half of the field trip excursions we put together.

BEACH DAY!

We had ourselves the first beach day of the season! It was so nice to lay on the sand and snack from our picknet basket of goodness. The water to was to cold for me, but the girls jumped in for a bit. Cameron made himself a new sand Pokemon with tentacles. Then we strolled along the beach and down Main St. On Main St. a man was handing out "free" flattened pennies with the ten commandments pressed into it. The kids later threw them into the fountain.

We were very hungry by then and asked the police officers which restaurant was a good deal with good food. They gave us a couple of suggestions and we wound up at Fred's Mexican Bar & Grill. The food was good and they had a party atmosphere that we would have enjoyed, if we hadn't been so tired. The price wasn't to bad, especially since we shared plates.

It was a fun exhausting day.

Spring has Sprung!

Well it seems par for the course in my life that when spring comes around my life gets busier! I don't know if the nice weather spurs my spirit into action, or if there really is just more to do? Either way, I love spring! I just have to make sure to control myself and make time to smell the wonderful aroma of all the newly blooming flowers. Soak in the scenery and relax.

I have been planning the small renovations we are doing to our house and planning field trips. Not to mention a fast approaching vacation. Oh, we actually get to GO have a vacation this year. The field trip ideas I got from a friend of mine. She had some great ideas of places to go. So, I am planning field trips again. I haven't done that for at least a year and a half. So, the first official one is to Tucker Wildlife Sanctuary. My family and I have been there many times but have never had a guided tour. It is beautiful and I am sure to learn many knew things about it.

The house is coming along nicely. The one exception is the flooring. I don't know what it is. We can't seem to get anyone to come through with an estimate. The first guy, came took measurements and we never heard from him again. Now we are waiting on Lowe's, it has been two weeks and we still don't have the estimate. So...on the good side, we replaced our stove and got a great deal thanks to a friend of ours. He sent us to a great shop called CTS Appliance, family owned and operated. We also replaced our toilets and the downstairs sink. What a hastle, but it looks much better now. The only problem is the toilets sound like they might suck you right down! They are the new efficient HT type, no more flap to be replaced!

As for our vacation, we are planning on going to Tombstone, AZ and then up to Sedona, AZ and back through Jerome, AZ. Lots of exploring and hopefully some rock hounding.

Well, we are off to the beach today! So, I need to go pack up the car. Hope everyone enjoys their day!