Ella: I want a strawberry vitamin
Jim: Sorry, we don't have any
Ella: Stupid parents, why don't you buy more!

LOL!

Our Family Summer Vacation

This year for our summer vacation, we went to the Lake Arrowhead area in the San Bernardino Mountains again. Last year, we went at the end of June, right after school ended, but this year we didn't go until the middle of August, so the weather (and the pool!) was a lot warmer. We rented cabin #5, Little House, this time, which has stairs going up to two separate sleeping areas upstairs. The stairs alone were a huge hit with Felix, who must have gone up and down them 50 times the first day. Maybe when we remodel our house, we can install some for him... Anyway, we left home on Sunday mid-morning and headed to the 101 which goes right into the 134 which goes right into the 210 and then up the mountain. If you look at the map, you'll see that it's almost a straight shot headed East:

View Larger Map

After our usual stop at Del Taco, we arrived at Pine Rose Cabins mid-afternoon, right at check-in time. After unloading all the suitcases and food and finding the best spot for everything, we headed right out to the pool. Felix got some brand new "swimmings" (arm floaties) but he didn't actually make it into the pool the whole time, preferring instead to watch from the side and throw stuff in for us to retrieve.

The next morning, and the morning after, we saw a big group (flock?) of California Quail (the state bird) pecking, jostling and skittering around the grounds of the cabin. We were able to borrow the membership card for the private beach clubs at Lake Arrowhead from the owners of the resort, and we made our way over to the North side of the lake and spent a pleasant morning relaxing under a shady tree at the Tavern Bay Beach Club which had shallow (but cold) water. The kids collected seaweed (lakeweed?) and made sand-cakes. We visited the same beach again the following day, and went to a different beach a few days later, Burnt Mill. Burnt Mill was actually smaller and even shadier, and the water was also shallow but went out further so it was warmer and even I swam in it!

Another day, we drove out along Highway 18 to the Children's Forest and tried to take a short easy hike but we had a couple of complainers in our party (one of whom had just woken up from a nap so he was even more grouchy). Further up the mountain, up along a windy road, sparsely vegetated, at 7882 feet (2317 m) was the Keller Peak Fire Lookout. It was getting near closing time but the volunteer fire looker-outer was still at the top of his tower, and we climbed up (me carrying Felix!) to be rewarded with a beautiful view, and lots of busy hummingbirds at the feeder.


On the Wednesday, we drove out to Big Bear (about 30 miles away). It was funny to drive past all the winter resorts, with the bare snow-less mountains, and their ski lifts deserted and quiet, dangling statically. We gathered pine cones and visited the Discovery Center where we joined a short, informative and entertaining nature walk. The kids learned a new word: scat, and how to identify different scat & its possible owners. We also visited the water slide park at Big Bear and played a round of mini-golf.

Other days, we went into the village of Lake Arrowhead proper and fed the ducks, ate ice cream, sat on the grass for an evening rock concert, ate at the pizza parlor/arcade and I bought myself a couple of cute summer dresses at the Friday market. We also went over to Crestline and went bowling, on a day that it was really hot out. In the evenings, we borrowed movies from the front desk of the cabin resort for the kids. One morning, we did a treasure hunt - reading the clues on an old map, a story about elves & dwarves, and looking for the boxes hidden around the resort which had stamps & pads in it to mark into the kids' little booklets. At the end, they were allowed to pick out a wooden 3D puzzle.

Here are a few photos, and if you'd like to see more, click on the link at the end for our Shutterfly site with all of the photos.




At the malt shop


That big pile of sticks is a rat nest, built and lived in by one just rat

The treasure hunt

The rest of the photos: Shutterfly Dennis Family Site

Bunnies eating

A movie for Emile & Celine

Bunny Love

Well the day has finally come, Ella's dream has come true. After asking and asking and asking (for 3 years) for a bunny, the day has arrived that we welcomed two bunny friends. Ella didn't think it was ever going to happen (lamenting "I'll NEVER get at bunny and I'm already six-and-a-half!"). Diamond and Groucho (names came with the bunny and the kids like them, although Ella has added Jewel and Felix has added Patrick) are a 2-year-old brother-sister bonded pair and were rescued and fostered by Linda of Redondo Beach Rabbit Rescue (don't worry - they are sterilized, so no baby bunnies in our future!). We have a lovely hutch for them, although they are allowed to hop around in the patio while we are home. They have been exploring their surroundings slowly and carefully; they are a little timid but love to cuddle and be petted. We've been feeding them two kinds of hay, as well as fresh veggies, including carrots, kale and dandelion greens from our garden (I hate dandelions!). It has been interesting seeing the cats react to their new housemates. Byron just hisses at them and stays away as much possible, Toots isn't particularly interested (she's a people-cat), and Otto isn't sure if he's supposed to play with them or attack but since they are at least twice as hefty as he is, he mostly just observes. Eventually he will probably either play with them or ignore them. MamaRose, who popped inside this morning, was the only one not afraid. She went right up to Diamond, they had a little nose-sniffing exchange and then she walked away. Diamond started hopping after her; maybe she thought MamaRose was a bunny also, since they have the same short stubby tail... We've been impressing upon Ella that it is her responsibility to take care of the buns, and she's taking it seriously. She and I take care of them together; I get to sweep the poops and wash off the removable floors and she dries the floor and gives them hay, food and water. She also has to pet them every day.

Anyway, without further delay, introducing our new friends, Diamond Jewel and Groucho Patrick!

Summer Camp

Since she finished 1st grade 3 weeks ago, Ella has been going to summer day-camp. It's very close to Felix's pre-school (nice & convenient for me). This is the first time she's attended this place but she already knew a few kids there. The days are action-packed: different themes every week, swimming 4x/wk and a field trip on Thursdays. They play soccer, tennis, flag football, have messy-days (mud/goop/shaving cream/water balloons, etc.), plant flowers, cook, and do lots and LOTS of arts & crafts. Today, the kids went off to see Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat at the local college, and on field trip days, they have to wear their camp t-shirts. Ella's was just a bit too big so we personalized it with a beaded fringe to make it into a tunic instead. Ella LOVES camp and tells me so every day.

Start of Summer

We tried growing cucumbers for the first time, not in the least because Felix absolutely LOVES cucumber and would eat it every day (and usually does). Here's a big one we found hiding behind the planter. It was delicious. I should have taken a picture of it cut open because it's about 3" in diameter.

Here is Felix proudly wearing his new summer shirt all the way from the Galapagos Islands, which his Oma sent him!

Ella's Best Day Ever

aka... A Day in the Life of a 6 1/2-Year-Old

Ella's school year is almost over, just one more week. Today all the 1st graders went on their third field trip of the year (the others were to the fire station around the corner from the school, and to the Getty Museum). First of all, Jim took Ella to school, which in itself was a treat for her. Then, the kids with some of the parents, took a school bus down to the Santa Monica Pier. They were given an entertaining and educational presentation out on the boardwalk, and toured the Santa Monica Pier Aquarium. They had a picnic on the beach and hunted for shell fragments.

Upon returning to school at 2;30pm, Ella was allowed to have a slice of pizza from the Friday Pizza Sales, and THEN.... the tooth that she'd been wiggling and wobbling for over a year... FINALLY came out!



Later, Jim took Ella to the mall and bought her three new swimsuits, a cover-up, and a pair of jelly light-up flip-flops. Now she's all ready for the swimming lessons she'll be getting every day at summer day-camp.

As if the day was not yet fun enough, she got an ice cream cone from Baskin-Robbins (vanilla, of course).