A Few MORE Summer Faves (part 2)

So there were a few more fun things to record than I thought! (that's a good thing, right?!)

Here's part 2

----- Fishing for Crabs ----

with a piece of broken pvc pipe 

and cheeto's for bait

----- Backyard Pool Parties With the Cousins -----

----- Making Omelettes -----

(just like Mike)

for breakfast every morning

in his new one-man-pan!

And, last but not least

----- Fun (& Mandatory!) Family Vacay -----

to San Diego

(With 3 of 5 family members having jobs, it took a little work to make sure

 we had at least one vacay with everyone present & accounted for this summer.

 It was well worth the effort!)

Enjoying the Natural History Museum

And an awesome 3D surfing movie (can you tell Porter liked it?)

The USS Midway Aircraft Carrier

Flight simulator pilots

And Kenzie made a friend :-)

The Mormon Batallion Museum

(During the Mexican War of 1846, U.S. President James K. Polk, requested 500 Mormon men to help in the war effort. Despite the fact that the Mormons were in the midst of escaping religious persecution in the east, they accepted the call, and marched the 2000 miles from Iowa to San Diego, establishing/building a new wagon route, and then building Fort Morris in Los Angeles, and a courthouse in San Diego before their discharge.  They were never faced with battle, unless you count the "Battle of the Bulls" when they were attacked by a herd of wild cattle in Arizona :-)

uhh?

Sistuhs!

Panning for fools gold

And pumping a little water

Doing the laundry

Yee Haw!

And lastly, some simulated surfing for Porter on the FlowRider Wave Machine

on Mission Beach Boardwalk!

Mandatory family vacations aren't all that bad :-)

Ssummer makes for warm & happy memories!!

A few Summer Favorites (part 1)

Just a few favorite memories from Summer 2011

----- Fourth of July Bottle Rocket Launchers -----

built by the neighborhood daddies

with things like air compressors for extra power

----- Taking the Train -----

to EFY at UC Santa Barbara

staying in the dorms,

making new friends,

and stepping out of her comfort zone :-)

Abbie & Torra perform in the EFY Variety Show

(note:  Abbie borrowed Uncle Pete's guitar & taught herself to play the week before they left!)

Love it!

----- Burning All Your Schoolwork -----

from 5th Grade

----- Ocean Fishing with Dad -----

----- Roasting Hot Dogs & S'mores -----

in the backyard

(sometimes Jakey even got a little treat)

------ Lessons Learned -----

(i.e. you can accomplish anything if you just give it 15 minutes a day) 

and sometimes it's even kind of fun!

Porter (and I) set some goals to finish some scouting awards and church achievements, plus save $$ to go to MN next summer, etc...  He was not too optimistic about getting it all done when he looked at it all written down on paper . . . but he (we?) did it!

Here, Porter is working on memorizing the 13th Article of Faith (put to music)

I'm pretty sure the whole neighborhood heard him

 (the boy next door came over to ask if someone "was singing or something" :-)

Here he is receiving his Webelos Rank, Arrow of Light, and Religious Square Knot

plus bridging from Cubs to Boy Scouts!

so, yeah, the new boy scout shirt has to last a few years...

----- LDS Youth Conference Pioneer Trek -----

(More on this later - I think it deserves it's own post, but here's a few pictures)

Abbie with her Trek "Family"

Abbie - far right (above)

 River Crossing

 Good luck finding Abbie and I in this pic!

 ----- Working on Surf Skills -----

Surf camp stopped abruptly on the 3rd day
after teacher Tyler was stung on the ankle by a Sting Ray

which, we learned is wayyy more painful than a jellyfish ;-(
and peeing on it doesn't help - TMI? sorry...

(and then there's days that aren't so good for beginning surfers)

----- Taping of "So You Think You Can Dance" -----

in Hollywood with Torra and Abbie

to be continued :-)