We didn't go fishing; we went catching.

Last week before school starts - and what do I do with my kids? They are totally content playing video games. They will play through meal times and not feel hungry. I'm OK with some electronic indulgence during the summer since it will be cut WAY back once school starts, but we needed to get out. I thought it'd be fun to go fishing and Nathaniel could earn a cub scout belt loop. But Chris explained to Davis a couple of years ago that it's called "fishing" and not "catching" for a reason. So I decided to go for a sure thing.
We headed up to Mt. Baldy village about an hour East of us. This is a shot of Than and I at the "Ski Resort" up there (one chair lift that you could see the top of from the parking lot). It was pretty and much cooler up there (greater than 4,000 ft elevation I think) than in the LA basin.

We went to some trout pools where you pay per inch of each fish you catch. The boys didn't catch fish on every cast because the first cast Nathaniel made, the bait came off, and then Davis wised up and would jerk the bait away from fish he thought were too little. Like I said - we went catching. It was fun though.

Here's Davis with some fresh dinner.

And Nathaniel with an fish who is still ready for action.

My job was using the pliers to get the hooks out of the fishes' mouths, and then cook them up for dinner. Nathaniel lost his enthusiasm for them when he saw them in the pan and went for the potatoes instead. But Davis and Chris loved them. I would prefer to go to the boneless, skinless filet catching pond next, but they were still good.

Perseid Meteor Shower at Joshua Tree Natl. Park

I'm generally not a spur-of-the-moment kind of gal. However, yesterday at about 4pm I saw on the internet that the peak of the annual Perseid meteor was going to be from 1-2am that night (or next morning). I thought of how I had always wanted to take the boys out to the desert to watch them but never did because I didn't want to deal with the crying because it was past bedtime. But wait. The boys are older now. So, we went.
All we packed is the stuff for sleeping, a couple folding chairs, and cold cereal and milk for breakfast. In 2 hours and 20 minutes we were in Joshua Tree National Forest fighting for a camping space with all 5 other people in the park (summer is not high season for this national park). The nighttime air temp was in the mid 70s and it was as quiet as you can get without silencing a few desert bugs and what we figured had to be the shriek of an owl. The meteor shower was lovely (no pictures to show for it) and very worth the trip.
Here is our campsite in the Cottonwood Springs Campground, just about 8 miles from I-10, but in the middle of nowhere.

Nathaniel was ready to explore in the morning.

We drove through the park and stopped to explore where the rock "extrusions" are (this was magma that squeezed up under some other rock into these shapes and cooled) near the "White Tank Campground.

Chris and the boys hiked up under Arch Rock.

Chris did his best Atlas impression...

and Nathaniel did his. Then we saw a small hollow high in a rock. I said that'd be a good picture but Chris thought it was too steep. We didn't realize that Davis decided that he was going to climb up there until he appeared walking across the ledge below it (already many feet over our heads).

He found a seam in the rock with a good hand hold.

A closer look shows some good foot holds.

A daring reach...

and then there he was up in the hollow of the rock.

You can see the moon in the sky to the right of the rock cleft. Sorry, no actual pictures of Joshua Trees or Meteors. I guess the title of this post is a bit misleading.

More Johansen Cousin Fun

It's been a good week for cousin visits. My brother Mark and his family were in town and spent Sunday afternoon with us. After Nathaniel showed the progress of the rock polishing process in his tumbler (more on that in a later post), the activities turned to waveboard demonstrations. Davis did a brief one and then went back to watch TV with his cousin Blake. Then it was the dads' turns.
Chris has become fairly adept at the waveboard. He can turn back and forth in the driveway while wearing his flip flops.

I am glad to say at the conclusion of Mark's turn, there were no broken elbows or wrists.

Nanette, Cassie, and Holly. Cassie was really interested in splashing in the water left from rinsing the rocks in the polisher.

Inside, the older kids were playing an amazingly quiet game of hide and seek. Here are Blake and Jamie (I'm not sure who is "it".) Our house isn't very big, but they find some really good hiding places.

We found out that Cassie loves to dance. She would dance as soon as Davis began to play the piano and stop the instant he stopped.

We had a great time hanging out with the cousins. Thanks for coming guys!

Mike and Mary Ann go to the Getty

My brother Mike and his family were visiting L.A. from Hong Kong (They used to live here. Their kids were born here. His job took him there a few years ago. We are accepting donations for airfare so we can visit them.) We all went (with Mary Ann's niece and nephew too) to the Getty Center. It was a unusually clear day in L.A. for August. After a fun lunch in the cafe (Thanks Mike!), we toured the galleries and the grounds.
Here are the Johansens: Mike, Sammy, Wesley, and Mary Ann.

All of us (except Chris) on a bridge over the little landscaped stream.

Click on this picture to see it bigger - the boys are climbing up the rock walls in the gardens. Travertine is good for something.

The museum is worth visiting just for the grounds.

And here we are - I'm so cool I didn't take off my sunglasses.