Uncle Dan & Aunt Debby

Dan's brother & sister-in-law, Tim & Dawn, and our three nephews, Benjamin, Nathan, and Aaron came to visit us for a week! We had so much fun with them and loved getting to spend one-on-one time with their family. The boys grow up so quickly, there are new aspects to their personalities every time we see them. The week was full of fun activities, and we had a blast seeing everything through their eyes.

We set up our camping tent & sleeping bags in the office so Benjamin & Nathan would have their own "room." Nathan was sleeping hard when I took this photo!

Benjamin's rubber fish became infamous - you never knew when it would fly across the room and hit you! Dan kept putting it in the fridge and threatening to eat it for dinner. :)

Aaron's favorite room in the house - so much toilet paper, so little time!

Our first big adventure was Legoland! Benjamin and Nathan love playing with Legos, and Legoland is tailored for children under the age of 7, so it was the pefect place to spend a fun day!

This ride was actually a lot of hard work! You had to pull yourself up with the rope before getting to free-fall to the bottom.

We raced down the slides and Nathan beat us all!

The guys raced against some other teams in a fireman challenge, where they had to drive their firetruck to a burning building and extinguish the fire. We all got our exercise at Legoland!

Crashed out in the car at the end of the day!

On Sunday afternoon, we spent the afternoon at a playground on the bay

Everyone enjoyed playing in the water & sand, except for Aaron

This sums up his feelings about the wet, sticky sand between his toes! He had a lot more fun on the swings.

On Sunday night, we went to the roller hockey game to cheer Uncle Dan's team

Dan's team won 11-2 and Dan scored 3 goals! Whoo hoo!

I was able to get off from work a little early on Monday and meet them at Old Town

Nathan got to dress up like a soldier

Then we went panning for gold. Dan's excited about all the gold they're finding! Maybe Nathan and Aaron will buy dinner tonight.

Tim & Dawn took the boys to the zoo one day

Watching the animals

Joining the animals

Those days without naps are a killer!

Dan got to spend a day with Tim & Dawn & the boys at Balboa Park, Coronado, and Torrey Pines

Benjamin & Nathan love exploring and climbing things, so they had fun wherever we went!

This is one of the only shots we got of everyone. We saw a "Lego Jester" at Legoland and had to get a group photo!

San Diego has a ton of family-friendly places, and Tim, Dawn, & the boys had a great vacation. We enjoyed spending as much time as we could with them, and hearing about their adventures each day. We miss them and wish we all lived closer so we could see them more often. But we counted the days until Christmas, and we'll see them again in 70 days! We can't wait!

Miramar Air Show

Dan and I went to the Miramar Air Show last night at Miramar MCAS to see their twilight show for the first time. We had been to the daytime show years ago with Dan's parents, and I had seen it again since then with my coworkers. It's a fantastic show that culminates with the Navy Blue Angels' performance. They run the show for three days every year in Oct., and last night they had a one-night-only twilight show, which we (well, mainly me, but Dan was game) wanted to check out. We got to the base just as the Blue Angels performed at the end of the daytime air show, then waited through a long intermission while they set up for the night show. It did not disappoint! Here are a few highlights we enjoyed.

They added lights and sparkler effects on the planes and people who performed during the night show. Here's a video of a guy (the announcer said he was a paraplegic) flying a hang glider that was shooting off fireworks. The effect was beautiful!

The night took a turn towards redneck when they strapped jet engines to this truck and ran it down the runway at full speed. Awesomeness. You can hear Dan laughing at the end of the video. :)

They had a big fireworks show set to patriotic music at the end of the evening, and the grand finale was the "Wall of Fire." Fun times!

