Thursday, October 2, 2014

A Three Hour Tour

Uncle D is in our neck of the woods fighting a forest fire. Last weekend, we were lucky enough to go visit him. He pilots this DC 10.

He gave us the full tour. It was amazing! It's really incredible and dangerous how low he flies the plane over fires to dump retardant on them.

It was a great day....thank you Uncle D.

The inside of the plane. It was fun to explore.

The boy asking Uncle D his numerous questions. Uncle D was very patient and answered them all.

On a wing and a prayer.

The full tour of the plane. The had so much fun.

Future pilots!

The kids goofing off.

When the boy saw this helicopter on the runway he said "I made a Lego model of this helicopter."
Uncle D had arranged for the pilot of this Erickson helicopter to give the kids a tour of it. He told the kids to get in it. Only the boy took him up on it. There are only 21 of this type of helicopters in the works. When he is finished here, the pilot and helicopter go to Australia for their fire season.

The pilot told us that some people from Disney came and took measurements and pictures of the helicopter. It was the model Windlifter in the movie Planes and Rescue.

Friday, August 29, 2014

Aquarium

The kids and I went with my God children to the Monterey aquarium last week. It was great! The boy didn't want to leave. There is so much to see and do there. This is the boy and A and Z at the penguin exhibit.

My favorite exhibit, the jellyfish. I could have stayed there all day!

The wave tank.

My favorite picture.

Sunday, August 17, 2014

Waterworld

It was our last full week of summer, so the kids and I decided to go on some day trips. We started the week going to a marine research lab/aquarium. We were very lucky, since we were the only three people on the tour, we were able to go into the research area that is normally off limits. We got to see the researchers working with some retired navy dolphins and we saw several endangered sea lions. We were not able to take any pictures in the area, because of the nature of the work and the fact the animals are endangered. It was amazing, seeing how intelligent the dolphins are, the kids are still talking about it.

The kids in front of a blue whale skeleton. The whale washed up on the beach back in the early seventies. It was huge!

There was an area of gray whale bones for people to explore and pick up.

Touching a swell shark.

Swell shark egg casings.

For Tia!

The next day we headed to the beach. The boy boogie boarded all day.

My bathing beauty.

Since we had been at the ocean for two days, we decided to hit up the water slides on day three of our water adventure.

The girl coming out of the slide.

Since we had done the ocean and the water park, next up was playing in the river. The dog played with the kids in the river, but he was to fast for me to get a picture.

Then, at the end of the week, it was back to the beach with their cousin A. The boy boarded all day, only coming in when I made him take water breaks or c eat. There was a seal and some dolphins in the surf behind him, but I couldn't get a clear picture.

Coming in for a water break. The girl and A body surfed into the waves all day.

Wednesday, May 21, 2014

Elevensies

Today was the girl's eleventh birthday. She thought she was going to school, as if it was a normal day. When we dropped off her brother at school I told her not to get out of the car. We headed off to the mountains to a zip line/sky bridge course about 40 minutes away. She didn't know what we were doing, until we meet our instructors and stepped into our harnesses. Hubby wanted to go with us, but he wasn't able to get the day off. After a practice run, we were anxious to get on the course. We did 8 zip lines that were at 100-180 feet high and three sky bridges. It was a two hour tour of beautiful landscape and fun. Since we had the place to ourselves, it was extra special.

The zip line instructors were teaching the girl to hang off the side of the platform using her feet for balance. Once they found out she was a daredevil and not afraid of heights, they did a bunch of extra stuff with her.

They would "slingshot" her off of the zip line platform. A slingshot is where they grab you, pull you back and let you go. She would get this big grin on her face and let out a little "whoop" of glee as she went speeding along.

Here the girl is playing around on the zip line. The instructors would push her out from the platform and then she would hand over hand her way back to the platform. She loved it! After a fun morning hanging out in the tree tops, we headed off to lunch at a local little "cowboy" restaurant and then topped off our day of playing hookey with some ice cream. Happy Birthday to my little girl. I had such a great time hanging out with you today!

Sunday, May 4, 2014

The Lost Weekend

On a neighbors farm are the remnants of a French Utopian colony. They were kind enough to take us on a tour. By tour I mean let us run around to our hearts content.

There were a surprising number of ruins over 7 acres.

It was a beautiful spring day, perfect for a hike.

The boy riding in our neighbors polaris.

The girl found this laying not far from the ruins. There is still twine on the wooden spool. Our best guess is that it was a kite spool. There is still a lot of paint on it.

The perfect end to the day was this bouquet of wildflowers the girl surprised me with.

Wednesday, April 23, 2014

Week in Review

I thought I would give a quick update on what went on last week. The girl making a bunny easter cake. It was really cute. Unfortunately, I forgot to get a picture.

The boy building the Legos his cousins sent him in his easter package. His friend T is helping.

The girl and her friend G. I took this pic, since I love the fact that the still hold hands and skip at this age. We had just gone to a movie in the mall. Since the boys were at the property with friends for a few days, the girl had a sleep over with her friend.

The boy graduating from a bear cub to a boy scout (webelo 1).

Before the moving ceremony, all the boys get marked with different colored markers on their face to denote their rank.

Saturday, April 5, 2014

April Fools

The girl played the April fools joke this year. She made "brownies" and left them for us to eat the morning of April 1st...clever girl!

Friday, February 21, 2014

Let Them Eat Cake!

My Aunt recently had a birthday. She requested a home made chocolate cake with our family icing. The kids happily complied. The girl made the cake and she and the boy made the frosting. As far as I know, this particular frosting doesn't have a recipe with precise measurements, at least not one I've ever seen. My Grandma, Mom, Aunt, Sister and I ust combined the ingredients together until it tasted right. So that is how I had the kids make it. As they made it, I thought about how they are the fourth and quite possibly the fifth generation of my family to make this icing. I know its a small thing, but it makes me smile.

Even better, their Auntie proclaimed it delicious. I hope they make it for her many years to come.

Friday, February 14, 2014

Happy Valentine's Day

The girl wanted to make chocolate chip cookies. She decided they should be heart shaped.

They were delicious!

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Starting the New Year Off Right

I know this post is late, but I thought the PA cousins would like to see some pics of the VA and CA clans. The beginning of the year included a visit with the VA cousins. The VA cousins were out with their parents for their Dad's firefighter training. We met up at our property and the kids ran around and played all afternoon. They jumped on hay bales, took a hike, did a little bit of archery and generally enjoyed themselves. It was great to see them. They are such lovely young women now. The kids sitting down for dinner.

What day is complete without a piggy back ride from one of your cousins? Since the boy is the smallest of the bunch, he lucked out in the piggy back ride area.

The kids enjoying some left over sparklers from the 4th of July

The girl saying goodbye to cousin K. It was heartbreaking!

All of the cousins saying a group goodbye. The boy is actually in the middle of all of the girls.

There are much better pictures from that day, including a beautiful one of the kids on the hay bales. Those pictures were not taken by me. They were taken by my talented niece L. Aunt M, cousin B and I were to busy exploring the area to get any good pictures. I'll have to ask L to email me some to post. Hopefully, more training is in the future for my brother-in-law!