Life Captured

in pictures : june 2013 : two brothers on a rock

in pictures : june 2013 : toddler on a bus

Highlight of his trip for certain :)

in pictures : june 2013 : four shadows

in pictures : june 2013 : rainbow bridge

A neat little park just around the corner from where we at dinner in Long Beach. The bridges were shaped like rainbows and really, really steep.

in pictures : june 2013 : hands in his pockets

in pictures : june 2013 : reflection

in pictures & words : june 2013 : the queen mary

After stopping to spend a night at home we headed north for a night on the Queen Mary. Parker spent the night here with his grandparents for his birthday last year and has been wanting to go back ever since. I haven't been here since I was a child.

Overall it was a fun experieince, but I could have done without all the prep going on for the Ink & Iron festival. The posters of the tattoo loving crowd were rather ummm...I'm sure you can figure that at on your own.

On the day of our arrival we took the ghost tour - Parker's choice, he did it last year and thought we'd like it too. Like many places around the world the Queen Mary claims to be the most haunted place. I wasn't convinced, but the bits and pieces of history I picked up along the way were interesting.

We also spent some time exploring the ship. The engine room and the huge bolts are always impressive. I also enjoyed reading the little blurbs from those who were on the ship when it sailed. Oh, and looking over the side at the massive propellers gave me the creeps. I am not a fan of heights or water so the combo wasn't fun.

After our time exploring the ship we hopped aboard the Passport to head to dinner. This was Grant's highlight of the trip. A vehicle loving toddler that was super thrilled to actually get on and ride a real bus!

This happened to be Ken's birthday so he chose Famous Dave's BBQ for dinner. Same as last year. And just as delicious.

I then had the brilliant idea to Yelp for an ice cream parlor. There was of course one around the corner, but the reviews were less than stellar. But there was an ice cream parlor 1.5 miles away that had excellent reviews. After our huge dinner the walk seemed like a good idea before dessert. Well, this was probably the first time Yelp has ever let me down. Not the best neighborhood to begin with. It ended up being a tiny hole in the wall with drug store ice cream. The reviews and description were so incredibly misleading. We grabbed a couple quick (and luckily cheap) scoops and turned right around. The next day we redeemed this with a trip to Baskin Robbins and huge waffle cones.

After that we climbed back on the bus and called it a night. Tucked in for some sleep to be reminded by our neighbors in the next room that a) the walls on an old ship are really thin. And b) tattoo artists don't tend to care about said thin walls and don't have the best language either. Luckily we were all tired enough to fall quickly asleep.

in pictures & words : june 2013 : safari park

On our way home from camping in Julian we stopped at the San Diego Zoo's Safari Park. After all the years we went with Parker it is hard to adopt the new name change so we still refer to it as the Wild Animal Park.

This was Grant's first trip to a zoo. And like his brother before him he seemed to love it. The highlight of his day was seeing the elephant use the bathroom on the ground ;)

The bat exhibit was quite impressive. Their wings look like fabric stretched over their bones. They were a little creepy, but not much.

The meerkats, my personal fave, were out and about as usual.

Parker naturally loved the aviary and kept snagging feathers of the ground. He already has quite the feather collection going and added quite a few this week alone.

We cooled of with icees at the fill your own icee cup bar.

The gorillas were hiding since it was so hot. And the lions were sleeping. The zoo is so much more fun in the cool, rainy weather. The animlas are so much more playful then. Good thing we got passes so we can visit again on a day just like this.

in pictures & words : june 2013 : our 'cavin' house

Ken was due to max out his vacation time so we planned a quick little vacation near home. The first part we spent camping at William Hiese Park near Julian. We first went here in April 2012 and had a great time. A return trip was in order.

When we were packing up to leave Grant kept saying 'camping kevin' which led us to believe he thought we were heading out to go camping with Ken's brother Kevin. Turn out he was actually talking about our 'camping kevin' actually translated to camping cabin and when I listened closer it defintely had more of a 'cavin' to it.