Labor Day Weekend & Saying Goodbye to San Diego

Ha ha, gotcha didn't I? Dan and I aren't saying goodbye to San Diego, our friends Eric and Jenn are. More on that later - first I want to talk about our super fun Labor Day weekend in TX with my mom's side of the family! It's become a new annual tradition for our extended family to get together at my Uncle Brian and Aunt Margaret's ranch house over Labor Day instead of trying to coordinate time together at Christmas. Christmastime get-togethers worked before several of the cousins got married, but now there are just too many family schedules to work around.

Unfortunately, our weekend started with a bang - literally. We spent Friday night at my parent's house and loaded their brand-new Hyundai Veracruz on Saturday morning. And then ... accidentally backed out of the garage with the car hatchback open. It wasn't pretty. The "safety glass" in the back window hit the top of the garage door and it didn't just crack the glass - it shattered it into a million pieces! I guess the idea of safety glass is that it gives way if a person hits it in an accident, instead of holding strong and forcing the person's head to give way. It was a horrible, sickening way to start the weekend, especially since the car was so new. But we cleaned up the best we could and drove it to the dealer and picked up a rental while my parent's car went to the shop.

Cleaning up all the glass that shattered inside the car and garage. Don't worry, Steve and Dan stopped smiling as soon as my dad turned around.

**Warning** DO NOT use your fingers to pull glass out of the crack in the seat. This could happen to you!!

Sad Mom with a sad Veracruz

Once we got to the ranch house, though, the weekend was great! We had the best time catching up with our aunts, uncles and cousins. There are so many fun things to do around the ranch house, like playing whiffleball, eating, card games, ping pong, eating, relaxing on the back porch, riding the 4-wheeler, eating, stargazing through a telescope, tree-climbing, napping, laughing at each other, and eating. Our cousin Kolby would disagree that tree-climbing was part of the *fun* since he got roped into climbing a monster tree to rescue a kickball, while everyone else stood around laughing and calling out generally unhelpful suggestions. And Dan is probably the only one who would classify napping in the fun category, but hey, there's a little something for everyone at the ranch house!

Great Uncle Jim and Great Aunt Astrid

My mom with Cousin Beryl Ann and Aunt Merle

Praying before the meal

Playing a family whiffleball game

A great shot of everyone playing whiffleball with the ranch house in the background

My cousins made up an awesome new ping pong game called "One Bounce". It was the source of many many hours of hilarity.

The cutest members of the family, Addi, Jackson, and Laura. That's a cricket on Addi's arm. Jackson is also holding a cricket in his hand, and this photo was taken right before he ATE IT. I wish I was kidding. My cousin Emily took these awesome pictures of the kids.

Emily, photographer extraordinaire

Emily also took some family photos of us with her nice new camera. Somehow she managed to get fantastic shots, despite the "I don't want my picture taken" crankiness and "I can't sit still and smile nicely" goofiness going on that I'm sure didn't make it easy for her. I won't name any names, but it wasn't me, Dan, my mom, or Paul. Anyway, a few of my favorites are below. It was a perfect weekend full of family time, which we fully appreciate every chance we can!

This is where I suggested that my Mom & Dad kiss in one of the pictures, and Steve said "Well why don't we ALL kiss!" He's trying to sell Paul on the idea, but Paul is having none of it.

The following weekend, we had dinner with our friends Eric & Jenn and Dave & Cynthia and their kids. Eric & Jenn are quitting their jobs as pathologists for the Navy (do you "quit" the Navy? or "un-enlist"?) and moving to North Carolina, where Eric has been hired at UNC. They have two kiddos, James and Sarah, and Jenn's dream of being a stay-at-home mom will finally come true. They're so excited about the next chapter in their lives, so we're excited for them, too. Even though we wish they could start a new chapter in San Diego instead so we could have more time with them. They're an amazing family and have been a part of many of our happiest memories here. We're going to try to meet up with them when we visit Dan's family in VA, so we'll see you guys on the east side!

Left to right: Debby, Eric, Jenn, Sarah, James, Cynthia, Dave, Olivia, and Dan

We'll miss you guys!!

(How awesome is the crayon in James' mouth? He liked them better than his dinner, I think.)

