Cape Cod Cooking

Last night we had some incredible swordfish for dinner. . .seated at the table starting from left to right, Bob, his friend Ariel, Bill, Vinnie, Georgine, Grandpa Bob, Bill, Brad, Mike, Alana, and Bill's friend, Amanda.
Alana, Brad and I went out on the flats last night and dug for razor clams. We got a lot of them, and even found some quahogs.
Brad is the best at getting the razor clams - and he only cut himself once. Alana was good at spotting the holes where the clams were. . .and then Brad and I chased them down in the sand.
Buzz and Jack were there at the beach house for a day when we got there. It was great to see them. Here we are on the deck of the house.

Summer Ativities

One of the kids favorite things to do in the summer is to have dinner out on the front deck and then have root beer floats for dessert.
There is a great FREE museum down at LAX called the Flight Path Museum. It is just south of the south runway and has interesting displays, as well as a DC 3 that is parked right on the runway there. The kids got to climb on board the plane to see what it used to be like to fly on a private airplane owned by Chevron.
The outside of the DC 3 airplane was intriguing to the kids - propellers instead of jet engines.
Ethan and Ster looked at the largest plane made today over at the international terminal at LAX - the A380.
Helen and Erin came down for a wedding in San Diego and then we all had artichokes one afternoon and started planning for Alana and Steve's wedding.
We have a lot of summer birthdays - the kids helped to blow out Alana's birthday candles. . .
. . .and then Beth Stogner's birthday candles. . .
. . .and then finally, Uncle Jim's birthday candles.
Another summer activity that we like to do is to take our picnic dinner to Santa Fe Dam.
The kids get to play on the park toys and some of the adults get to ride their bikes down to the dam.
Coco, Gavin, Ellie and Ethan have all been taking swimming lessons this summer. Coco is showing no fear going off of the diving board.
Gavin likes to go off the board now also - both he and Ellie can swim across our pool by themselves now.
Alana's good friend from law school, Eileen, is spending the weekend with us. Yesterday was a marathon day for them with shopping at H & M at the mall, going to the Getty, Venice Beach, shopping in Beverly Hills, touring the USC School of Dentistry, and finally dinner at the iconic Miceli's in Universal City.

Backlots and Bathing Suits

Typically we don't get the opportunity to go on movie sets, especially when those back lots have just finished being constructed. But Ster's brother, who is an Art Director for the movie industry, just finished an 18-month project up at the Golden Oak Ranch in Santa Clarita, also known as the Disney Ranch. It is a 900-acre ranch that Walt Disney bought in the 50's or early 60's, knowing that the Disney company would eventually film there. The movie, Old Yeller, and the Mouseketeers episodes were filmed here. A few years ago, Disney decided to build a back lot with a residential street of houses and a downtown area on this property. They just finished the project and Steve took us up for a tour before it opened for filming.
This is one of the Craftsman style of houses on the street. . .it looked pretty fabulous from the outside but on the inside. . .
this is what we saw. As it is unfinished, a movie or TV series can come in and build the inside up any way that they want.
This is the residential street that the 360 degree houses were on. . .they were not just facades so they could film from many different angles, not just the fronts. There are many different types of architecture including old California, Tudor, Colonial, etc. - basically whatever you need to film.
Steve said that he designed this house, a sprawling California ranch, with ideas that he had from living at our house for the first few weeks after he came to California.
Here is part of the downtown area that Steve helped to design.
The Brownstone area in the background is one of the areas of the town that Steve designed. It was a great opportunity to see behind the scenes in the movie industry. Thanks for a great tour, Steve.
The kids were all taking swim lessons at the Duarte pool. . .and they all improved quite a bit.
Ellie jumped off the diving board several times.
And Gavin went flying off the board also.
It looks like Little Buddy was headed for a belly flop.
Coco swam to the side of the pool, with a little help, after she jumped off the diving board.
Back at home in the backyard, the kids swam every day last week, after swimming lessons.
Coco got a little cold and climbed out early.
Ellie loved getting on the boogy board and being pushed across the pool.

Independence Day Activities

All the kids donned their Old Navy t-shirts as they got into the Fourth of July this year.
James and Ster's ward has a 4th of July breakfast with a bike/scooter parade. Ellie decorated her scooter and was a real champ riding it.
The family enjoying the pancake breakfast.
Grandpa worked the Education Foundation fireworks booth, and Gavin and Coco brought lunch to him because it was too busy for him to take a break for lunch.
Afterwards, we all gathered for a barbecue at Warnicks and Stogners and to watch fireworks.
Ethan pushed Coco on the riding truck in the cul de sac.
Craig explained to all of the kids what fire safety was.
Gavin rode his decorated scooter at the picnic.
Coco and Gavin really enjoyed the sparklers.
Gavin joined them in watching their sparklers sparkle.
Thanks to the Stogners for making great memories for our grandchildren.
Steve and Alana watched the fireworks with Ellie
And there were some pretty spectacular safe-and-sane fireworks.
We all watched the fireworks from the sidelines and the kids loved being so close to them.
Coco stood by Craig to watch the fireworks. . .she knows who the fireman is in the crowd.
Afterward, we went up to Grammie and Grampie's house to watch the gorgeous big fireworks shows in the valley. . .and their were so many of them. It is a tradition to have root beer floats as we all watch the fireworks down in the valley.
It was a great way to end the day, marking the birth of our nation, honoring the brave men and women that have kept our nation free.

It's Cold Out There

Evan is shown here, apparently ticking off a dog that he happened to walk by. . .I don't think I'd want to mess with that dog, Evan.
The river by his town has small icebergs in it. . .now that's cold.
Evan helped a member in the ward to build his home, as a service project.
Evan is shown here with that ward member, whose name is German.
With only about 5 hours of daylight in Tierra del Fuego this time of year, it's hard to get everything done in those short days.