Here is a random list of camping memories:

• We cooked all of our dinners over the fire. Pizza in the pie iron, foil stew, and hot dogs
• There were s'mores every night. The second night we had them early enough for Grant to enjoy one. He loved it of course.
• We forgot a lot of things. Mainly things needed for cooking. Last time we did much better because I followed a list. This time I just grabbed waht I thought I needed. Oops. Next time it's back to the list.
• Grant took a really cold bath in our small wash tub. Not because we made him. Ken only planned to wash his filthy feet before going to bed. It was Grant who insisted on taking of his diaper and siting in the cold water. The next night we added some hot water to the cold to make a nice warm bath for him. He liked it much better.

• Grant was a filthy mess. He spent much of his time around the campsite taking on and off his blue boots. Filling them with dirt and water. Washing them off. Putting them back on. Taking them off and walking his now soaked feet in the dirt to make mud. He loved it.
• Grant also wore sock gloves pretty much the entire time. A habit he picked up awhile ago and still has now.
• Our cabin was in the best spot. Lots of exploration right behind it. Though there was plenty of poison oak around. Parker has plenyt of experience and stayed away no problem. Grant not so much. He came home with a bit of a rash that has continued to pop up and kind of drive him crazy.
• Parker spent tons of time exploring. Some time sketching. And some time grouching.
• I found two feathers, which I am pretty sure both came from a woodpecker. Parker found one.

• Day one found us in Julian, a local small town that is known for their gold mining history & apple pies. We aren't apple pie folk but we are apple cider donut folk. So a stop was made.
• Day one also found us spending a morning geocaching. We were 12 for 12. We never have that good of luck. I guess when you are caching away from the 'burbs and out in the country things don't get muggled near as often and there aren't gardeners moving things around (or throwing them away).
• Day 2 found us hiking up the desert loop path. Great hike. There was the perfect breeze that made it not too hot. Great views at the top of the mountain. We packed a lunch and ate at the top before heading down.
• Day 3 we packed up and hit the San Diego Zoo's Safari Park (more on that later).
• We got some delicious blackberry apple cider in Julian which Grant loved and gave him a classic juice face.
• There was a great hollow log that they loved to explore and climb all over.
• One afternoon Parker and Ken took a try at horse shoes. Naturally Ken one, but he wasn't very good. I was the commentator and tried to make it funny. Grant sat back and observed a tow truck that arrived.

• Parker was in charge of getting the fire going each night. He tried really hard to copy the technique he learned in Coast Live Oak, but with flint & steel instead of a bow drill. It wasn't as easy as Mark had made it look and he ended up having to start it with dryer lint rather than just dried mugwart. To top that frustration off the second two nights of fires were just plain hard to start and keep going.
• I explained the game chubby bunny that I remembered from my time at sleep away camp. Both Ken & Parker tried, and hated, the game. But at least the photos are comical.
• Their were insects in the trees that kept up a constant chirp. It was kind of creepy at times because there were so many of them. On our hike we heard them and Parker and I looked and looked until we found the culprit. Now we need to identify it.

• This time we got to see the wild turkeys (no luck last year).
• Next time I'm bringing bird seed along to see if we can get the birds to come a little closer for some good photos.
• Ken finally figured out that all this time of hating my camera because I switched to back button focusing that he was never focusing with the right button. All the photos he took came out blurry. Now he knows why and how to focus. But he still only picked up the camera once.
• Grant kept banging stick on rocks or the picnic table or where ever and calling out 'concert!'
• We will have to plan to go back this fall :)

in parker's words : feeding a lorikeet

I was feeding a lorikeet nectar at the aquarium. I think it's a little odd that they'd have birds at the aquarium but they did. In this picture I'm feeding the bird nectar and trying to keep the bird balanced on my arm while Grant was climbing on me. I think they are extremely pretty birds. If you saw a single feather lying on the ground you'd think it was fake because it was so bright. The feeling of the bird standing on my arm was a little pointy, and it was heavy. It was very loud because they were all chirping. It was a fun, interesting experience. (written 6/10/13, photo 6/7/13)

***I had him select a photo/experience from last week and freewrite about it. The idea isn't perfection, just getting words on paper. A super simple way to get in a little writing practice. While I did transcribe for him (he has a week long biology class where he gets to get out in the field and learn and I wanted to avoid tears, but I knew he'd tell me about the photo easily). He was right there instructing me where he wanted commas and such. And then took the pen from me after and made several changes. I kept everything written as he wanted - punctuation, grammar, etc. I hope to do this more often - weekly would be ideal ;)