Clean Comedy

Dan & I went to The Rock Church in San Diego last night to see a comedy show. It was awesome! I love clean comedy, but someone needed to redeem it for me after we saw a couple of horrible comedy acts at Spirit West Coast earlier this year. Horrible in the sense of "if they were performing for anyone except Christians, they'd be booed off the stage." See, here's the problem for a lot of clean comedians - they perform for Christian audiences. Christian audiences don't get drunk, so you have to actually be funny.

Anyway, the comedians last night were hysterical, and we had a great time! We saw three acts from John Branyan, Bob Smiley, and Tim Hawkins. They each had different styles, and I'd recommend going to see any of them if you get the chance. Here are a few videos of them from YouTube so you can pretend you went with us - enjoy!

John Branyan - knows how to find the hilarious in everyday things
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJPKwZ5Acb8&feature=related

Bob Smiley - likes to get your mind going in one direction as he tells a story, and then BAM! throws a curveball at you!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6St4-5E79A&feature=channel

Tim Hawkins - does a combination of stand-up comedy and musical numbers based on popular melodies
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NsJHqstPuNo

The Big Island

Dan and I visited the Big Island last week for summer vacation! We figured we'd better take advantage of living in southern CA where it's *relatively* close and inexpensive to travel to Hawaii! Plus, I wanted to see molten lava before I die, and I can now check that one off the bucket list! We had a great time and saw sights we'll never forget. But there were a few things that took us by surprise, so I'll let you in on some secrets now in case you ever decide to visit the Big Island.


Surprise #1: The entire airport is outdoors. The gates, the baggage claims, everything. Although nothing screams "vacation destination" like a place with an outdoor airport, it would be less than lovely to fly in or out of Kona on a rainy day!

(Somewhat obvious) Surprise #2) When they say "Big Island," they mean "BIG." We stayed on the west side of the island all week, which made for long days when we visited sights on the east side. We love all-day road trips, but if it's not your thing, you should book a couple of nights on the opposite side of the island when you go.

Surprise #3) The most popular side of the island is also the ugly side. Since the Big Island is relatively young and the west side gets hardly any rainfall, there are lots of lava fields that aren't covered by vegetation. It's great weather-wise, but the terrain looks like the aftermath of a nuclear bomb. Dan says the dementors from Harry Potter's world would feel right at home there. The other side of the island is gorgeous and lush, but of course it rains there every day. So there is no perfect place to stay, unless you plan to never leave your posh resort. We're not judging you, but you are boring.

This is what a LOT of the Big Island looks like. You're not gonna see that on a postcard!

But on the bright side, here's the weather forecast. The challenge of being a Hawaiian weatherman: How many creative ways can you say "mid-80s and partly sunny"?

Surprise #4) The cops on the Big Island drive their own personal vehicles, so they're hard to spot! It's only a problem if you tend to speed *cough*Dan* We saw the police driving all kinds of autos, so there wasn't a specific make or model to be wary of. We called them "KMart Cops" because they had the "blue light special" on top.

KMart cop alert, 2nd in line

Okay, enough advice - on to the pretty pictures!

Day 1: Looking for Signs of Life

Once we drove north, everything looked alive again. We could see Haleakala Crater on Maui from 30 miles across the ocean!

Another beautiful view at Pololu Point at the northern tip of the island

Pu'ukohola Heiau National Historic Site - an ancient Hawaiian temple where laborers also doubled as human sacrifices. What a deal!

Day 2: Molten Lava or Bust

On our way to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, we took a detour to the southernmost point in the United States! We had already visited the southernmost point in the Continental U.S.in Key West, FL. Too bad they didn't have a sign or anything here - you'll just have to take our word for it!

We also stopped at Punalu'u black sand beach, where a ton of sea turtles live!

We didn't have an underwater camera, but you can see the turtle that was munching on seaweed just a few feet from where I was standing!

