Memorial Day with the Silver Family

We had a lovely Memorial Day with our friends.  Cannon and Ariel Silver and family are friends from South Pasadena and then like so many from S. Pas., they moved away.  We enjoyed having time to spend with them and having the chance for all the children to become reaquainted.

The boys gather materials for a construction project at the mouth of Malibu Creek.

 We spent some (not nearly enough) time at Malibu Lagoon State Beach.  We expected a cool breezy day and instead enjoyed a warm sunny one.

Enjoying the water

The 11 year olds discover that they are great pals (Nathaniel is holding a shark egg with a live shark embryo moving inside).

Chris and the Silvers

 Then we visited the Getty Villa museum in Malibu.  (Hey kids!  Let's pack up and leave the beach so we can go to a museum and look at Greek and Roman antiquities.  Yay!!!)

The walkway to the museum has a great view of the ocean.

My favorite thing about the Getty museums is that they are kid friendly.  Running? Jumping? OK!

How often do you get a chance to read in the garden of a Greek villa in Malibu?

Thanny's drawing of Medusa in a pot in the family room.

Friends near and far by a beautiful pool

See the boys on the walkway at the top?

We love to have visitors.  When are you coming back?

Chaparral in May

Some photos from my runs and bike rides this month.  I still love living here...

Rattlesnake sunning itself across the trail.

 but sometimes the neighborhood seems a little rough.

Yucca in bloom

Paradise Falls

Purple Sage in bloom.

Sego Lily and Golden Yarrow.

Nathaniel in "Gardens of the World"

Nathaniel likes to explore new places after school on Fridays, so this was one of our outings.

Hidden Valley... Ranch



The hills are covered with Monkey Flower and Sage.



It's great having a national recreation area down the street.

Rye grass has gone to seed and shivers in the cool breeze that comes over the hill from the ocean.

15 Years Old

Davis turned 15 this month.  Soon driving, dating, what else?

 The favored gift had to be the 5-finger running shoes.

They are even good for napping in.

No photos of the cake (don't know why?) but it was fun to go to the beach with friends the day after and sword fight with bamboo for a couple hours.  I guess that's what 15 year olds do.

Grass Progress and a Few Other Yard Happenings

The front yard is slowly shaping up, but oh, it has been so much more work than we had planned.  After re-doing all the sprinklers and getting rid of downed trees, the ground finally dried out enough to seed the lawn.

Leveling the ground before seeding.

One week after seeding (around Easter) baby grass is starting to come up.

Nathaniel is moving extra dirt off the slope while Chris fixes yet another sprinkler-line break.

The first mowing - Mid May.

May 20th-ish.  Grass filling in, stump near driveway needs to be ground up (by city) and landscaping needs to be done where eucalyptus tree used to be.

May 27-  city removed stump and planted an Aristocrat Pear tree (ornamental).  They will come back and plant another one after we get the landscaping done on the corner (gratis!)

A pair of ducks were swimming in the spa and checking out the yard to see if they liked it (they didn't).

Rabbit came in the yard to see if it liked it there. 



I didn't want it to like the yard so I chased it out.  We need a better gate before we plant the vegetable garden.



Exploring Hidden Beaches with the Suarez Family

May has been cool and breezy, but sunny.  Perfect weather for exploring a new beach (but not swimming.)

A small trail down a little canyon leads to a secluded beach in Malibu.

The dads find a sunny spot sheltered from the wind for napping.

Bamboo makes good light sabers for Davis and Adrian

Esteban, Nathaniel, and Davis spar until the bamboo breaks too close to their hands and then they search for a new piece.

Four growing boys.