Our Trip to Lake George, Mammoth

At least once a year we make a trip up to the Sierras to go camping. This year we had a later start than usual. We went up the end of September and stayed for a week. We stayed at Lake George in a cabin right on the water. It was the most picturesque spot! I must have said "I feel like I am on top of the World" a million times ... Philip just kept saying, "Yes, I know!"Blaise had
a blast! playing in the dirt, gathering rocks, feeding the
chipmunks and of course fishing! He even has his own fishing rod just his size.
We did catch some trout as you can see in the pics! It was a really fun trip. We did see a bear right at the waters edge in front of our cabin cruisin for fish. We will definitely be back!
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Here I am on my kayak in the middle of Lake George, up at Mammoth Lakes.The lake is at 9,200 ft and the views are amazing!!!I wanted to give a "fisheye view" from the lake! It was awesome to check out the 360scope. Tons of Fun!!! There is a bit of wind that you will hear, sorry for that ... I was just happy that I didn't fall over while taping ... the water is freezing!!

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Hula

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Here is a bit of video from Lowell's (or "Uncle Lolo as he is known in the halau) show on Sunday 10-8-06 in Ventura. It was really great! Felt like we took a little trip to the Islands!!! Hula Halau O Puananiha ' Aheo put on the show. Check out their link on my blog. In the front row in the middle is Lowell's daughter, Nani, who is an extraordinarily talented dancer as well as ukulele player and singer. Awesome! The musicians are Grammy Award winners from Hawaiii, Keoki Kahumoku, Herb Ohta Jr., and Daniel Ho. Thought you would like to see some of the beautiful dancing!!

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Mahalo!!

Mr.Lee

Here is Mr. Lee, our beta fish. Ever try to photograph a fish? Not so easy. He is the best pet for a family on the go. They are a solitary fish. If you put two fish together they will fight. It's fun to put a mirror next to the fish bowl, Mr. Lee with puff up because he thinks that there is another fish in his bowl. I know, cheap and cruel entertainment... don't worry we don't do it very often.

Buddies

I just Love this picture!!!! It is actually amazing that Zack is so calm with Blaise hugging him so tight. Zack use to be afraid of Blaise but now I think that he has gotten use to him. When Blaise was a baby, Zack would shy away from him. Now he realizes that Blaise can play catch with him so it is a different story! Now they are Buddies!

"Blaise, Blaise the Baker Man"

If I even mention the word "bake" in our house, Blaise is right there in the kitchen waiting to help out. I decided to make a cake for our anniversary and Blaise was right by my side, apron

ready and all! Mixing was fun but getting all messy with the batter was the best!
When I was finished pouring the batter into the pans I said that he could lick the bowl, well when I turned around, as you can see, Blaise took me literally ... head right into the bowl! Silly Me!!

Whipped cream frosting, first time for licking the beaters ... Do you think he enjoyed it ... You Bet!!

My How Time Flys!!

Today is our five year anniversary. Can hardly believe it ... time does really fly by! Thought you all would like to see a pictue of me when I am actually dressed up ... not the usual shorts, bathing suit, wetsuit, or "active wear"! We had such a wonderful wedding day. It was awesome to be surrounded by all of our loved ones! Here is to a lifetime of Happiness Together!!!

A Blaise Playday!

As you can see Blaise is quite the climber. We had a fun day at two parks in SB and climbing was the "thing"! Dru, I'm sure that you are quite familiar with these parks, lots of fun! I really wanted to go on the "flying horses" sooo I convinced Blaise that it would be tons of fun. We were actually the only ones on the horses ... our own Merry Go Round!

The Sidewalk is our Canvas

Blaise and I had sooo much fun painting on the sidewalk. He got some special paints for Christmas and we put them away and then found them and decided to try them out. They are special for the sidewalk and just wash away with water. The kit also comes with a number of different sponge shapes that are squishy and cool! No muss no fuss, just plain Fun!!!

Love those Ice Blended Mochas at Coffee Bean

If I have one vice it definitely is an ice blended mocha from Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf. I like to meet my friends Robin and Cindy there for a

"blend". My order is always the same ... decaf, half mocha half vanilla with Extra whipped cream! Oh yes, Love the Whip! ... then I get an extra straw, Blaise loves the purple straws, and he has his "mocha coffee" as he calls it, actually it's only the whipped cream! Good to the last drop as you can see!

Catalina ... with the Girls for lunch ... after the crossing

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Here are the girls on Catalina after the race having lunch...Maria, Mindy, Julie, Cora, Rell and Eva. It was a fun crossing and a Great Day!

