Official archers?

We recently bought Graham and Charlie a used bow to share.  So does that make them official archers??!  The coach where the boys take lessons was actually the one who was able to hook us up with a gently-used one.  Graham and Charlie was so excited last Thursday to try it out!

So it's the red one that Graham is using in this photo above.  It's so big! The bow is probably almost a foot taller than Charlie.  Ha ha!

Although, Charlie is already improving with this new bow:

Nice grouping!  That's worth 29 points!  He was so happy and proud of himself:

Sure beats having to chase squirrels around on the golf course.  Ha ha!

So we all went to play some golf on Saturday.  Graham and Charlie struggled a little bit again but we figured out why Charlie was topping the ball so much.  And Graham made a legit Par on the 8th hole.  Woohoo...!!!

We also went to the archery store to pick up some more gear.  So as if spending money on the new (used) bow and arrows wasn't enough, we had to pick up a new bag, a new tube for the arrows, a new quiver (the thing that holds your arrows which you can hook onto your pants), a bow stringer (so you can release the string on your bow when you are not using it)... and what else, some target sheets too:

We were going to pick up more arrows but it was like $50 for half a dozen.  Perhaps we will just wait on that.  Instead of a backpack, we opted for a tri-fold bag.  A bit tricky to fit the "riser" (the bow handle) into the mesh part, but we'll make it fit:

On Sunday, we decided to go out to the archery range to try out all our new gear.  Bobby thought I was joking when I said that I'll bring the golf push-carts out so it can hold up our umbrellas:

Well,... it's the perfect setup!  And Bobby's the one lounging in the shade.  Ha!

Look at all those haybales.  Each one is basically a spot for people to shoot at.  We picked the one all the way to the right:

And we finally realized why there was a paved path on this very end.  It is reserved for the handicapped.  We now know this because there was a couple that was handicapped and they were rolling their walkers and gear up this path to use this haybale.  

But prior to that... I'm sending Bobby off his chair to help Charlie pull the arrows out. 

My hands were getting a nice burn after pulling some arrows.  Ouch! And Graham was obviously reminding us why we should have picked up the arrow-puller too while we were in the archery store yesterday. Smarty pants!

The golf cart was also the perfect bow stand.  Something else we need to buy but in the meantime, this works!

After a very brief safety class and lesson, Bobby is going to try his first shot at archery:

Not too shabby, he actually hit the target from about 50 feet.  I, on the other hand sent my first arrow over the top of the haybale and lost the arrow.  Ha ha!  I'm actually surprised at how well the boys are pulling this bow - it did require quite some strength!  And by the end of the day, I had personally lost 2 of the boys' arrows.  The family shooting next to us did find a few extra and gave them to us.  Sweet!

Watermelon break!

Nap time!  Graham is always the opportunist :-)

Charlie in the meantime is still busy shooting arrows while Daddy goes out and gets take-out/dinner:

Once we had to move over to the next haybale, I stuck a remnant of an old balloon onto the haybale as a target.  Charlie almost got it!

Thankfully it was much easier to pull out of this haybale.  I could rest my hand and legs :-)

Graham is just still messing about.  He is such a character:

So close!!!  Charlie is so determined.  Love it!

Okay, my last few shots of the day.  Woohoo..!

Daddy is back with take-out.  Dinner at the park and no dishes to wash.  Win-win for Mommy :-)

I never thought we'd ever be spending an entire Sunday afternoon shooting arrows at an archery range.  Almost like never thinking we would have spend 3.5 years in the Middle East.  And never did I EVER think I'd be helping my son dry his now longer hair in a little hair-wrap!

Graham actually didn't want me to take this photo but in the end, he did give in.  He's so cute :-D

We'll see what will happen with this archery thing once school reopens at the end of the month.  We obviously can't take lessons at 7:30pm so hopefully the coach will be able to reschedule us at a more decent time and hopefully still honor the group rate?  Our other friends have decided to stop due to the increasing number of Covid (Delta variant) cases, while we have decided to keep going.  I'm hoping that maybe someday they will be able to participate in some tournaments.  How fun will that be!!

Road trip! Solvang, CA (July 12-13)

There's a little town about 3 hours north of us called Solvang.  It was founded in 1911 by a group of Danes who traveled to the west when they wanted to establish a Danish community far from the winters of the Midwest.  Solvang began its development as a themed town when it attracted national media attention in 1947.  So we figured it would be a fun little overnight trip.  I wish I took a better photo of this, but Graham rolled up his clothes in the suitcase.  How funny!

