Laser sailing

A Sunday sail Steve O and Q- at Jordanelle. In a few months the ski hill you see in the background (Deer Valley in Park City UT) will be covered with snow.
I'm kind of excited about it, kind of not.
I think I'll just focus on the upcoming Labor Day weekend- the grande finale o' summer fun.

school lunch

First grade is tough- little ones need to adjust to the long day of sitting still and listening, not wandering about doing exactly what they want, when they want to do it.
Tough stuff.
C started 1st grade on Tuesday and his mood has been deteriorating all week. This is very hard for me, the Mom, to watch the little fella stress out about going to school the next day, crying himself to sleep. Trying to get to the bottom of the problem and find out what exactly was making him so sad, I quizzed him on the possible problems- the kids, curriculum, teacher, having to sit still so long, shiny happy faces, too hot or too cold, lunchtime, recess...
Roughly all of it, was his reply, but then he shared that lunch makes his tummy hurt, before and after he's actually eaten. Recess- not much better either, he imparted.
At this point his 10 year old sister M, who had been listening to the who conversation chimed in, "Eating lunch in the school cafeteria is freaky- those kids are crazy." She paused, perhaps for emphasis, and then continued to add details after reading the skeptical look on all our faces- the crowd was growing, Q (14 yr. old) had now joined the conversation.
"No really Mom," M pleaded and then began to demonstrate, "the kids get their corn dogs, peel off the corn coating and then wiggle the cornless dog around on the stick." She made a dorky face as she illustrated the event and those involved, "all the boys laugh- they think it's SO funny!"
Then Q chimed in, "It's true! I've see it, you should see them squeeze the grease out of the grilled cheese sandwiches!" another demonstation followed.
I begin to get the picture, it comes back into focus- all my days spent in school cafeterias when I was a kid. Oh dear, I recall the madness. The noise, sights and smells- hundreds of kids, lots of food, spotty supervision.
Who doesn't remember scavenged containers filled with ketchup, mustard, juice, milk and grilled cheese sandwich grease... hurriedly mixed together with corn dog sticks then passed around on a dare, potato chip bags exploding all around you, naked hot dogs on sticks-
My tummy is started to hurt too.

one snazzy bowl

I almost impulse bought this bowl today- 5 seconds after first seeing it...
Now, I think I might dream about it tonight and order a few tomorrow. So great- and available at Scandinavian Design Center, with a bunch of other really cool stuff.

Mancebo on tip-toe

Here are the winners of Stage 4 Tour of Utah- on the podium (l to r) Tanner, Lill, Leipheimer, Mancebo, Boswell. The stage was a criterium, a one mile course up and down Main Street in Park City. Lots of climbing- over and over and over again for the patient/exhausted/hard-working riders, good observing for us cycling fans.

Dinner was wood-fired pizza at Cafe Galleria in Midway on the way back home. Oh how I love pizza piled with non-traditional pizza toppings (this pizza was topped with pesto, chicken, zucchini, arugula, pine nuts and maybe a few other delicious tidbits I can't think of now...).

Round it out with some dessert at the newly opened "Fill'er Up Coffee Station" also in Midway. Yummy baked goods, ice cream, coffee, tea and (sandwiches are coming soon... like for Swiss Days on Labor Day weekend.) The atmosphere on the patio is delightful, meander through the hollyhocks to find a hidden table and enjoy your treat.

the next act

Back to real life- after a few weeks of vacation 'real life' will always leave one breathless. Lots of catching up to do- yard work, grocery, school shopping, cleaning, soccer practice, kids on a better schedule so they can get up without too much trouble when school starts next week... blah, blah, blah... boring. What I should be doing is sewing. I need to get busy making up some messenger bags, like the one shown here. It's not that I don't enjoy the process, it's just the getting started part that is so tough. Too many summer fun distractions.
One would think I have plenty of motivation for locking myself in my sewing room, I have a stack of media ready to go to while I sew- Glee, season 1(and another 90+ movies in my Netflix queue), then Anna Karenina (audio version) that I've just barely started- I've never read it before, Dragonfly in Amber (audio and book version) the second book in the Outlander series, I cannot wait to start it. I spent my weeks at the beach entirely submerged in Outlander, I happily left the real world behind- and lost myself in this book, great read to get lost in by the way.
I've also just started Little Bee (our book group book) so far it's very good, but I only have the print version, and now that I'm back in the real world I need the multi-task version (audio). What I really need is a Kindle so I can go back and forth between listening and reading (the old fashioned way) and focus on one book at a time.
There are just not enough hours in the day.
So, here's to motivation, let me see if I can pull it off making some messenger bags this week and get my kids into bed before 11 pm every night.

dog parade

The Dana Point Marina, an excellent place to get a treat and watch the parade of pampered pups that pass with their doting owners- sometimes in strollers, I mean please people... This big fella caught our eye- how could you miss him? A newfoundland with a lion haircut, pulling a wagon. Even the tip of his tail was left long, like a lions.
To top it all off, the wagon was full of puppies, (chihuahua puppies not newfoundland)... does it get any better than that? And, yes, that is my son- eating his ice cream and petting the puppies (that probably haven't even had their shots yet.)

Doheny

Could there be a better beach to learn to surf? Doheny is our favorite, just south of Dana Point Harbor- and just a bike ride away. The little waves roll in all day, no black ball- you can surf all day. Foam boards are also a wonderful invention- inexpensive, buoyant and virtually harmless to those in the water around you (we found this out the hard way).

And while I'm singing praises... thank goodness for the waterproof camera (Olympus Stylus Tough) for being able to capture these close up images. Great picture- way to go Steve O.

And this gal couldn't love surfing more. She spends hours on end in the water, despite the coldish water (what is up with the water temp. this summer So Cal?), sans wetsuit, ready to catch the next wave. You go girl!

From these pictures it looks like we have the beach to ourselves- this is not at all the case- and part of the fun. Folks of all ages spend the day learning to surf, teaching their kids- having a blast. It's good fun watching everyone- tandem surfing, grandpas styin' it up but especially the little kids in their tiny wetsuits paddling around on longboards, shredding the waves.

smoothies

We made it to the beach, it's quite lovely to really be on vacation- with a book, my bikes, a stack of games, surfboards and boogie boards, sand and some sun and my family.
I love these giant succulents at Dana Point Harbor where we paused on our bike ride for smoothies this morning. I just had to keep snapping pictures of these plants, amid all the patrons, embarrassing the kids can be so fun.