Family Beach & Camp Days

We spent a week in Carpenteria and another weekend in Balch Park (Sequoias). Both trips were fun. Spending time with family and friends is always a time of learning, patience, and fun. ...not in any particular order of course....but then that is the way it is anytime you spend long hours with people.

Walks to the beach, building sand castles, walks to the local eateries, a scaveger hunt, interesting servers and food = Beach trip.

Hikes on very dirty trails, fallen logs the size of your house, redwoods that were growing since the time of Christ, all those stars!, roasting marshmellows, setting up a new tent, hunting for frogs, getting filthy = Camping

Oh the Things you can do...

Summer is quickly coming to an end but there are still a few last hurrahs. We have been blessed to go swimming, hang out at the beach, pick peaches, and just hang out…most of the time doing it with friends both old and new. The kids had the opportunity to attend a first aid class taught by some of the ISP moms. It was a treat to end the class with a visit from the Fire dept. who answered questions and gave us an opportunity to see all the gear they wear to help fight fires and still stay safe.
Swim lessons have been going well. Harrison is enjoying them and improving his strokes. There is even a young friend in the class with him, so he has a buddy.

The peaches were delicious! We had lots of cobbler. Lots. They were super juicy and oh so sweet.

Movie seen

Tom & I had the chance to see the latest Harry Potter movie: The Order of the Phoenix. It is the first time in a long time I didn't sit thru the movies thinking oooh they missed this part, they should have stuck in that part, this was so important to the plot-why did they leave it out. While few movies stick completely to what the author has put to paper - I do expect the overall premise and main plots to be there. For the first time the location of the castle and Hagrid's hovel have been in the same location they were in the previous film. It was always a game of 'find the new location of Hagrids' with each film. While some things were changed to keep from introducing yet another non-essential character, the main thread woven was much the same as the book. The only part that would have been nice, although not necessary to the story, was more involvement with the twins and Umbridge.
While the H.P books are far from being considered GREAT literature on my list...I have found them wonderful for entertainment value, although I am beginning to wonder if Rowling is being paid, like Charles Dickens, by the word. Sadly, what is considered great lit by today's standards fails to come close to those from the past. I have read few current authors who have the ability to bring the reader into their world and teach invaluable life lessons in the process. I have yet to learn anything from the HP books that even gives me pause to think. Everyone is rebellious, breaking rules is fun, revenge isn't good - but it isn't bad in small doses either, and if authority doesn't give you a reason it is ok to do your own thing. While it is an amusing story for an adult to read, since we should have the ability to discern; the story line has been discussed whenever Harrison reads them about the folly of each character.

Summer Fun

Life is flying by for us. Summer has quickly filled with fun things that keep us movin and a shakin. Harrison was in a basketball camp for 2 weeks up at M's College. It was an intense 6 hours of daily practice Monday-Thursday. The coaches had them doing drills that I was amazed the kids were able to do. Granted I sat and watched on Thursday so Monday probably looked nothing like it. His skills improved by leaps & bounds...and he had fun in the process. The neat thing was that the coaches led the group of 60+ kids in devotions every morning and stressed how unimportant basketball was compared to living a life devoted Christ. It was wonderful to watch how kids who showed kindness towards others and perseverance were given notice (They were given an otter pop at the end of the day). Harrison was even recognized one day after the coach noticed that even after getting hit in the face with the ball, he continued to try hard. This was exciting news since we have been working on this. Now Harrison is up at the Jr's Summer camp till Tuesday. Chandler has been my little shadow throughout the last two weeks. She got very excited when Harrison would come home every evening. She did comment how much the car smelled like sweat after picking up Harrison and his friends. She is such a girly-girl. Chandler is having friends over today to swim. She is very excited and has great plans for all that they will do.

School Is DONE! Summer BEGINS!

We had our last day of school and the ISP commencement night on Thursday. It was an evening filled with year book signings, farewells, grades, food, and fun. The kids are now working on what they want to do this summer. So far it is filled with having over friends, days at the beach or park, a camping trip, hikes, ballet and swimming. That is just what they came up within 20 minutes....and it has been added to since. If all of it occurs I will be surprised. But hey, never a dull moment right?.....I think I may want a few of them though. The kids are signed up for Vacation Bible School at a local church, Harrison will be attending summer camp again this year. He will possibly go to basketball camp too pending the cost.

We kicked off the summer with Family Fun Night. Relay races and of course the expected injuries were a part of the evening fun. Dodge ball was a highlight. And of course our TEAM won!

Camping and Keeping busy

Memorial day weekend was spent apart...
Tom & the kids went 'camping' in the Sacramento area with a group of friends. I had a wedding to help with, so stayed here.
The gang had a blast. Good food and fun. Visited an old cemetary, swam in a stream, cooked over a BBQ, made cookies, hung out in a spa, and visited a historic mining town. You'll have to ask why there was a spa, among other things on a 'camping' trip. Harrison caught a fish. Chandler played with friends, Tom found a flake of gold.
I salvaged the wedding flowers that had become rotten before the ceremony began, spring cleaned the living room, dining room and kitchen (I know, you're all just clamoring to do that too.), finished a couple of gifts for people (no, sadly, they probably aren't for you), and got a lot of reading done. Since I was home alone I freaked myself out after watching a murder mystery Saturday night[Agatha Christie is a favorite] and stayed awake till 5 am. Fell asleep and didn't wake up till 11:30 am. Needless to say I missed church.
I know, I'm pathetic.
School is SOOOO close to being done. Two more big party flings and then summer begins. The kids are basicly done with all their books. Math will be the only subject that remains thru the summer. Something I was planning on anyway so that we don't loose our knowledge of math facts.

