May

May is almost over HOORAY! This month has been good. Eight more days until school is over and we can't be more excited. Recently Paul bought us a new camera, it takes amazing pictures compared to our old one. He got a mega deal on it too!

Paul and Terra planted gardens in the back yard. We used swimming pools so we wouldn't spend money on trees to make planter boxes. These we can move around and take with us when we move. Pretty good idea that I wouldn't have thought of.

 We had our neighbors over for a picnic on Friday. All the kids played and adults sat, drank, and ate. Good times!

Even though Terra wasn't feeling well, she took part in the Strawberry Run today. It was a huge Strawberry festival along with several races in various length. Terra ran the 1/4 mile. Next year we will sign her up for the one mile for sure! The rest of the day she has been on the couch sick with fever. I really hope she feels better because tomorrow we were going to go to Safari Park.

Paul and I are getting ready for our road trip. Points of interest have been picked out and so far we have made three music CDs. Next we need to make up some bingo cards and come up with other in car games.

Here are some pictures with our new camera.

Building and Bugs

Recently I participated in a Habitat for Humanity All Female Home Build. It wasn't quite what I had envisioned but it has motivated me to look for other volunteer opportunities with Habitat for Humanity. I did learn how to install door jams and hang door! I'm sure that can be useful. Here's a picture of the Palomar UU Peace and Justice Team at the end of the day.

Our most recent addition to the family is a '67 Volkswagen Beetle. My childhood dream has come true! His name is Ted (formally April, he had a sex change) after the DC comic book hero The Blue Beetle. Today was my first project under the car. I was going to change the oil but first I had to replace the Push Rod Tubes because they were leaking oil. I ended up ruining a bolt with a torque wrench so major bumps in my project. Hopefully getting the bolt replaced won't be too difficult or expensive. I may need to take it to a shop. I feel so sad that I let Ted down. I was really hoping to take care of this project and be back driving. Here's a picture of Ted.

We have one month of school left and then we're hitting the road! I am really looking forward to this road trip. It has been so long since we were able to drive like this. We plan on hitting the Grand Canyon, the Painted Desert, Albuquerque, Amarillo, possibly Dallas, and then Shreveport. It will be very difficult for Terra. When the two of us would visit Paul in 29 Palms it would take us about three hours to get there. Terra got bored and cranky after about 45 mins.  It's going to be a long week.

Friday

Every Friday at Empresa Elementary there is an assembly called "Friday Flag." It's where the school passes out various awards and announces important information to the students. Parents are invited to watch on the side lines. Every Friday one of the classes leads the school in the Pledge and then singing the school Alma Mater. Yesterday was Terra's class's turn and guess who was at the mic?

Friday Flag (click the link)

Spring, or should I say Summer break is over.

Today is Terra's last day of Spring Break. It has been so nice to have a short break from school but I'm sure by now Terra is ready to go back. Only two more months until school is out! We can make it. We can make it.

So let's see, on Spring Break we went to Balboa Park with the Huffs. Terra's BFF Maggie, her brother Benjamin, and their Mom Cindy came with us. I'm grateful that Cindy drove, not sure I would have found it so successfully. We have to go again when Paul is in town. The Park is enormous with many museums on the property. Along with this amazing promenade with old Spanish architecture and beautiful gardens. I didn't take any pictures because I was too busy taking in the sites myself. Next trip I'll have to remember. I actually didn't take too many pictures inside the one museum that we went to, kid wrangling still soaks up so much of one's time even with a 5 year old.

Today we went to Safari Park. Pretty darn cool! We took a private tour of their Asian Savanna Exhibit, walked through a Butterfly House(one huge butterfly landed on Terra's chest as soon as we entered), pet some of the fattest goats I've ever seen, saw three tigers and one female lion, two different breeds of Rhinos, some type of Siberian Horse (doubt they like the heat of San Diego county) and countless other exhibits. Really fun day. Exhausting but fun.

This week Terra also learned to ride her bike with no training wheels!

What I'm looking forward to most is picking up Paul on the 8th! After that we will enjoy some good ole fashion camping in the mountains. Escape the heat and enjoy the company of everyone else from the Fellowship that will attend.

Back in time

So my most recent post was all about Twentynine Palms, and our visit to Joshua Tree. Funny enough, it was not our first time there. I actually found some pictures that my Mom took when she came with Mary and Terra the last time I was here (2011) so here are a few of those pictures.

Skull Rock!

I remember being so thrilled that Terra was getting hair.

It was tough going in a lot of the park, but Mom is a trooper.

I don't think we saw too much of the park on that trip, but it was fun to get out and about. And looking back is always a good thing.

Another visit to the high desert

Mary and Terra came out to Twentynine Palms to visit over the weekend. It was really nice to have the family together again. I sort of go into hermit mode when I am in school and just don't do much but go to the gym and then to school. We didn't do all that much, but it was a great trip. The weather did not favor us, and we had to adjust our plans to visit Joshua Tree. Our original plan was to go climb up Ryan Peak, but it looked like it was going to rain, and there was much more wind and chill than we were prepared for. Instead, we took the geological car tour which was really fun too. Finally got to have it explained to me what all of the piles of rocks were about, and learn a bit about the different kinds of rocks. Mary took a class on Geology while she was at college, so it was fun for her too. Terra was wanting to get out and go hiking, but it was just too cold. We ended up taking a few pit stops and pictures though:

Getting the kid kitted out for the chilly wind.

Monzogranite rock piles, around 87 Million years old.

Hammin' it up.

The kid is a surprisingly good photographer.

This is Pinto Gneiss, it was in an isolated part of the park, and is around 1.7 Billion years old. Cool Cactus bro.

More pinto gneiss.

We climbed up to get a good picture or two. There was a really great old cedar right next to us that smelled amazing.

Beautiful Desert, Joshua Tree in the distance.

After our trip to the park we ate some "Meh"xican food and went bowling!

Caught some great sunset shots.

I've been trying to hype up the sunsets here, this one was average.

After that, we at at the carousel cafe, and had a Banana Split! Wow, I hadn't had a banana split in forever, they are really good. Why don't I get them more often? Simple, good.

Finished off the trip with a visit to the Mara Oasis, and had a nice brunch. Great trip, and it was good to see my girls. They are wonderful.

Back to the Desert

     Funny enough, I believe that I really started making updates to this blog when I was last here in 29 Palms. Looking back through post history, I see talking about building ideas, music, complaining about the trash, and various other things. Where my mind goes when I'm on my own seems to be fairly predictable. More time to listen to new music (to me), new shows, new distractions. I'm happy that so far I am keeping up with eating well and getting in shape again. Let's see how long it lasts.
     I miss being able to work at the PUUF grounds. Getting my weekly soul dirt quota is hard to do in the middle of nowhere. Long walks don't seem to change the scenery much at all. Ah well, its only a few months. Gives me time to refine plans for the grounds anyway. Planting and irrigation designs that will be more manageable when I have to leave.
     So thoughts of sugar pines, fig trees, and flowers are crowding out my daily head stuffings of linux and network security. Thank goodness. I may have trouble on the tests, haha, but I'd sooner forget all of that if it makes room for something more permanent. The rest of the time, I'm missing family.


Meanwhile, beautiful music, beautiful lyrics.

And haha, jeez kid.