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. :))

Karate Kids

We just got back from the last karate class for this session. The boys love this class. They can't wait for it to start up again. We take it through the city of Anaheim Parks & Recreation and it is the best. Joe Baker does an excellent job with the kids and they all love and respect him.

Tom and Jake both did really well. They pay close attention in class and rarely horse around. Tom, as usual, is more serious than Jake. Jake is very mature though, in class. It makes me so proud of them. They prove their listening and following directions skills that I didn't even know they had!

So, they were promoted to the next beginner class for older kids and they start that in two weeks. They can't wait!

Old Dale Mine For 4 Days!

Another happy report about a great trip to the desert! We left on Thursday morning (barely, it was 11:30) and got to the desert to set up camp. Here is a picture of the place.

After we got there, we set up camp and relaxed a bit. It was hot! Not half as hot as it will get later in the summer but pretty hot. While we were sitting there a truck went by. About an hour later, we noticed two men walking toward our camp. At first I thought it was just weird that two people would be walking around in the desert (like we do) but then they told us they had gotten stuck in the sand farther up the road, just like we did the first time we were out! They had called the tow truck and told them where are camp was since they had seen us when they had passed earlier. They had been up there in the hills a long time ago but either the roads aren't as good as they used to be or they went the wrong way. We hiked up there later and found that they had gone the wrong way. Anyway, they were real nice and we sat and talked a while then the tow truck came. It was the same guy that had pulled us out. Crazy! He said he was the only tow company that has a guy to pull people out of the sand.

When they were rescued, we went for a quick "walk-a-bout" until we realized the sun had gone down and we didn't have flashlights so we high tailed it back to camp. We made some dinner and messed around watching the stars. We played a game of Sequence and hit the hay!

Friday, we started out real early because we knew it would be too hot to walk around later in the afternoon. We went for a walk and found lots of places that some people had camped at, a big dirt hill probably from when a grading truck worked on that road, a wash, and another rock hill. Then we came back and snacked. Then we got in the truck and went for a drive. We drove down a road that Dad wondered about and it was REALLY rough. I think Dan was trying to kill me with anxiety that day! We went to Twenty-Nine Palms and checked out an Military Surplus store. I got a cool bag and a magnet for the truck. Then we got McDonald's for lunch (I know that's cheating!) and got gas for the truck. We drove out Amboy Road into Wonder Valley and decided that they called it that because they wondered how the heck they got there! We tried to drive down a road to our camp but it was washed out to bad for our truck and turned around. Then we went down a side road and almost got stuck in the sand AGAIN! Dan got us out though after a few prayers and a panicked "PUT YOUR SEAT BELTS ON BOYS!" from Mom. Then we breathed a bit. And went down Iron Age Road that we know goes back to the highway. It was decent but I was still worried about it until we were on paved road. We saw a coyote and that made it all worth it! When we finally got back to camp we found our shade blown over and all our chairs. I guess the wind picked up while we were gone. We rested a bit from the drive and then made some dinner and went to bed. It was so nice out that we left all the screens open and it was like sleeping outside. The wind blew gently all night and it was so dark!

Saturday morning we got another early start and took the truck up to the mines. We walked really far and climbed up into the rocks and found 5 mines. They boys loved that part but they were pretty big complainers on the way up. We talked all about how to look for snakes and critters. We talked about the mines and what they did to dig them and what they were looking for, how to find a trail, how to find shade, drinking lots of water on the way. We also talked about what might be in the mines now. It was great. On the way back we finally found a little rattle snake. We took some pictures of him. I kept telling the boys that I was walking ahead on the trail looking for them every step and they should follow me exactly because the snakes that were ahead had moved away from where I was walking.  This little snake did exactly what I told them he would. He froze and then slithered away under a bush to hide from us. We talked about his camouflage and who would eat him and what he ate. Then we moved on.

We had a late breakfast when we got back and took a break, then we got back in the truck and headed to Amboy! We wanted to see where that road led. We could see it on the map, but what exactly is on the other side of that mountain? So we went. Besides, it was cool in the truck! As we went over the mountain it got hotter and hotter. We saw nothing for miles. On our side of the mountain there are lots of people living there scattered all over but there was nothing on this side, not even an abandoned homestead. All we found a huge dry lake and a chloride plant, whatever that is. We took pictures though! Then we found Amboy Crater! A volcano! Can you believe it? We climbed around a little, but it was 100 degrees by then and our water had been in the bed of the truck so it was nice and hot to drink. We plan on going back in the winter and climb to the top of it. We came back home and went through Twenty-Nine Palms and got an ice cream.

We got back to our camp and our shade was blown over again! We sat there hiding in our shade until the sun went down more. There were a few clouds so it was a little nicer earlier than sunset. Dan and I shot the pistol a few times and the boys watched in amazement. Then Dan sat and cleaned the gun while Tom watched attentively. He is just completely fascinated by any kind of weapon. It is just a little scary. After all that, I went for a walk as the sun set and took some great pictures. Jake "built" the fire. That is a tradition. The boys each take a turn putting together some sort of tower with the wood for the fire in the fire pit and then we set fire to it. Then we shot off some rockets. The first one went really far and they had to chase it. The wind was really blowing! The second one we lost. It was just too dark to see where it went. We lit the fire and it was the hottest, fastest burning camp fire ever. The wind was blowing so steady and hard that it just went up SO quick! We did have time to roast some hot dogs though. We ate in the trailer because of the wind and then went to bed. We were bushed!

Saturday morning we walked out to our monument! We built a stone pile the last time we were out there and this time we brought a note to put into it. Maybe someone will find it someday! The next time we go out we will put something else in it. Jake made me carry this huge rock back! Then we had a lunch and broke camp. It was hot and yucky. I was getting tired of blazing sun. While putting the trailer away there is little to no shade.

On the way back through town we stopped for a shake to cool off. We usually stop at a rest stop in Whitewater (off the 10 freeway) but it was closed so we stopped at the Dinosaurs at Cabazon instead and it was a gift straight from God! They have a whole Creation theme now about how the dinosaurs fit into the Bible stories. And you can go up to the top of the T-Rex now! It was awesome! We bought a couple new books and some post cards.

We are home now and very tired! I can't wait to hit the hay in my own bed with no bugs and clean!