Joe's Crab Shack in Newport

Nov. 30, 2017

Grampa, Chad, and KJ are in CA this weekend!

Celebrating #12 at Benihana's!

Dia de los Muertos Altar Competition

At work we had a Dia de los Muertos Altar Competition. The departments had to choose a Thunderbird legend to dedicate it to. We did our altar for professor Karen Brown, who was a faculty member who passed away from cancer in 2016. She was one strong woman - hiking the Grand Canyon even when she was going through chemo! I didn't know Karen, but her husband (who came to the event) spent the evening telling me all about her. 

As it turns out, one other department did an altar for Karen. Their's was beautiful, too, but ours was the only one that was beautifully personal.

It was a great experience - and we won the competition. :)

Halloween 2017

Kala the teal witch and Jace as Master Chief (Halo)

Kala won a goldfish at the Trunk-or-Treat and named her Cinderella (Ella for short).

Russell's '66!

We really got into the Halloween spirit this year! We decorated the house, dressed up the trunk, and  I even dressed up as a fortune teller. Halloween's more fun when you just dive in. :)

Chad built the curtain frame and the crystal ball base, and I built the floating candles, the star background, and made the Dia de los Muertos skulls (which were actually for another party but brought them along). 

Kala and Chad did the witch pumpkin together... Jace's Halo pumpkin hadn't been carved yet because we were saving it for Halloween night. :)

Jace dressed up Bear as Captain Underpants, and eventually Ella was part of the decoration.

Here is the trunk at night where you can see the floating candles!

This is our favorite holiday of the year... it's always so sad to see it go. 

Happy Halloween!

Imagine Dragons!

So it's been more than a year. Yikes. Sorry.
But it's good to be back!!

September 26, 2017

For her 12th birthday, KJ wanted to go to an Imagine Dragons concert.
Phoenix was #1 on the tour list.

Here she is!:

The first thing we did was buy shirts - they ran out of the shirt KJ really wanted, so I guess we were lucky to have gotten a tour shirt at all!

 When we got in, Grouplove was setting up and we didn't know at the time we missed the first band (which was ok). We got there a little late, but all went pretty well.

The sea of people!! During Imagine Dragons, I took a minute to look around and from where we were sitting, I didn't see ONE empty seat. That's a lot of bodies! 

Also, the height was a little spooky. :)

 KJ thought the teeth that were part of Grouplove's set were gross. :)
She also thought their hair was gross, which it kind of was. I can't find a good picture of it, but the two singers had yellow hair. Not blonde, yellow:

Yep. :)

They were kind of fun, though. I've heard some of their songs before, and here's what was interesting: every song I knew was a bit slaughtered live, but every song I didn't know was brought to life on the stage. I really got into a couple of their songs that night. Thus, I have mixed feelings about their performance.  I did like the woman's voice - the recordings don't do her justice.

Before Imagine Dragons started, KJ began rubbing her legs. I asked if she was ok and if they hurt. She said, "No, they don't hurt, they just feel a little tingly. I think it's all the excitement!!" lol!
She was SO pumped. She knew the words to all the songs and sang her heart out. :)

Their entry was pretty incredible. They certainly know how to build the excitement. :) Screens and lights came down from the ceiling with pulsing beats, slowly building the suspense. There was a video introduction - it was a collage of video and voices coinciding with the Evolve theme. 

The quality may not be great because I had to shrink them down, but here are a couple videos we took:

After an hour and a half of playing, they turned off the lights and went to another stage in the back of the arena where they had a cello, violin, and keyboard set up. After a few songs they moved back to the main stage. 

I really should have videoed the last few songs - they were epic. There was an amazing drum section that they added to Radioactive, there were incredible waves of rainbow lights timed to Believer, and a great video conclusion - a great finale to an already impressive show.

????

What are the odds of both kids breaking a bone in the same week???!!

3/21/2016

3/25/2016

Never a dull moment, I tell ya.

Easter 2015

Easter Egg Hunt

Kala, Jace, and Grampa on the Seven Brides for Seven Brothers set.

Decorating eggs!

Our eggs (and our mess)!

Upgraded!

Leo got a new tank. He has so much room now! It's awesome!!!

Where's Leo??

This is his new hiding spot. It reminds us of the part in Emperor's New Groove where Kronk "hides" against the wall:

California!

(Still working on this one.)

Tesla charging station in Quartzsite. Now all we need is a Tesla...

Goin' to Hollywood!

Los Angeles, CA

This picture's for me. This is the famous Scientology Celebrity Center.

Hm... something fishy's going on here...

The Walk of Fame!

A favorite of ours.

Sean Connery--barefoot! I love it!

Our first hotel

Here's our room. We dropped our stuff off and went to the beach where we watched the sunset. 

When we got back to the hotel, we were really looking forward to relaxing in the jacuzzi...when the power went out! Firemen came to check on everything and we were without power for a good part of the night. We still had a blast. I mean how often does that happen, right?!

Good thing I saw this coming and packed my glow-in-the-dark shirt. :)

View from the hotel balcony, where we ate breakfast the next morning. It was a nice way to start the day. 

Hermosa Beach at sunset

We watched this boat fade into the sunset.

Chad and I walked to a marina that looked much closer than it actually was. :) 

But there weren't many people at the beach and the sun was setting... there just isn't a better way to go for a nice long walk.

The sun disappearing.

With so many pictures, it's hard to pick a favorite. Sorry.

Hermosa Beach

The Lighthouse Cafe...never go here.

We saw two bike crashes that night.

Sometimes I am a geek. And sometimes people ruin pictures. 

The Getty Museum

This is a terrible picture that I will try and make better some day, but I love this sculpture.

The featured exhibit and a new favorite!

View of LA from the Getty

I am a sucker for Greek mythology and the Getty didn't disappoint.

Beautiful... every single one. Here's Athena(Minerva) and Hera(Juno).

"Now if I were to break this..."

Santa Monica Pier

Hotel #2: A Bed & Breakfast very close to the beach

Encinitas, CA

The night we got here, we dropped off our stuff and got some Thai food at a great little restaurant. Afterwards, we went for a walk and stumbled on an AMAZING beach spot. There were stairs that led down to a peaceful place where the starry sky and restless ocean blended seamlessly.

It wouldn't take much convincing for us to live there.

Yep. I love him!

Everything here was great. We really enjoyed the staff and and the service was nice.

My two favorite things about it was waking up to sea breeze coming through the window and the wonderful breakfast they had for us in the morning.

The Star of India at the Maritime Museum

A couple of strangers. They seem like a nice pair of people, though.

San Diego

This beach was packed! I tried hard to get pictures without people. :)

That's what we get for going to the beach on a Saturday.

Joe's Crab Shack for lunch!

Leaving San Diego and going home

We're not going to miss paying for parking or the crowded roads, but we are going to miss the boats, ocean, and the perfect weather!