Oh, I'm in so much trouble!

I have gone missing from my blog! We went to Disneyland a lot this week. I know, it seems crazy. We have the Southern California passes and they are blocked out during the summer. This past week was the last week we could go. Nikki is finally out of school so we just went a over and over again. Thursday we closed the place down! We saw the fireworks from inside the park instead of our front porch and we saw Fantasmic!

Nikki's mom came and picked her up today, so we aren't sure when she will be back. She suggested that she spend on week at her mom's and one week at our house for the summer. We will see how that goes.

Flag Day!

Yay, it's Flag Day! I know! I get excited about holidays...any holiday. But I especially love patriotic ones! Hence the school name..."Liberty Academy"

Anyway, it is Flag Day and here in Anaheim, California I counted how many flags I saw flown proudly in my Mexican neighborhood. 18 and that includes businesses. I think I passed about 200 places of business and homes on the way home from the grocery store. But I'm not bitter.

Here is what we did today. We learned about our flag, where it came from, why it is what it is, the Pledge of Allegiance, how to fold the flag, and why we have Flag Day.

These are the books we used:

"I Pledge Allegiance" by Bill Martin Jr and Michael Sampson

"The Flag Maker" by Susan Campbell Bartoletti

"Old Glory - An American Treasure" by Robert Lang

And the website www.usflag.org If you want a tear to your eye, read the Flag Folding Ceremony given by the US Air Force Academy!

God Bless America!

Lake Cuyamaca

We're back! This is view from the backyard. Wow! We stayed at my Mom's friend’s house on Lake Cuyamaca. It is a beautiful place. I can't imagine what it will be like when the rain comes back! :)) If you want to know what a lack of rain we have had lately, drive through the National Forests in Southern California. It is the beginning of June and the whole area looks as dry as September!

Anyway, we had a blast the past couple of days. There are lots of places to camp, so we will definitely be making a trip down there with our tent trailer!

On the way down there, I thought I was lost. My Mom told me to take Highway 79 and I had glanced at a map and thought the 15 freeway caught it in San Diego. It was poor planning on my part. I should have figured it out beforehand. But I whipped out the map and the boys and I found a good route to take. We got back on the road and drove a while longer, but I was worried I wasn't reading the map right. I sent up a quick prayer that we wouldn't be in the car for three more hours and then low and behold, a ranger station! I stopped and asked to be sure. The ranger told me that I was going the fast way! Yay! Praise God! I was only about 25 miles away from my destination.

When we got there, my Mom was waiting for us. We went down to the lake and got dinner at the restaurant there. It was Austrian! The boys had weiner schnitzel and loved it. Then we went down to a hiking area and took a look around. We saw wild turkeys, deer, and some squirrels. It was very beautiful. The boys asked me if they might find stinkbugs and I said I didn't know if they lived there, but the next second we walked up on one and then another and another! My Mom said they were following Tom because they though he was their leader.

The house we stayed at had a Jacuzzi tub, so the boys just HAD to check that out! Then we hit the hay.

The next morning we drove up the highway to Julian and checked that place out. It is so cute! It was Friday, so it was so quiet and relaxed. You have to see this place! We took a look around their little museum, got some candy apples to make Jake happy, checked out the Chamber of Commerce (great people there by the way) and then I convinced my Mom to go up to the Eagle Mine with us. We are fascinated by gold mining right now, not the kids, me and Dad, but the kids are willing to go along with us.

The mine was the best part of the trip to me! The family that owns it runs a tour and the woman that gave us the tour was awesome. It isn't like Calico with a paid tour guide and their spiel. This woman loves mining and is working this one! She gave us so much information that I couldn't think of any questions. The boys were captivated by her energy and a little scared at the same time. I highly recommend this tour!

We went back into town and had lunch at the soda fountain and then looked around town. It is mostly little shops though and that doesn't go over big with a couple of little boys.

When we got back to the house, my Mom and I were beat but the boys wanted to fly kites. They went to do that by themselves! They drove us crazy about fishing too, so we went down to the lake to check into it.

The next morning we got up, got dressed and went down to the lake to fish. Finally! The boys have been hounding me to go fishing and now they finally got to do it. My Mom predicted it would last about 15 minutes. But they were at it for about an hour and half. They didn't catch anything, mostly because they wouldn't leave the hook in the water. They enjoy casting and were pretty good at it by the time we gave up. I was glad we didn't catch anything because I hate fish and we were not allowed to throw any back. My Mom would insist on gutting that thing and cooking it. Yucky! We went back to the house to get packed up and on the road, but the boys broke down crying because they didn't want to leave yet. So they played in the yard for a bit and then we said some tearful goodbyes.

It was a great trip! I was nervous being in a strangers' house with my reckless boys but it worked out ok with minimal damage. And we found a great new place to camp.

The Brothers Karamozov

I belong to a book club online. It is a yahoo group. I don't always read what they are reading, but it gives me great ideas of things to read and then when I do read their pick, I can get insight and discussion about that book. It is nice. Not as nice as an in-person group would be, but it will do.

We started reading "The Brothers Karamozov" by Fyodor Dostoevsky. Actually, it is the pick for July, but I started reading early because it is long and hard and so was the June pick. So I figured I would jump ahead and then ask questions next month.

It is translated from Russian by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky and I really like it. The last Russian book I read, I hated, mostly because of the translation. Anyway, it was written in 1880. The chapter I read last night had the brothers, their father, and a couple of priests arguing about the separation of Church and State. Amazing conversation! I wish I new a little bit more about Russia at that time, but maybe I can check that out sometime this month too.

I'm Trying!

Ok, I am totally going to try to add "bloggin" to my "things to do daily" list....but that list is getting long!

Today was our last Cultural Cooking class at Bower's Kidseum in Santa Ana. The coolest thing about this class is that the teacher puts out a list of what area we will be studying each week. I have worked out getting to the library and getting a boat load of books related to that area and building a little theme each week. This week was China! Cool stuff! Did you know they invented a kind of earthquake measuring device? We have had so much fun with this.

We made sushi today but with rice, sugar, and coconut milk (I know, but seriously it was good) and then you cut up fruit and put it inside the rice like a California roll. It was delicious! Ok, it wasn't Chinese! But the Chinese invented wrapping fish in rice and then Japan stole it. :))