Family Arrives

The family arrived and I introduced the kids to their new room that I had decked out beforehand to get them excited.  The kids were sporting fresh haircuts...Anneliese's being unplanned.  I had gotten word a few days prior to arrival that Ethan had deliberately cut a 4" section of Anneliese's hair off.  Liz didn't even know about it until one of the stylists during Ethan's haircut took notice.  We took our first trip to Dennis the Menace park which the kids loved.

A New Home and a New Blog

I've made the move to our furnished condo in Monterey and the view from our master bedroom is pretty darn nice.  The family is still back home getting their lives organized but will join me in a few weeks.  To document my experience over the coming year, I'll have a new blog titled A Year at NPS with all the happenings both at school and with the family in Monterey.

Free Cruise Around the Port of Long Beach

The family signed up for a free cruise of the Port of Long Beach because I thought it would be need to see some of the huge cargo ships up close.  The cruises are run by the port to show how they are being environmentally friendly.  The sun didn't break until we were heading back to shore but it was still a good time.

Liz Does Disney Half-Marathon

Liz ran the Disneyland Half Marathon and the kids and I zoomed around town to see her run through Angel's Stadium before meeting her at the finish at Disneyland.  Liz could not fathom how some people were going to spend the rest of the day in the park after running.

Walking with Dinosaurs!

Everyone except Anneliese went to go see the Walking with Dinosaurs show at the Anaheim Pond.  It was a darn impressive show.  We all jumped in our seats when a T-Rex broke his silence after staring down audience members with an incredibly loud roar.  It was hard sell convincing Ethan to get a 3-D poster instead of some lame trinket as memorabilia but I pulled it off.

Communal Sand Pit

We finally got the city to fix our sewer mainline which needed roots taken out every year. However, they seemingly forgot to pass the word on to the sidewalk/lawn repair folks so for weeks we've had this community sandbox in our front yard where the neighborhood kids come dig.

Local Fun in Lowell, MI

We went to visit Oma and Opa in Michigan and had fun swimming in a local lake, collecting bugs, and going to the Lowell County Fair and Rodeo.  The rodeo apparently made a real impression on Anneliese as she kept talking about the men "grabbing and tying up the baby cows."  Liz and I left the kids for a trip to Mackinac Island where we ate dinner at the famous Grand Hotel, the world's largest summer hotel.  While impressive, it was a little creepy how each service role at the hotel was filled by a different race.  We had a great bike ride around the beautiful island.  Driving between locales, we hit the Tunnel of Trees on Highway 119.

Along the whole trip, we've never seen so many strange large plastic animal/character statues (e.g., moose painted like American flag) so we took pictures next to them all.  We kept driving north up to Paradise, MI to see Tahquamenon Falls where we did some enjoyable hiking.  We stayed the night at the Whitefish Point lighthouse, home of the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum which was quaint but funny because all artwork on the walls were shipwreck themed...not exactly uplifting.  Dining options in town were a bit limited and we ended up eating at the Red Flannel Saloon twice!  Grandma and John were also able to swing into town for a visit with the kids.

Ethan's Birthday Pool Party

We finally held a birthday party for Ethan and went for the pool party theme again.  The weather had been less than hot (normally holds off until late August) but the sun at least came out.  The highlight was testing out the inflatable slide we purchased for the same price as a rental.  No idea how many uses we'll get out of it before it breaks but I figured I was breaking even after one use so who cares.

Habitat for Humanity

At my suggestion, my church signed up for its first Habitat for Humanity project.  It was similar to the other time I'd volunteered in that it was for their Brush with Kindness program where they just fix up an existing home (doesn't surprise me given there isn't much land affordable land anywhere close).  My pastor and I were dumb enough to volunteer for running electrical in the attack which wasn't too bad until the sun started to turn it into an oven in the afternoon.

Stroller Strides Day at the Beach

 We had a Stroller Strides beach party which was fun.  We attempted another sand castle and this one was equally tall.  This sand at this beach is very easy to use.  I brought out my improvised castle mold made from a tub with the bottom cut out.

Disney California Adventure

We went to Disney California Adventure this weekend. Thankfully Ethan was able to recover from our questionable parenting decision to put him on the Hollywood Tower of Terror as his very first ride in the part. He was pretty much ready to go home after that.