Tuesday, October 20, 2015

 
Vacationing
 
About every other year my family decides that it's high time
to spend some laid back time together.
That means we rent a house somewhere between
southern and central California.
 
The winner this time was a log house on 22 acres
in the mountains between Los Angeles and Bakersfield.
 
 
 
 
 
The view across the canyon.
 
 
Directly behind the house was the indoor pool.
 
Many happy and invigorating hours were spent in the water.

 



 
 

 
There was also a spa on the back deck that many of us piled into for evening relaxation.
 
Speaking of relaxation, quite a bit of laziness was going on Sat. afternoon.


 
Rudy's naps became legendary.
He would wake up, move to another spot, then fall asleep again.
We never knew where we would find him napping.
 
We went to the visitor's center at Pyramid Lake.
With the drought,
 
I thought the lake would lack water
but it looks like it is at normal height.
This is where water from northern CA is held before it goes
down the mountain into thirsty southern CA.
 
 
 
 
 
There were lots of hands-on activities for the kids
and water education features throughout the building.





 
 

 
Each family takes a turn making a meal.
For such a spacious house, the kitchen was pretty compact
so it took a little finagling to make it all work.
Nevertheless, there was plenty of food and
there was certainly no danger of anyone going hungry.

 
These three would sit on the couch each morning and play a game on the iPad
while waiting for breakfast.
 
They will celebrate their first anniversary next month.
 
 
 
All too soon the weekend was over and we were headed home.
As expected, our back seat passengers were conked out.
 
 
 Days after we returned home, many areas in southern CA experienced
heavy rain and hail which resulted in flash flooding and mud slides.
It would have been impossible for those coming from the south
to get to this area because of mud slides on all of the possible routes.
Crazy!!
We prayed for rain but forgot to pray for the soft gentle rains
that soak into the dry and barren ground.
 
 

 

Thursday, October 15, 2015

 
The Last Year
(of being a teen)
 
At the end of September the boys celebrated their 19th birthday.
It just recently dawned on me that in less than a year they will
no longer be teenagers.
That might take awhile to digest.
I still haven't really adjusted to the fact that they are legally adults.
 
I simply wanted to get a picture of them in their matching shirts.
I had to go through lots of goofiness
and still never got a great picture
but I did end up with pictures that really show their relationship.
 



 
I first spotted someone wearing this shirt
when we were in Santa Cruz for our anniversary trip.
I knew right away that I needed to find them for the boys.
They are always playing "Rock, Paper, Scissors" to
settle disputes or decide who gets to do a task.
Wesley usually is the loser in such games but he is always
willing to try again the next time.
 
It wasn't enough to light the candles and blow them out.
They had to then try to light the smoke so the candles would relight
and other such pyro induced tricks.
 
**********************
There's been some roofing going on around here.
"Some" meaning four exhausting weeks.
One benefit, besides a new roof, is a clear view of beautiful sunsets.

 
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We are frequent library visitors so we are well known
as the family that comes and checks out stacks of books.
After our Tuesday visit, I am sure we are even more cemented in the minds
of staff and patrons alike.
Tiana had gone to the bathroom and while doing her
business she was inspired to belt out Christmas tunes at the
top of her voice. 
This is not a big library.
The bathroom is centrally located and has very good acoustics.
I will leave the rest to your imagination.
 
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I went out the other morning to hang some clothes on the line
and found this hanging there.
 

Tiana had got it wet and I had told her to dry it
so this must have seemed like a logical way to do it.
 
I'm just thankful it was not a library book because
it is not in that great of condition any more.