The Faces of Sadie Lou

This girl keeps us laughing. Can you see why?

Too Hot to Think

Some days, when it's straight up too hot to think, this is what we do.

One of the bummers about living in Southern California is the ever-present underlying guilt regarding water use. I wish I could be rid of it at times when it is appropriate to just have fun. It helps to remember how exhilarating it was, as a kid, to run through sprinklers. And it helps to think about how we aren't golfers, nor do we wash our cars very often, or our dog, for that matter, and we have super low-flush toilets, and we often wear our clothes a couple times before throwing them in the hamper (those of us aged 12 and over). TMI? Perhaps. This is how I think, though, people. I'm sorry.

Anyway...here is evidence that I, we, can have fun - pure, frolicking-in-the-water-on-a-crazy-hot-day FUN. And when I see the delight on every child's face, I am unapologetic.

Tati is our chief rainmaker. And Maks, well, he can ride around blinking with the best of 'em.

And then there is Sadie. Look at her, all perched atop her slippery water slide.

She is as happy as she can be. Shrieking and squealing with delight. Climbing to the top, swishing down and landing on her bum, then running on her tip toes back to the ladder to scurry to the top again.

Look at the facial expressions. I see a future athlete.

And down she goes.

So welcome to our 105 degree afternoon play time. This is how we do it.

Summer Reading Reward: The Air & Space Museum

The kiddos participated this summer in the library's reading program and were rewarded for their 10 hours of reading with tickets to the San Diego Air & Space Museum. This place was way more fun than I remembered it from my youth. (Perhaps because I was there with boys. Or maybe because they have added all kinds of interactive stations; although I do remember some space exhibit where we got to taste freeze dried Neapolitan ice cream - the kind an astronaut might eat.)

The museum starts out with the early innovations of flight and moves into WWI. There are lots bi-wing planes and army paraphernalia. We also saw those crazy barnstormers and some WWII specimens.

The exhibits move through the eras to present day space travel. I was fascinated with the early commercial passenger planes. Can you imagine flying in this aircraft? I mean, check out those curtains!  The display of Pan-Am flight attendant uniforms was also entertaining.

The boys were fascinated with their 3-D glasses. A theater now shows three different short films in 3-D/4-D with simulators - seats that move and air that puffs out at the right times. I thought the boys would freak out - they didn't, but they also were all done after the first film.

We took photos in the little red plane before I realized a sign declared that it was only for ages two and under.

Oops.  The boys didn't seem to mind.

Does Benjamin look like he's flying? It would help if he had left on his helmet, I suppose.

The next display was in what looked like an old airplane hanger in some remote place. Another display was in a replica Japanese WWII aircraft carrier. Pretty cool.

By the time we left, we had two very happy boys!  And then we went on to our free kids' meals at Applebees...another perk from the reading program.

Papa Time

Sometimes, when The Papa has videotaped his latest mountain biking expedition with his GoPro and loaded it onto his computer, the little people in the house like to climb up on his lap to watch it. Sometimes Miss Bright Eyes likes to bring a book along, because sometimes the footage of rapidly passing brush and clattering bike wheels on stones is a bit repetitive. Sometimes it doesn't matter how repetitive it is; Benjamin is simply enthralled with the virtual biking experience.

Some day, these two littles will likely be joining The Papa on the path.

New (Hand-Me-Down) Boots Pair Well With a Tutu