Arborous Amusement #2

Tree Joke #2 from Katie:

Katie: "What did the Tree say to the Woodpecker?"

Me: "Ummmm, I give up."

Katie: "LEAF me alone!"

*She will be here all week, please tip your waitress*

Arborous Amusement

Katie told me a joke today:

Katie: "What kind of tree fits in your hand?"

Me: "I dunno..."

Katie: "A PALM tree!"

*followed by endless giggling*

Palomar Maountain

We went on what is likely to be our last camping trip in California this last weekend -- certainly the last one for a while. We had never been to Palomar Mountain before and we had been told that was beautiful. I would say that beautiful doesn't do it justice.

We arrived at the park about dusk, and the roads were very quiet. We started to descend into the camping area through a windy road that was lined with oaks that gave the effect of a natural tunnel of brown and green. About half-way in, we were greeted and stopped by 6 deer that appeared to be out for their evening walk. We stopped the car and got watched as they tried to decide if crossing in front of us was safe or not. It was a really great moment.

Shortly after we reach the site and met-up with our camping partners, the Loys. Always a blast to spend time with them and we quickly fell into the comfort of old friends. We cooked, we played, we hiked, we fished, and had an awesome time.

We were able to take a field-trip up to the Observatory as well. Palomar's 200" telescope is something to behold for anyone who appreciates the frontier elements of science. You walk into this gigantic white dome structure which is literally in the middle of nowhere. Inside is the very 50's-ish feel of gigantic metal parts of old mainframe-looking computers -- it's almost like a time capsule of mid-century science.

Highly recommend the trip for anyone thinking about San Diego area camping.

The Grouchy Ladybug

Katie's Kindergarten class recently put on a play called "The Grouchy Ladybug". They had been practicing for months, there were dress rehearsals, and a surprising amount of production value. Katie was selected to be the narrator of the play.

We didn't practice too much with her, she seemed very competent and confident with a couple of read-throughs. I was however, a bit nervous to see how she would perform with a microphone in front of a crowd.

Of course she was totally awesome, beautiful, and made us all very proud. The way she would regularly primp her dress and sit so gracefully on stage was particularly endearing. The best was how she would use her hands to animate her lines while she was narrating. Ill have to upload a small vid for you guys to check out.

39!

I can't believe this is my last year of the 30s. It pains me how fast the time goes. And worse yet, it seems to be accelerating. This year I aged a great deal mentally and emotionally -- more than any year I can remember.

On the bright side, Jen and my mom really made my birthday a lot of fun. There were lots of great presents, and a special scavenger hunt! My mom really deserves some credit for all the detailed work she put into it, and it was a blast. And Jen got me ice cream cake! That is going to have to become a tradition -- yummy.

Mother's Day

We had a double Mother's Day here with Nana and Mommy. In addition to a nice breakfast cooked by daddy and some homemade gifts from the kids, Katie had a couple of ideas that really carried the day. She made mommy a book on animals, which she put a LOT of work into. She made a cover for it, authored and illustrated over a dozen pages -- her opus so far. For Nana, Katie had the idea of creating a birdhouse. Where she came up with this idea, I have no clue. But we set to work one afternoon and using some scrap wood and paints, made a pretty nice little birdie home.

Later that afternoon, mommy was treated to a massage. During this time, daddy took Nana and the kids to see Planet Earth the movie.

Catching-Up

My apologies to anyone who is still checking my blog, it's been a very hectic month. Let's try and catch-up.

It looks like we have been taking a good amount of pictures so I will try and post some eventful recaps over the past few weeks.

Lets start with Fiesta Island. Katie and I had a great daddy-daughter camping date at our local city-park called Fiesta Island. Its one of the world's largest man made water-parks, composed of large bays and camping areas. We went as a part of the Adventure Guides program. It was a lot of fun spending time 1:1 with Katie. And since the destination was less than a few miles from the house, it was easy peasey.

The Adventure Guide trips often turn out to be competitions between the dads to see who can outdo the other with the best food preparations. Each of the fathers was given a meal to provide for. I drew breakfast. Knowing that I am not the world's greatest cook, I decided to use a secret weapon, Krispe Kreme doughnuts! A winner every-time. The other dads prepared everything from King Crab Legs, Tri-tip, and Apple Cobbler.

We also got a chance to do some canoe-ing. I dont think I have been in a canoe since I was like 7. It was lots of fun rowing around the bay and I think Katie enjoyed it even more than me.

Coming up next: Birthday, Mother's Day, The Grouchy Ladybug, and Mount Palomar...