Races, Weddings & Year End stuff

Well life continues on. Sometimes just flying by without us...other times we are indeed on the band wagon. Harrison participated in the car races for AWANA. He and Tom made the car look like a green shark. It is quite impressive. The car did very well, placing 14th. They have plans for next years games already in the works.

The end of the school year is upon us. I am so ready to be done. I have more of a 'spring itch' than the kids do. I don't know why...I just do. The writing class is going smoothly. At least I think it is. None of the moms really give me feed back. I'll just have to wait and see. As one of the aids for the class says, "I'm so intimidating to talk to. Especially when I wear the bow in my hair." Next week I have to give a little 'talk' to the moms about what we will be teaching next year. I hope to give them some guidelines for next year too. That way if there is a concern, etc. they may actually come talk with me. I think I have also come up with next year's theme: The King's Court. Keep it centered around a medieval theme.
This last weekend I coordinated a wedding in Riverside. It was quite fun and turned out beautifully. It was an exhausting but very rewarding weekend. I was quite proud of the programs I designed. The only 'hiccup' was when 20 of them got wet, bled, and had to be reprinted the morning of. Kinko's didn't charge us for them since the paper I provided didn't get cut properly and had to be reprinted again. God protected the 3 days of work putting them all together. We were all so thankful that only 20 were ruined, not the whole 140 of them.

A Mini Vacation

We had a wonderful time in SanDiego. The weather was perfect and the places we visted were memorable.

We spent Tuesday at Sea World. The kids had never been. They enjoyed all the animals we got to see. The park has added two water rides. We survived the trip to Atlantis....although Chandler wasn't keen on the water drops. The second is a rapids ride. Harrison got 90% soaked - and loved it! The gals were quite happy to remain on dry land. The dolphin and Shamu shows haven't changed much. Some new tricks, but the same old sappy 'hug a whale - become one with them' stuff they have always had. We enjoyed the shows none the less. Harrison was thrilled to pet the 'rays' that were in a huge tank. That was his favorite. Another enjoyable part was the walrus that liked to play 'peek-a-boo' with the camera. A real ham!

Wednesday we spent at Balboa park's Air & Space Museum and The Science Center. All the docents for the Air museum were WWII vets. They had fun talking with the kids. The planes that were on display to show the history of aviation were really neat. There were many hands on areas too. The docents let Harrison try the flight simulator for free. He had a blast! Chandler enjoyed the 'pretty planes'.

The Science Center had many cool hands on exhibits. There was also an area devoted to 'Grossology', where you could find out why your nose runs, what skin blemishes look like when magnified to the size of a dinner plate, how you throw up, why you burp, among other topics not suitable for discussion at the dinner table.

Thursday's focus was Legoland. A fun place devoted to those little plastic building blocks. It was amazing to see what they have built out of all those little things. The rides were creative and fun for the kids ...and parents too. We ended the weekend with a visit to Grandma Marilee's house for dinner. Delicious food and a joy to see her again.

It is somewhat official - And an answer to prayer

Tom has been hired by Countrywide. He will be working in Westlake Village as a Sr. QC underwriter. We have come full circle. We only pray that this time the work environment is less stressful. We'll just wait and see. Since he doesn't start the position until April 30th we are taking a short vacation down to San Diego. We'll visit Sea World (the kids have never been), Legoland (Tom has never been), and possibly The San Diego Zoo (none of us have been).We are excited to get away for a short while.

What's New Here

We have survived the SAT testing! yipee. The kids seem to have done well and enjoyed coloring bubbles.
Tom is in the process of seeking further employment. The company he was working for ran out of money and closed its doors. Don't worry...we are doing just fine. The two weeks prior we were in the process of sending out his resume, etc. since we could see the proverbial axe about to drop. The foolish, emotionaly driven decisions being made and the dream world the CEO was living in was not going to keep the company afloat for long. There have been several interviews and now just have to wait on God's timing and the job He has instore for the next chapter in the Brown saga. We are looking at it as a 'forced' vacation time, which we are taking advantage of.
On to other news, we bought more chickens...yep, 4 months from now the fridge will be overflowing with eggs once more. I'll let you know when we will start to beg people to take them...that or sneak them into your bags when you come over. We have yet to name most of them. Our goal of naming them after literary characters has hit a wall for the moment. There are not many female characters that we all have a fancy for. Chandler did name the blonde one 'Lucy' from the Narnia books, another may be dubbed Mrs. Bennet if she turns out to be as nervous and flighty as the character from the book. The other 3, well please feel free to offer suggestions.

Since Tom has been home we have gotten several things done around the house that needed to be taken care of (a layoff blessing). He and Harrison worked at splitting logs. Several of Harrison's friends were over and they all had a go at it. Amusing to watch young boys try to use a sledge hammer that is almost as heavy as they are.
We have been helping the ISP take pictures for the yearbook. (Another fun reason to get a good camera) We had to collect pictures of the moms with their kids. The one of me and the kids didn't turn out, so we retook the shot at home. 50 shots later we had one where both kids were smiling and looking (for the most part) at the camera lense.

The kids have savored having Dad home for a time. They all went fishing , enjoy running around doing errands, going to fly kites, work on model airplanes, dig up more of the monsterous stump in the back yard, and other such fun 'Dad things'.