i can't believe there's no august left this year. what a crazy month it's been. anyway, jg and i kicked off this past weekend with a moon lit walk on friday night. we were hoping to catch the grunions but all we saw was the end to a bonfire party in the distance.
stars and oil platforms
artificial sunset over sb
bright and early saturday jg resumed the house wrecking remodeling. this time, the master bath.
isn't it hideous? i am so glad to be rid of those tiles! and lights!
saturday evening jg and i were late to chee's brother's wedding at wiggy ranch in carpinteria. at the reception they had a photo booth and and an ice cream truck from los angeles. i didn't get any cake, but i did get some bacon ice cream! best wedding ever!
the cake and que the florist
i hadn't seen que since 2006 so it was a terrific surprise to see her. i also got to meet a couple of her friends. lovely people. hi hadar! hi lana!
best part of the wedding? jg wore a suit that's not brown.
remember these three? i visited them saturday afternoon and they were all sitting on a couch playing video games. i immediately declared war that it was time to go for a hike!
jg and i took them to alum rock park. the attendant at the entrance booth noticed that we had a car full of kids and pointed at the playground on the map and there was instant cheer from the back seat. i cut the attendant off by saying, "no thanks, we're hiking today."
in attempt not to be a totally evil aunt, i decided to let them hang at the playground. but only for ten minutes!
the hiking began at the end of the paved road. the two older kids have hiked before. the youngest one (in blue shorts) has not.
posing with the crazy aunt on one bridge
discussing the no-running rule on another
what no-running rule?
rare moment of lady-like hiking
three acorns = three wishes
the real hiking began at the south rim trail head
note the pose-striking in the distance
we hiked for another fifteen minutes before we had to turn aroundl. jg was in charge of the two older girls who insisted on chasing each other instead of hiking. i stayed with the youngest to provide the occasional hand holding.
that's about the only picture i have of them together on the way down. i don't know how many times i had to shout, "no running!" to the older girls. jg decided to threaten with: if you fall off the trail, we'd just leave you there. it didn't work.
schmee acting as guard rail for the newbie hiker
thankfully, no one fell. and no one stayed mad at me for making her put away the video games. on the drive home, i was very pleased when i was asked, "next time, could we hike up to eagle rock?"
7/2 two hour cruise on a 58 ft yatch with jg's office
regretfully, the sail was just for looks. we were cruising by motor the entire time. slowly, too. i felt so queasy i couldn't eat a thing. i kept hoping someone would shout "tack!" i think i prefer racing.
teenage skipper and schmee on the santa barbara channel
dylan the clown
i took this next shot of dylan when i first met him back in january. we were playing cranium and i believe he was impersonating marilyn monroe.
who would ever guess he could be so metro?
immediately after the cruise, jg and i went to meet mae for dinner. she and her family were on their way to san diego. they stopped by sb for the night.
desserts after dinner at longboard's grill
mae was my college classmate. we've known each other for about 15 years but this is the first time i met her husband and children. the girls are terrific little people.
the compass on stearns wharf
feeding time for moby
7/4 bbq dinner at scott's
i had been nagging scott to host a bbq ever since i met him. he finally did it for the fourth of july.
the animals at casa scott
i desaturated the image by accident and decided to go with the effect. i like how the colors stay true for both sandbag the cat and emma the ultra marathon mascot.
7/9 a piece of sushi that's very happy to see jg
7/11 attending my colleague sandy's birthday party in solvang
regretfully, i forgot to bring the canon xti with me to the party. that's the only decent shot i got with my lousy phone camera. also regretfully, scott invited us to another bbq dinner but it was on the same day as sandy's party.
7/17 tile shopping as a hobby
7/17 jg learning to work the msr hyperflow...
...so he could put it to use on a back country biking and running trip with scott and gilcrest. that excursion is a post unto itself. i have a back log of activities which i want to blog about. i hope to catch up in august.
last but not least:
7/19 a belated birthday present from st george, utah