At Hawaii Volcanoes National Park - Kilauea Crater is behind us, where a pool of lava below the surface creates a steam cloud

Kilauea Crater

Thurston Lava Tube in the park is awesome - you can walk through a lighted section, then keep exploring the dark recesses with a flashlight.

All over the park, you could see where the lava flowed into the ocean at one time or another.

A sea arch made of lava

In March 2010, lava flowed through the National Park, partially burying the road!

Yeah, no kidding!

After dark, we went back to Kilauea Crater to see the steam reflect the orange glow of the lava below. So cool!!

There actually was a new lava flow that we got to see from about a mile away! We heard that if the lava flows through National Park land, the rangers will allow visitors to walk right up to it. But this lava was flowing through either privately-owned or state-owned land, so no such luck. Still, we're fortunate to have gotten to see such an amazing sight!

Day 3: Debby Almost Ruins Dan's Vacation

I would like to publically apologize to Dan for making him hike the trail to Kealakekua Bay. Do you see that trail that forms an "L" shape from the top of the hill to the bay? It took us about an hour to hike 2 miles with a 1,500 foot drop in elevation down a dirt/gravel trail to the bay, which I read was the best snorkeling on the island and a dolphin hang-out place. The coral and fish were gorgeous, but there were no dolphins - bummer! Then we hiked back up the muddy trail in the pouring rain. It was the anti-vacation day.

But after hot showers, we felt alive enough to go to dinner at Quinn's Almost By the Sea.

They had KILLER fish & chips there, made with Ono. It tasted way better than Cod.

And then we enjoyed a beautiful sunset at Anaeho'omalu Bay, which made everything better.

Day 4: Dan's Payback

Dan wanted to drive to the top of Mauna Loa, one of the dormant volcanoes in the middle of the island. We did a lot of mountain driving in CO, but we have never traveled up a road this steep! We went from sea level to almost 14,000 feet! Here's a view of how fast the road disappeared behind us.

And then it turned ugly when the pavement ended and we had to drive 5 miles of steep, unpaved, gravelly road!

Dan's rock solid concentration is the only thing keeping us from plummeting to our deaths. Why am I taking pictures of him?

I was a little nevous, too, but I think I masked my emotions well.

At the summit of Mauna Kea, we got to see the world's largest astronomical observatory. The air is so clear, eleven countries have mounted telescopes there.

We enjoyed the view for a while, but we were feeling a little sick and light-headed from the sudden altitude change, so we headed back to sea level!

We drove to the east side of the island, which looks exactly the way you expect Hawaii to look. We're standing in front of Rainbow Falls near Hilo.

We took a break from driving and walked through a beautiful park in the town of Hilo

We drove along the Old Highway, which had phenomenal views

Before racing back to the west side to catch the sunset!

Day 5: Would Someone Please Teach Us How to Relax?

We drove to beautiful Waipi'o Valley at the northern tip of the island.

This area used to be heavily populated until a tsunami filled the valley in the 1940s, wiping everything out. Eventually a few people decided to move back there to get away from it all. They said you can hike down there, but the residents don't like soft city folk.

We hiked down about halfway before turning around. We thought the mountain road yesterday was steep - parts of this road had a 25% incline. Our car would've never made it! We spent the rest of our day walking along a coastal trail behind some of the fancy resorts in Kohala. We were beat by the evening!

But it was all worth it for the ultimate treat - Hawaiian Shave Ice! None of that crunchy "snow cone" mess, they actually shave the ice so it's like eating powdery snow. And just when you think it couldn't get any more delicious, you find the scoop of ice cream hidden in the bottom of your bowl and the last few bites taste like a Creamsicle. *bliss*

Days 6 & 7: Nothing Exciting (Finally)

Our last couple of days were truly relaxing. We ate out at restaurants and took leisurely walks. Our last morning, we rented a stand-up paddleboard and played in the bay beside our hotel. But that was relaxing, too.

Boarding our flight home!