water sports

Luckily we're busy making granola and on the phone trying to get our satellite service working again, so I got to finish this post! Finally! I've been intending to post these for years. Days, anyway.

So we got this really cool waterproof case for our camera, and Tony and Mike took it with them diving to test it out.



This is the same place Katie got certified last summer. This picture is so cool. It's looking up towards the surface from probably 30-40 feet down. I'm guessing, I wasn't there, but I've done this dive.

Ok, enough of that. What we really want to see is cute kid pictures! Here's Ella getting ready to go.

The kids playing under a fountain at the first hotel we stayed at.

We spent a few days at the beach, too. They loved the water (Ella especially, she was boogie boarding like a pro), but we spent some time playing in the sand too. Here's some evidence.

They just look like they're having a blast here.

And Mason, chill-axin' after a rough day of fun.

some more weekend pics, aka fun with rowdy

Like I was telling Katherine and Katie the other day, I like having busy weekends because it gives me 2 days worth of blog fodder. Yay for one less pointless post!

We had lots of fun with Rowdy. I guess neither of them had ever met him, but they were quite pleased to make his acquaintance. He's a good dog. Actually, we determined this weekend that Rowdy is a she. It'll be tough to make the switch. Old habits die hard. Aw, look at what a good dog Rowdy's being.

Rowdy! Out of the trash!

Down, Rowdy! Get down! Be a good girl!

That's better, Rowdy. Dance with Auntie Katherine. Good dog!

In other news, Katherine is engaged! Congrats to her and Jevon! That's her hand (and ring) on the top right, Katie's is on the left, mine is at the bottom. 2 engaged hoes at once, now it's just a race to the altar.

And finally, a nice beach shot.

If you guys lived in Florida, we could do this all the time!

so, how's the new/old job?

First off, the obligatory weekend recap. We went for our long walk on a different beach this weekend, and check out what I found!

It totally looks like I just found this picture on line and posted it, but I swear I really found it on the beach. There were tons of starfish too, but I decided not to take any home because I didn't want it to smell or anything. Also, I meant to mention it last week, but for the last couple of weeks Alfred has gone for a walk by himself on the days I didn't go. He walked a total of about 45 miles over the course of 9 days. The man's insane. Well, we all suspected it, I mean he did marry me, right? :)

We also made a super fancy dinner for Sunday night: roast leg of lamb, cucumber salad, Mexican avocado salad, and wine from one of the wineries we visited in Napa (we get an order of 3 bottles from them every year, it's great wine). It was delicious.

Onto the new/old job report. It's been going ok so far. Lots of people have mentioned how happy they are that I'm back, so that's nice to hear. It's been a little tough to remember all the little details of what I'm supposed to be doing, and I've had to hunt for some supplies and things. Hopefully it will all come back to me.

I even have a cute kid story already. A boy maybe 9 years old came in to buy a couple of whips, because the one he had bought several months ago was frayed from being used so much. He was all decked out, with an Indiana Jones hat and everything. When he first held the whips he was like "wow, these are really nice whips!" I said that he must be getting pretty good with the whip, and he said "yeah, and I have all the clothes too, see? My hat, my belt, and this clip to attach the whip to my belt." Then, all serious, he said "can I ask you a question? Why is there this loop on the handle?" I explained that he could put it around his wrist, or hang the whip up when he was done with it. He nodded very seriously and thanked me. He was just so darn cute.

So that's that. Hopefully it will get easier, and hopefully I can figure out enough stuff to do to keep me busy. I'm sure there's stuff I can be doing, I'm just not entirely sure what. I could always ask my boss, I guess...

nomads

I don't remember if I ever posted this picture. It's from one of our early morning walks on the beach. Pretty, huh?


I've taken a shower in 3 different houses since yesterday morning, and slept in a 4th. We're having our mail held for the next week because we won't be home for the next week. Meanwhile, we're collecting mail for 2 other houses. Yup, double booked for house sitting again. Ilya and Mercedes are at least really far away - the other couple is only going to be an hour away for a family event. They're even bringing a bunch of family to see the house Saturday morning. It seems completely ridiculous to me, but hey, what do I know. Then Sunday we'd be up here anyway for father's day and for Robyn's birthday, and then of course work, so we're just staying. Cheap gas week, at least! And I get to make a cake, so that's good. And we're going out to dinner tonight. Hell, who needs to go home?

We had been planning to go to Hawaii to visit Mike this summer. The plan had been for this week, because he had some time off. The fair I did not go to yesterday was one (but not the only) reason we decided to wait. That makes it suck even more.

beachy goodness

I downloaded Katie's pictures last night, so here are some more from the weekend to share. First, we had an Iron Chef competition Sunday night. The secret ingredient was roasted red peppers, and we had to make 1 regular dish and 1 dessert. I made garlic focaccia with roasted red peppers and mozzarella, and my dessert was roasted red pepper tarts with meringue. They both turned out pretty well, if I do say so myself, and I won! I was also the only competitor. Here I am contemplating the meaning of life.

I was going to post a picture of Katie's boogie boarding injury, but I couldn't find it just now. I know I saw it this weekend, but it must have been on our camera, which means I copied it to the computer at home and deleted it from our camera. My b. (I don't think I told the story of double nipple ring boy, who we met at the beach Saturday, and who has given us such gramatical gems as "my b" instead of "my bad," and "twisted" which I presume means drunk.) Anyway here are the younguns boogie boarding.

Yesterday we went to the beach. Surprise! Some kid left a shovel and bucket, so we made this sweet sandcastle. In the back is the watchtower, and the castle for the royalty is in the front. Check out the land bridges. That's some amazing construction right there. I made them, in case you couldn't guess. We gave up trying to fill the moat after 1 bucket.


After that we got the brilliant idea to take pictures of our shadows in the sand. It started out with us doing "YMCA" and went from there. Please enjoy my first attempt at a slideshow, with handy subtitles in case you have trouble figuring out our spelling. Just remember as you see the words we chose that we were with 3 19/20 year olds. And me and Alfred. Not the most mature minds.

fun with Katie's friends

Three day weekends are great.

Saturday we went to the beach right by our house. Apparently you can ride horses on the beach. On their way back the girl in the back here had her skirt hiked up around her hips. Classy.

That night we did a power hour, and made pizza and cupcakes. The first picture is of my pseudo-Hostess cupcakes, and for the ones in the second picture I used the Magnolia Bakery recipe. It was seriously the most delicious frosting ever.


Yesterday we went to Daytona. We cruised the beach for awhile, watched some lifeguard training, then drove the car onto the beach and only got stuck in the sand once. The younguns went in the water and rode some mad waves on the boogie boards but it was too damn cold for Alfred and me. Yeah, we're wusses. On the way home we stopped for dinner at Chipotle (Alfred's favorite!) Then last night we had yet another power hour. Behold the wonderous tower of Coors Light. I also enjoy the artistry of the girls in the background. Alfred took several videos of Katie and Christina performing but I think they'd both kill me if I posted that. It's pretty good blackmail material though, so don't piss me off, Katie! :)