Almost never a road trip without snacks!  We're still making Graham patch his eye occasionally:

The funny sights when you see on the road - Chewbacca tied to the back of the windshield wiper??!

I'm glad our portable DVD player is still working.  It has definitely paid of itself after all these years:

A little change in scenery from the Pacific Coast Highway:

We get to Solvang in time for a late lunch.  I'm glad we got to this place because it was closing as we were finishing up:

The boys shared a Belgium waffle.  Nothing like putting syrup in every little square of that waffle!

I think Charlie's face says it all... YUMMM!!!  The Danish pancakes were yummy too by the way!

The only issue I had was just these big trucks/vehicles that were going on this same road.  Looking at the map, it seems that it's one way in and one way out of this place.  Oh well!

And there were all these cute little vehicles for rent.  We didn't get one since we had the car.  Plus our motel was within walking distance of the main street:

Graham and Charlie are trying to "lift" the windmill :-)

We finally made it here!  I've been wanting to visit Solvang for a while now:

There were these horse-drawn trams that went around the city.  We decided to skip it and just walk around on our own:

Water break!

Check in was so easy. And the motel's bedding was so cute:

Time for a little snack - can't leave Solvang without having a Danish pastry and some other yummies:

I guess everyone loved it :-D

After taking a little break in the room, we head out on our little adventure around the town.  Looks like a good spot for breakfast tomorrow:

Some interesting history around here:

I believe this Atterdag Square is to commemorate Valdemar Atterdag, who was the king of Denmark (1340-75):

And here are the founders of Solvang:

By the way, Solvang means "sunny fields" in Danish:

One of the stores had this Lego man by its window.  Of course I had them pose in front of it:

And it also seemed that so many stores were hiring!  I'm guessing a lot of people were laid off during the peak of Covid and now the stores are hiring again as more people are traveling:

Got to have the family we-fie in front of the windmill.  I'm just going to have to pretend that we are in Denmark :-P

We had some time to just visit the grounds of Mission Santa Ines:

These long wood-beamed corridors and arches seems to be a theme of Missions:

And there are always bells!

So beautiful out here:

Okay, time to go hit the shops.  I'm surprised the boys were very patient with me while I looked in a clothing store.  Ha ha!

I love the brick structure of this building.  Although I don't think those bells work:

Time for dinner!  The portions are so huge at this Italian restaurant!

Thankfully our motel was just a little wedge shot from the restaurant.  And how funny are these two little stuffed animals. Looks like they made the trip too!  Charlie calls the left one Leo and the right one Mr Sparkly Face, if I'm not mistaken.  Ha ha!

The next day, we walk over to the pancake house across the street.  Except it is super busy!  So... Graham and I walk over to another restaurant back across the street again and find this other restaurant.  Ahhhh, nice and quiet although our breakfast is probably going to cost 2 to 3x more expensive.  But Charlie is happy with his cast iron pancake!

Charlie's meal was probably the most expensive because he also ordered a side of eggs and a side of bacon with his fancy skillet pancake.  Ha!  

Yummy in my tummy!

I mean, look how delicious that looks:

Happy bellies and safe from not having to be over-exposed with so many people at a packed pancake house!

After breakfast, we decided to walk over to the Elverhoj Museum:

It is built in a style that is popular based on large farmhouses in the 18th century Denmark. Unfortunately, it is closed on Tuesday!!!  But at least we got to see its nice fancy door:

And look at this fancy dragon signage.  Too cool!

So maybe we'll come back??!  Anyway, time to leave Solvang.  We headed to a small town nearby called Los Olivos.  Looks like it's wine country around here:

Scare crows!

Almost every restaurant here is a wine-tasting one. We did find this huge lemon stall though!  I did see this same lemon stand in a magazine and supposedly you can rent it.  I wonder how much lemonade you have to sell in order to break even on the rental fee.  Hmmm....

Another family we-fie!

I'm not exactly sure what this building is for.  Water on the top, storage at the bottom? Sort of cute though:

Okay, quick ice cream and we are off for home.  Halfway through and there are people para-gliding by the hills near the freeway.  Yikes!

Fog in the middle of the afternoon??!

There's rows and rows of these white covered "something".  Still have no idea what they are:

One boy down!

Two boys down!!!

Well, another successful trip.  Glad we are able to tick Solvang off our to-visit list.  And I scored myself a fancy pair of leather shoes :-D

And also a metal Welcome sign.  Love it!

I'm so far behind updating my blog.  Next one should be our trip to San Diego.  More adventures to come! :-)