That was fast.

Dax turned 20 today.  It really does not seem that long ago that I was in the hospital getting ready to deliver him.  The TV was on in the room and it was playing the first season of the show Survivor   That show is still on, so it couldn't have been that long ago?? I still remember who got kicked off in that episode it was a memorable day for us.  Dax didn't want to much for his birthday, he just wanted to go to Culvers with the family on Saturday night, then we had donuts for breakfast on Sunday and I made his favorite Copy Cat Olive Garden chicken gnocchi soup for dinner.  We also gave him gift cards to Cane's one of his favorite restaurants and gift cards for a few car washes.  He may also sign up for some classes to take improve his 3D modeling skills.

He got the VIP treatment .

Cool Weather Reprieve

I had this mostly written then something happened and it all disappeared twice.  Here goes round three.

We just got back from a few days In San Diego.  Curtis' Real Estate Friends Kevin K and Fred W invited us to join them with their families again this year.  Kevin and Fred had planned to be in San Diego from July 11-25.  When I originally made the arrangements I knew that wasn't possible since our Derek and Trey were scheduled to go back to school on July 22. I also knew our kids would revolt if they were away from home for more than 5 days.  They are homebodies.
Since June the COVID numbers in Arizona started to spike. The first day of school was pushed back to August 5, a week after that announcement they said school will be online for the first few weeks.  As of now, they are pushing school to be online until October.  It is a very fluid situation and nothing is certain.  Reminds me of this meme.

Some states are not allowing visitors from Arizona because of our COVID numbers.  Luckily Californa also has high COVID numbers so they let us in.  They actually have more restrictions on business and wearing masks.  As long as the beach was open we were happy to go to San Diego for a few days and get out of the heat. We stayed for five nights.

I took very few pictures because I wanted my kids to enjoy this trip.  Right now they don't enjoy photos.

We stayed in the same condo as last year. Just steps from the beach and right next door to where Kevin and his family stayed, and two doors down from Fred and his family. It is a great location and a nice little beach house.  We even took our dog Oreo this year.

Just as we were getting ready to do smores on the beach with our friends Derek and Trey hobbled back from the beach.  Derek had been stung by a stingray.  This is his second incident, he handled it much better this time.   The first time that happened in Mexico a few years ago in addition to a scorpion sting before that. That kid's foot has taken a few beatings.

Trey cleaning up after the beach

Derek after getting stung on his foot by a stingray

recovering after the stingray incident

We went on a Kayak adventure with Kevin, Fried, and Nick T. (one of Curtis' Real Estate friends who now lives in San Diego)  Derek stayed home recovering from his wounds.  Dax, Trey, and I joined the adventure.
We saw some cool things on the Kayak adventure.  I did not take my camera because the tour company said there was a good chance it would get lost or wet.  As much as I wish I had taken some pictures of us on this adventure, I'm glad I didn't take my phone/camera.  We watched a guy lose his phone in the ocean.  He was devastated.  I took these pictures from the internet.

The owner wanted his house to look like a sandcastle.  I was already ginormous, then he added on the left side. The house sold for $20 million

This is the Rose Canyon Fault Line.  

Leopard sharks, they say they are harmless.  I didn't see any, but others on our tour did.

We saw the Rose Canyon Fault Line, the fault itself was not that interesting, but the homes right above it were amazing.  They were beautiful and expensive with an incredible view of the bay.  The only problem is the homes are moving because of the fault line. Some homes even fall into the ocean, and the owner is responsible for the cleanup.  One guy paid to move his home further back 5 times.  The city has said no more.  You are as far back as you can possibly be.  Very expensive and risky price to pay for the view.

We saw Sea Lions and Seals   They were kind of cool, barking at us and climbing up rocks.

The Lorax Tree inspiration.

 Dr. Seuss used to hang at his friends house that looked out to the bay to get inspiration for his books. The friend's house was right next to the Sand Castle house.  These orange fish, Garibaldi Fish, are the CA state fish.  This was his inspiration for One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish, nothing rhymed with orange so he changed it to red.  We also saw trees that reminded me of Dr. Seuss Trees.  I am not really a fan of Dr. Seuss.  Some of his illustrations remind me of a bad dream.  After seeing these fish, trees, and the area where he found the inspiration I feel like I understand him a little better.  Kudos to Dr. Suess for writing books that get kids to read.  I know HOP on POP was the book that got my kids reading. For some reason my kids like Fox in Socks.  Trey was attempting to memorize it. 

Giribaldi fish, the inspiration for Dr. Seuss.

We were able to go into these sea caves.  This was the first time in several months they were able to take a tour in because the conditions were not safe.

This is not our actual guide, but he did something similar.

One of our guides said that if he could get four people to try to stand in the kayak for 10 seconds without tipping over he would do a headstand. Trey raised his hand and volunteered to stand in the Kayak.   He stood up for 7 seconds without falling in.  I don't think Dax was impressed since they were sharing a kayak and Dax did not want to end up in the water.  Trey was feeling pretty confident so he stood up again.  That attempt didn't go as well, he went straight into the water fully clothed, tennis shoes and all.   Then our friend, Nick, attempted.  He was not very successful and went straight in and lost his sunglasses.  Then Trey did a little trash talking that Nick was outdone by an 11-year-old.  I was proud of Trey for trying and it made the adventure a little more fun and memorable.  We warned Dax and Trey to wear clothes and shoes that would get wet.  They didn't want to take the advice of the tour company.  After we were done Trey said "I know why you should wear clothes that can get wet"

Nick snapped this picture of Curtis and I.  It took everything in my to crack this smile, I was feeling very seasick during this adventure.

Overall we had a good trip.  I promised my kids no posing for pics, so this is the family picture I got of our family on the beach.

Festivus 2020

 

Trey Johnson, Henry Jones, Soren Andersen, Jack Lueck

Trey was invited to go boating with his friends for Soren's 11th Birthday.  Trey had a great time, but he was pretty sore the next day.  

June is always a fun month.  We have a double whammy of celebrations for Curtis.  We have his birthday back to back with Father's Day.  Depending on how the calendar falls sometimes his Birthday is first sometimes Father's day is first.  This year it was the Birthday that came first.

Happy Birthday VIP Breakfast- The gift was a whipped cream dispenser.  Now Curtis can make his own whipped cream and squirt it into his mouth.

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Happy Father's Day.  His gift was a countertop water boiler for his hot drinks.

Independence day celebrations were canceled due to COVID.  We were on our own to do our own fireworks.  I went to the firework stand and bought a good supply.  I told her I don't want a bunch of loud noise makers.  I want fountains and things that look pretty.  I later discovered that was a mistake.



I was trying to make a festive watermelon that looked something like this.

I was in the process of making this spectacular creation when Trey woke up he saw what I was doing and the first thing he said was "Can I blow that up?"  I was reminded that I live with boys and I should have gotten more fireworks that go boom and let my boys be boys and do their thing of "blowing crap up" instead of creating fluff and pretty stuff.

Happy 4th of July

Trey-trying to blowup a watermelon without the proper equipment.

We lit off some fireworks in the backyard.  It was fun-ish.  Dax didn't want to participate and the kids got bored after a while.  We have some fireworks left over for New Years.  This time I will buy supplies so they can blow stuff up.