38 Years Young

The other day was my birthday. David always makes me omlets for my b-days and Mother's days since it's something I enjoy but never make for myself. This year's b-day omlet had cheese, goat cheese, basil, and tomatoes.

I said I wanted to hike from Idyllwild to Palm Springs again. The kids said they could do it with me so we dropped off a car in Palm Springs the day before and started a family hike from Devil's Slide.

Willow Creek. One of many rest stops.

Looks like an ad for Osprey packs, doesn't it?

Hidden Lake...we couldn't find it last year so I'm glad we found it this time. Unfortunately it was fenced off for preservation.

David whips out some PBR. Always thinking about beer, that man...

We're almost there! 6.8 miles hiked, 1.3 to go.

Since they have to listen to my wishes on this day...family picture time! ^_^

Long Valley Ranger Station.

Looking down to Palm Springs from the start of the tram ride.

Headed over to Mr. Cora's Mexican Seafood Restaurant in Cathedral City. Mmmm...that Michilada hit the spot. I'm not sure what they put on the rim but it made the drink tastier.

I'll have some of that Viagra...(^_^)

I wonder what they call it in Mexico...

Shrimp ceviche tostadas. Reminded me of the days we used go to Ensenada, Mexico to eat and drink.

The shrimp tacos were good too.

This is why we don't live in the desert.

Photostitching/Photomerging

It's funny how things come into your life, things you really hadn't thought about and probably wouldn't, until it crosses your path in the unexpected of places. A Facebook friend was tagged in a photograph that was created by photostitching using his Photoshop CS4. I just loved how the photo looked so I browsed his album to see many more amazing photos. And so began the search of whether I can do the same thing with what I have, Photoshop CS3. It turned out it was a very simple tool, which I was glad to find was in my version. And here is a photostitch/photomerge of the Grotto (a local creek/swimming hole) created using 20 photographs. I think it came out pretty cool, and it's given me something else to take pictures of. ^_^

Here a link to the tutorial.

Placemat Tote Bag

I found some placemats at a yard sale for only ten cents so I turned them into a tote bag. It went pretty smoothly for the edges are already finished. Did the outside and attached the straps...

...and made a big mistake of trying to add a liner, with a pocket too, just to make things more difficult. The size of the liner didn't match the outside, it was a little too narrow. On top of that, I sewed it on backwards! So I seam ripped it all and sewed it back up. There's too many little errors I don't feel right putting it up in my etsy store, so it may be a gift for my mom. ^_^

It does look cute though. I'll be a little smarter next time.

Keeping My Fingers Crossed

David made me some raised beds for Mother's Day this year. Life's been so busy, I finally got around to doing something with them. We have a lot of squirrels around here, I think they're my biggest enemy. I'm really hoping they won't eat everything.

So far, a tomato and a watermelon plant. I'm starting a few things from seed: carrots, cucumbers, green beans, lettuce, radishes, chinese snap peas, korean melons, bok choy, onions, pumpkins, garlic chives, basil, shiso, and mitsuba leaves. I'm not sure how successful I'll be so I thought I'd just try a bunch of things! We have a short growing season so I hope something'll grow before the first frost.

Father's Day 2010

The guys have been into drinking Michiladas and it's been getting fancier and fancier.

Here's Alex...he's so cute!

Did I mention this guy's a cutie?

We had so much food, a good variety too. One of the tasties was some jalapenos wrapped in bacon, stuffed with cheese.

And these BBQ-ed okra was really good too.

We decided to take a break from the eating and play a little Bocce ball. Guys vs Girls. Here's "Team Guys".

Ended the day with some good ol' Drop-a-Foot.

Annual Fern Hike

It's that time of year again when the ferns are in season. The easily accessable spots are also known by others so I have to hit those spots at the right time to get some, and because they are a little lower in elevation they grow a little earlier, usually in May. I have a spot that's up at 8100' so they come into season mid-June, and also is a 3-mile hike up an 1700' elevation gain moderately strenuous trail, that NO ONE touches. I don't think anyone wants it THAT bad. ^_^ I just have to hit it at a right time, usually there's a 2-3 week window. In the past that time has been during the school year so I've always gone solo or with just Emi. But this year my trek is during summer break so I took the kids up with me.

We never tire of seeing Tahquitz up close. That rock's just got this presence, we always start off staring at it.

No matter how little, it's always good to come across some water.

That's Suicide rock in the back. Another one of those amazing sites we always have take a picture of.

Emi and Sage walked a little faster so they waited for us at the junction. Emi found a nice little "bed" to lie down on.

Ferns! Perfect timing, they had just started to come up.

Abby loves to help pick, and she does a good job too.

Skunk Cabbage. Nice and green.

Sage didn't really help with the picking, he sat and enjoyed the sun. I had packed my pack full thinking I'd be carrying it down. Surprisingly, Sage offered to carry it for me, all the way to the bottom. He looked like a turtle!

Total stats: 6-miles in four hours. 3400' elevation change. Two big bags of ferns. Glad I only do this once a year.