I did not get video of the crossing I just left that up to Mindy, the "Expert"! Check out her stuff at www.outriggercanoe.blogspot.com and www.mindyclark.blogspot.com

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Washing "The Blaise Mobile"

It is so great to see Blaise so enthusiastic about washing "The Blaise Mobile"! I was washing it the other day and right away he wanted to help out. Of course he grabbed the hose and started spraying all over the place! Yikes! He could not stop laughing and I had to get totally soaked to

get the hose away from him. It was really funny. Then immediately he grabbed the towels and started to dry the mini van ... oh... oops..."The Blaise Mobile"!
I am going to save these pics so that when he is able to drive and I say let's wash the car, I can remind him of how much he loves to wash!

Grandma's in Town

Grandma's in town so it is off to our favorite place for lunch. Gee would that be Italian food! oh yes, and the Best! We had a really fun afternoon...first we played at the park and then had a delicious lunch. We met up with our really good friends and had a fun afternoon...lots of laughs!

A Day at the Fair

Once a year the fair comes to town. This year we did actually go ... twice, the first time to just cruise around an the second time primarily to go to the rodeo. We thought that Blaise would be very excited to go on the rides because this year he was a little bit taller so he had a few more options than last year. Well that was not the case, not even with the pony rides. Of couse me, the Mom wanted him to "have fun" on the pony so I put him on the animal, crying and clinging to me! Gosh what were the other parents thinking! Anyway after a few laps around the ring he was ok. This pics was taken about mid-ride so he was still warming up to the idea! He really liked looking at all of the animals! Loved all of the sheep and the horses! He wanted to take them home, sure if we lived on a ranch! We did go to the rodeo and that was fun. They had an ambulance standing by in case the riders needed help. Blaise saw it and said "Mommy there is the ambulance in case the cows and horses get hurt, they can take them to the hospital". When they had the calf roping, Blaise was very concerned when their legs were tied, for the 6 sec. hold, and couldn't get up and were getting "all dirty" on the ground. He did like the barrel racing because they rode really fast. We of course had our kettlecorn, Blaise's favorite ... alright, my favorite too! Before we went home we checked out the rides again but just looked, maybe next year will be different. I actually went on a couple rides...one was called the Kamikazi and went upside down round and round...nice view of the fair from upside down but I think that my stomach is still up there!

Women of Paradise Beach Day Santa Clause Lane 7-30-06

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What a great day to go to the beach and spend it with the WOP girls and families. Blaise had a blast in the sand and water! He loved watching the train pass by, and it was really close so he could wave to the engineer! He thought that it was really cool!!

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Check out the Fun!!!!!

Women of Paradise Beach Day

A WOP beach day, that's Women of Paradise! Almost half of the gals were able to go so that was great. Me, Cindy, Sarah and Kathleen got to touch base and get caught up on life a bit. The kids had a great time digging in the sand and playing in the water.

Blaise Digging at the Beach 7-19-06

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Blaise loves to dig at the beach especially with his feet, because as he says " I can dig really fast this way Mommy" !

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"Let's Go Surfin Now...Even Blaise is Learnin How"!

Yes, I finally made it out in the water after a bit of a break, gosh my gills were a bit dried out! It was Awesome! Most of the time I was just paddling around and making sure that I wasn't in the way of all of the "good surfers". Blaise watched me from the shore with Philip and the binoculars ("so I could see you better Mommy" Blaise said). I was wearing a full wetsuit but got pretty hot and had to keep pouring water down my neck to cool off. Next time it's "bareback" for me ... that's without a wetsuit! We are planning on a beach day for Sunday with the girls so I'm excited! We can trade off watching the "chillin" while we try to catch some surf! Cowabunga Dude !!!!

Blaise watering flowers from the driveway 6-27-06

Blaise watering flowers from the driveway 6-27-06

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This is actually my first video of Blaise. It is really funny because he wanted to get me wet so I had to keep moving around him. Lots of Fun!

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See Blaise in action!!!

Surfer Training

So we are out at the beach again the other day and I say to Blaise "we are going to learn how to surf". He was all excited and just started jumping around in the sand. It was a playday so we didn't have the surfboard. Anyway, here is his "push up on the board" pose. I will have to get a video camera to capture all of his "groovy moves"!!

The Farmers Market

A fun family trip for us on Saturday morning is to go to the farmers market in town. Blaise loves
to carry the veggies all by himself! His favorite things to look at are all of the beautiful flowers. He , of course has to get up close and actually smell the pretty arrangements! I think that the main reason that he likes to go to the market is for the kettle corn! It is sooo yummy! I know that I look forward to it! As you can see the bag is about as big as Blaise!

