Recent happenings

Here are more home projects!  I was moving some plants around and then Graham suggested that I put some pavers instead.  So I guess what the kids wants, Mommy will consider??!

The driveway is a bit steep so the pavers is a nice option to have since the boys sometimes come out of the car that way.  We grabbed the pavers from the backyard so at least there was no extra cost there (not yet at least!).  And check out this flower:

It's like a tulip but it's from this succulent-like plant by the front, which is over-flowing onto the driveway!

In the meantime, another project is on the way in the backyard.  Yup! Another paving project - this time is a spot to put the BBQ grill:

And also another to-do/clean-up project on another side of the backyard.  Can you believe we have been in this house for 6 months now and it's still so disorganized??!  LOL!!!

We still get foggy mornings on the way to school and then, the marine layer shows up in the afternoon.  It will be "May Gray" soon...!

Finally had a chance to play 18 holes at Los Verdes GC!  I was starting to call it "Slow" Verdes because it takes FOREVER to play 18 holes here.  From what I've heard, it's over 6 hours over the weekend.  That's ridiculous!   Anyway, at least this past week, I was able to finish 18 holes well before school pickup time and at least enjoy some of the pretty flowers around the golf course:

These purple flowers are so pretty!

I actually texted Bobby this photo saying I was in "Position A" to get onto the green in 2!  But... I pull-hooked it left and ended up (thankfully) just past that tree to the left by the left-bunker.  Still made par :-P

PS - Yippeeee!!! The house numbers are all finally up properly.  My shoulder was sore for 2 days trying to drill into this tough stucco!!!!  I had to cheat a little while trying to the anchor so hopefully these numbers will stay up:

And I think I found the culprit who stole my apples from the tree last fall!  SQUIRREL!!!

More happenin's to follow for sure :-D

Trip to Big Bear

It is Spring Break for the LA County which means there is no baseball this weekend for the boys.  Yippeee!!!  I mean, baseball is fun and stuff - but it's always nice to have a weekend off :-)

Graham and Charlie wanted to play with snow so we decided to head out to Big Bear.  Unbeknownst to us that there is actually very little snow left!  The ski slopes that were open were actually making snow and the slopes for sledding were closed too.  Bummer!  Nonetheless, it is a road trip! Even the boys were saying that we haven't been on a trip for a long time.  I think we all miss being on the road!

The routine hasn't changed - Graham and Charlie are watching a DVD and Daddy continues to make funny faces!

Entering San Bernardino National Forest:

It is misty up here!  It climbs up pretty high - over 7000 ft!

We get above the clouds. So pretty! And so high!!! There were times when I looked down into the valley and was like "Woah!"

There is still some snow on the peaks but that's about it:

Less than 1 DVD/movie later... Like his brother, Charlie has adopted some sort of stretching routine after getting out of the car:

After checking into our motel, we hit downtown.  Obviously, Big Bear has lots of bears!

Glad the boys were able to entertain themselves while we wait for our food:

Since there was so snow to play with, we decided to rent a pontoon for a couple of hours at the marina. We are going fishing!!! The boys actually had their fishing rods in the back of the minivan so everything worked out:

Uhmm.... except for the pontoon.  It took a little bit of extra TLC for it to get out of the dock.  LOL!

A few seconds later... Ready Captain!!!

It was actually a bit chilly as it was windy and therefore, a bit choppy.  I didn't get sick thankfully.  I actually felt more sick on the drive up the winding road! 

It is so pretty and peaceful up here:

There is a tiny little observatory on the opposite side of the lake.  Come to find out, it is the Big Bear Solar Observatory.  It is operated by the New Jersey Institute of Technology and actually features the most powerful solar telescope in THE WORLD!!!  Who knew!!! 

There are some amazing houses up here along the lake.  Ahhhh... some day :-)

Okay! Time to fish!  We bought some fake bait/worms this time.  No one wanted to touch the real worms.  There were some in the fridge at the marina. They were so fat and huge.... YUCK!!!

Both boys are so happy to be fishing!

Big Bear Lake is big for sure:

It wasn't very busy on the lake so both boys got a chance to drive the boat.  Daddy was helping them do "wheelies" on the lake.  Sometimes I'm not sure who the kid really is!

After about 2 hours on the lake, it was time for some hot chocolate.  Brrr... it was nice to be inside where it was warm:

Back to the motel but I guess it still wasn't quite enough for the boys.  They head over to the lake again to throw rocks. I have decided to stay indoors instead:

The boys finally decide to come in and while I am all bundled up in my sweater indoors, Charlie has decided to take off his shirt!  And then, he pulls the "Hey"-look, plus the hand-on-the-shoulder touch... which they learned from the latest Spiderman: Into the Spiderverse movie.  It is the funniest thing!!!

A view of the river at dusk:

The next morning: Ahhh, I could get used to this.  I think Bob and I decided we would like to retire by a lake with a mountain view, next to a golf course (of course :-)

And we will also need a fireplace, of course. The boys are just oblivious to their surroundings at this point:

More bears!!!

After breakfast, while Mommy clears up and loads up the minivan, Daddy takes the boys out fishing on more time by the pier before we leave.  Charlie is all sad and slouched over because they didn't catch anything.  We might have to put that real worm on the hook one day!

Family we-fie!

We are back in town for lunch. It's a good thing town is only like 1.5 miles away. And yes, one last bear!  I thought it was so cute when Charlie decided to lay on this bear and then, Graham decided to lay on Charlie :-)

They finally get their ice-cream after lunch:

On the way down/back to LA, we decided to stop for some snow fun. Graham is trying to slide down and I am trying not to slide onto my butt!  The snow at the bottom is a bit slushy and slippery!!!

A Mommy and Daddy moment and look who photo-bombed us... Charlie!!!  Too funny!!!

It's so pretty here with all the snow:

Graham and Charlie are having so much fun:

But Daddy is patiently waiting for us, on the side of the road.  Ha ha!

Okay, back in the car and Charlie sports his new sunglasses.  He is stylin' for sure!

It was a short but definitely fun weekend!

Nature walk with 3rd Graders

What a fun day!  The 3rd Graders got to take a little hike just around the corner from their school as part of the Rancho Palos Verdes Land Conservatory program.  I was excited just to see a peacock on someone's roof first thing in the morning! :-D

And here is what most of the trail looked like.  Full of mustard plants!

So yellow and hopefully it won't kick up my allergies.  This plant is not a native plant and is obviously very invasive.  You can actually grind up the seeds and put that mustard on your hotdog and if we ever need a salad, I guess we can go picking mustard leaves too!

The views around here has been quite spectacular though with all the yellow around.  So pretty on the drive home:

Here's another photo taken on the way to school today:

The photo is not blurry by the way, it was the fog from today!  It rolled in just before 3pm when I was picking up the boys from school.  What crazy weather on the hill!

I hope the kids learned a few things today - if not, I know I sure did!  Did you know that the prickly pear's stem is actually those big flat leaves and the actual leaves are the prickles???!  And the name Hollywood may have come from the Holly-like bush?  The kids also spread around some rattlepod seeds - so hopefully we can bring the blue butterflies back to Palos Verdes!