Beach Day

Today was the annual Pack 801 Cub Scout beach day. We hung out at Silver Strand State beach for some food and fun.

Mt. Baldy

Today we did something crazy. We got up at 4am, drove 2.5 hours to LA, and climbed to the top of a 10,000+ foot mountain. Mt. Baldy is the highest peak in LA County. We decided to climb to the top as the kick off to our Spartan training. Our next Spartan is in October.

We took the ski lift a few miles up and climbed an additional 3.5 miles to the top. The trail was very steep, but the view at the top was amazing. I can't wait until our next adventure.

We have a Webelo

Today was Zach's first meeting as a Webelo. He looks handsome in his new uniform.

WGU Blue

As of July 17, I have officially been at WGU for one year. Today we had our annual "All Hands" meeting for WGU to recap the fiscal year. It was my first, and it was great. This is the meeting at which we find out if we have earned a bonus...and we did!

The meeting was streamed live from Salt Lake City, and we all watched from our home offices. The employees who work in Salt Lake City all gathered there. Others who live close to satellite campuses gathered at smaller locations for viewing parties.

We all received a blue WGU shirt to wear and glowing bracelets. At one point during the meeting, they turned the lights off and showed the crowd wearing their bracelets. It was an amazing sight.

My boss asked each of us to send her a selfie wearing our blue shirts. She made a very nice video to show the team and where we are all from. Watch the video here:  #shareteamblueshirts

First Day of School

We officially have a 4th grader and a 7th grader (middle schooler)! Today was the kids' first day of school. I drove Kailani to school this morning and it was madness. There are 1800+ students in grades 7 and 8. Hopefully it will get easier. Kailani had all 6 classes today for a shortened period since it was a half day. On a regular day, she will have 3 classes. This year she is taking English, PE, Math (all in English) and World Cultures, Spanish, and Science (all in Spanish).

Zachary has a new teacher this year. He is new to the school (Mr. Gil), so no one knows much about him. There are 28 kids in his class. From K-3 grade, there were two Spanish classes. This year, they are all combined. Zachary is excited to be in class with all of his friends.

Since both kids had a half day today, we picked Makenzi up and headed to the Corvette Diner for lunch. Kailani was a little embarrassed that they sang happy birthday to her.

Day in LA

Today we spent the day in LA. Jason had to visit a planetarium for his astronomy class, so we decided to go to the Griffith Observatory for something different. It's a really nice place, and is free. We did pay to see the movie, which Jason had to do as part of the assignment.
Makenzi is in San Diego visiting a friend from middle school, so she spent the day with us.

After the observatory, we headed to the American Girl Store to celebrate Kailani's birthday. She got to pick out a bunch of new clothing and accessories for her dolls. We made reservations at the cafe and they provided us with a cake and goodie bags for Kailani's doll.

Zachary decided he wanted a doll too. He got a boy doll.

Coastal Clean Up

Today we participated in the Coastal Clean Up with Cub Scouts. We cleaned up trash as Marina View Park.

Harry Potter

Ever since we visited Universal Studios, Kailani has been crazy for Harry Potter. She watched all of the movies and is on the last book (#7). When we found out that the author (Jim Kay) of the new illustrated Harry Potter books was in town, we had to go meet him. He was visiting from England. He talked about his process of illustrating the books, and signed copies of them. We had to wait a long time for our autographs, but it was worth it.

Belmont Park

Today the kids and I spent the last Monday of summer vacation at Belmont Park in Mission Beach. The kids have never been before, so we decided to check it out. Kailani got a coupon for a free ride wristband from her 6th grade teacher. Many of her friends were going to be there today, so we tagged along.

Cheer Camp

Today Kailani had a stunt camp with skilled coaches from LA. They worked really hard for 5 hours straight. Kailani said the coaches were tough, but she learned a lot.

Sadie invited her to come over to swim afterwards. Sadie's family just moved into a new house with a pool. We are jealous.

Here are some fun photos of the dogs. They love to play with the blanket.

Rebel Baby

In August, we will have a new Rebel Baby. One of the Rebel Moms is going to have her third boy. A few months ago we had a gender reveal party for her. Today was the shower.