A Fun Day at the Bay

Went down to San Diego this weekend and took the kids to the bay. Its one of their favorite places to play. Went with Teru, his wife, and Takeru. They had a lot of fun.

Takeru enjoying his pink floatie...

Emi got pretty comfortable on the boogie board and went pretty far. That dot in the middle is her.


Teru taught them how to make sand balls...

And then he'd throw them in to the
bay at whoever was in there...

Tamami dragged Sage to where its deep. He was so scared...

Sage was stoked to be in the hole till we gave him some boobs...

And then it was Emi's turn!

North Fork

Summer break has started for the kids this week. We went hiking with a few of their friends to the North Fork of the San Jacinto River. It was a short hike, with a lot of stops along the way, playing on boulders and logs. The kids really had a fun time.

It was like we were on a field trip...

Allison, Sage, Micah, Ben, Danny, Abby, and Emi.

The pretty flowers were blooming...
Playing among the huge boulders...they looked like they can play here all day.
What a great way to start off the summer...

Manzanita Tea

Emi tried making Manzanita Tea she learned from her friend Mallory's dad, a Cahuilla Indian.












She picked berries from the trees from our neighborhood, washed them, and separated them, skin from seeds.







She grinds the skins...















Sage wanted in on the fun and picked some berries to grind too.

Put them in a cheesecloth, and let it sit in some hot water and simmer...

Whola! Manzanita Tea! The berry taste was subtle, but worth making again with more berries!

Class of 2007

Abby graduated from Kindergarten today. She is officially a big kid now. She's learned a lot this year, especially reading. We're getting a pool pass so we will be swimming at the pool a lot this summer.

10th Anniversary

David and I celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary today. Time does fly. Hard to believe I've known him for 16 years now.

Tetherball Whore

Sage's latest obsession: Tetherball. That's all he plays at school. How come you don't play with your friends? They play basketball, and its not basketball season now. Who do you play Tetherball with? Whoever is there, doesn't matter, as long as they play tetherball. David can't believe our son has chosen tetherball as his sport of choice. Well, at least it involves a ball. Yeah, on a stick! But he's pretty good at it. He'll play with some middle-schoolers, and they've come to know him by name. He calls himself the Tetherball King. He is so cocky...

1st Solo & Summit #5

Walked my first solo hike today. My friend Michelle caught a cold and couldn't make it. Went up Marion Mountain trail, I had read up on it, it is the shortest route (11.2 miles roundtrip) to the San Jacinto Peak, but also one of the hardest. People had said they've done it, and will never go this route again. It's just steep and the hike back is just as rough. So I thought I'd go check it out, go partway just to see if its really that bad, and also walk on a trail I haven't been on yet. The first 2.5 miles took 1hr 45 min., definitely the longest 2.5 miles I've hiked. Still had some time so kept walking to Little Round Valley...and ultimately to the San Jacinto Peak. Overall, the hike wasn't as bad as expected, I'd do it again and probably will prefer this route. Would rather do 11.2 rough miles, than 18 moderate miles.





















































Some pretty flowers along the way...

Little Round Valley

Little Round Valley Junction. This would of been my turnaround point. The sign says the peak is 1.6 miles away. Hmmm, I wonder if I walk fast enough I'll have enough time to go there. It'll be a shame to get this close and turn back...

Only .3 miles to go...almost there....

I was so happy to see the shed. Finally...I'm there!

Inside the shed. Looks like a shrine to Hikers, with a couple bunkbeds on the side.

Signing my first summit register!

Behind the shed is the pile of boulders you need to climb to reach the summit.

The view from the top. Whenever I reach a summit, I wish my camera had the panorama feature.

At the peak, 3 1/2 hrs later, elevation 10,834'. Total climb: 4534' gain. Believe me, I was so happy to reach the top. Too bad I couldn't stay and enjoy the scenery and rest a bit. I had 2 hrs. to run back to my car and go pick up my kids. Summit #5, check!

Farm Boy Sage

We were all in a public restroom, and Sage points to the seat covers and asks what they are. I say they are cowboy hats, here, let me show you by putting one on your head. He wouldn't let me, but Emi did. See, don't they look like cowboy hats? Then Sage says, Don't mess with a farm boy! Are you a farm boy, Sage? Isn't it supposed to be, Don't mess with a Hillbilly? (since you live in the mountains?)

Abby's 6th B-day in Kernville

We went to Kernville to celebrate Abby's 6th Birthday. We all went rafting, the kids were a little nervous about falling in at first, but afterwards had so much fun they wanted to do it again. We stayed at a cozy log cabin near Lake Isabella. She wanted to have a birthday party with her school friends, but I think she was happy we went to Kernville. Its cute she is still at an age where things don't have to be glamours to be cool. Her b-day dessert of choice: a Jello cup with tangerines.
About an hour to Kernville, heading toward the mountains, my kids yell, "Look, mountains!" It was funny since we live in the mountains...

A lot of Joshua Trees along the way...

A view of Lake Isabella from above. We dropped David off at the top for his bike ride and met him back in town.

Mission accomplished. Looked up this primitive hot springs on the internet. Wasn't sure if I'd find it...unfortunately, we weren't alone. And it was clothing optional, which meant there are some naked, old, fat men around. Knowing this was a possibility, I had forewarned the kids not to point and laugh. The hot springs were right next to the Kern River, so if you get hot, you can jump into the river, and then hop back in the hot springs to warm up.





If we were alone, we could of hung out here all day.

The Trail of 100 Giants. About an hour north of Kernville, a grove of 100 giant Sequoia redwood trees. They say they only grow on the western slope of the Sierra Nevadas. Since my dad can receive energy from trees, I bet he would of loved this place.

Kern River. The water was really cold, but felt good. Makes me wish Idyllwild had a river...

Summits #3 and #4

There is a list put out by the Sierra Club of 100 Peaks. (http://angeles.sierraclub.org/hps/hpslist.htm#26) Michelle and I thought it'd be fun to try to do the ones around Idyllwild. There are about 25 peaks in our area. So far we've done: #1 Suicide Rock and #2 Taquitz Peak Lookout. Today we did: #3 Spitler Peak and #4 Apache Peak. We started from Fobes Ranch Rd., walked part of the PCT, and walked a really steep climb to Spitler Peak. It was really warm, and the climb was brutal. But, as always, the views and the satisfaction of reaching the summit make it worthwhile.

Spitler Peak. Thank goodness for those cairns. They really helped us locate the peak.

We decided it'll be cool to do two peaks on the same day. Looking up at Apache Peak, we climbed up to the hump on the left.

Trekking across the Wilderness towards Apache Peak.

The views from Apache Peak.

San Jacinto Mountains.

Lake Hemet

Michelle looking for the summit register. No luck.

Looking back at Spitler Peak on the right.

Total stats: 11 miles, 3300' elevation gain, 5 hrs.