A Day at the Beach

A beautiful day at the beach with Mr. Blaise. You would have thought that he would have been in the ocean since birth, but no, not until two weeks ago! Oh sure you say that I am "such the fish" "WHAT is the Deal"??? ok ok his gills are totally wet and he is ready to live on the sand! He had sooo much fun!! He loved it when the waves would come up and he would then run after the bubbles on the sand. One wave came up and knocked him over a bit and he just rolled over on his back and laughed!! As you can see is is nicely covered up and protected from the harsh rays of the sun. Oh sure when we were little we use to go to to Hampton Beach and run around all day without sunscreen (until they came out with Coppertone #4 ... whew that really did some good!) and of course would get a bit pink, of course thinking that the pink would somehow turn into a tan ... eventually! Anyhow, Blaise is really good about wearing his "getup" and I just tell him it is what all the surfers wear and then he thinks it is Cool. I'm shopping for a wetsuit so we can go out on the surfboard and paddle around a bit. It is hard to find one in his little size. Can't wait to venture back to the beach and build more castles. Lots of Fun!!

"Here Comes the Bean"

The paddling girls together (and Master Jack) to celebrate the up and coming nuptuals of "The Bean" the beauty queen in the lovely shade of green seated with the group. We had a Fantastic time at Shicky's! Lots of laughs and great stories. Sabina was a Crack up! Loved hearing the stories about her wedding dress. Can't wait to see the pics!! We all wish her Much Love and Aloha!!!

A Peek from the Past !

Ok, Ok, I'll let you all stop laughing so that you can focus in on the old family pic! Yes, that is me, the oldest girl with the very cool outfit. Too bad it's not in color because I remember it well, it was deep red with navy outline. My Mom always brought me to the barber with my brothers so I always had a "pixie" haircut. In this photo I was growing out my hair so I parted it on the side and put it behind my ear so it looked like it was getting longer. Oh yes, and this pic was "obvi" pre braces ... oh my! That is Erin on my lap, my "living doll", Sean in the middle and Patrick on the end. Check out Pat's his cool shorts and his very hip watch band! Love it!

Father's Day Weekend at the Beach

What a great way to spend a Father's Day weekend ... at the beach! Saturday they had a "Kids Fest" at the beach with all kinds of activities for children of all ages. We drove down and took Blaise's tryke with us. He was just cruisin away. Check out his headwear ... the hat AND the helmet! The weather was beautiful! On Sunday we spent the afternoon and early evening with family. It was a really nice way to spend the day! Daddy and Blaise in their "Aloha" attire ... the only way to go!

Our New Sandbox !

Do we live by the beach??... yes, but do we get there to play as often as we want ... no, soooo this is the greatest thing going! Bring the beach to the backyard. When I got the sandbox it looked big enough for Mr. Blaise but once I got it home and he put lots of play toys in it, there was barely enough room for him to sit, but of course that's the way he likes it! Hours of Fun!

Our Own Little Farmer

Oh yes, another day on the farm, or at least that what Mr. Blaise thinks! He is so excited because he can reach the peddles and actually cruise around on his "John Deere". Always something new and exciting in our house!!

Sesame Street

If you have these characters at your house you probably have a little one , or just like Sesame Street. Blaise loves these guys and the show! Elmo is his favorite! When the show is on in the morning and Elmo comes on I hear ... "Mommy Elmo's on!!!" and of course I go in to watch with him. They are really cool if I do say so myself.

Mmmmmm ... Lasagne !!

Yummy! Lasagne!!! My little chef is the ultimate taste tester and he said that the noodles were perfect. He was all decked out in his apron and felt very official. My lovely husband made a super sauce sooo all we had to do was put the ingredients together. We used two packs of noodles so the pan must have weighed 10 lbs by the time we were through! Baked the tastey treat and now it is in the freezer to be consumed at a later date. Good thing my husband is Italian ... I love potatoes and everything but nothing beats great homemade Italian food !!

Before and After ... the Doggie Beauty Parlor

Well this is a picture of my dog Zack. The top picture is what he usually looks like and the bottom one is from Saturday after the beauty parlor. His coat was just getting unmanageable, and I don't like the shedding of hair everyhere ... so it was off to get trimmed.Now we know that Zack is a mix, mostly Australian Shepherd but it looks to me as if there is some dalmation in there too ya think!!
He is just the best dog though. When Blaise came along, I know that he felt like he was put to the back burner so to speak, and now Zack is afraid of Blaise. All that Blaise wants to do is play with him yet he scurries away to find his own space. Now he looks like a puppy and he's 8 yrs. old. Blaise even comments on the trim, he says " I like Zacky's haircut"!! too funny !!