Jaya's Graduation

Dr. Jaya Osten graduated from Bastyr on Friday as a naturpathic doctor!  After 4 long years she is ready to take on the world.  Next up is moving to Tucson, getting married then taking the board exams.

Dr. Jaya Osten!

Part of the visit included some visits to friends and local sites:

• Hiked the loop around San Elijo lagoon
• Dinner at Ki's
• Took my parents to Cabrillo National Monument where we spotted the San Salvador under way.

Along jogger hike

View from Cabrillo NM

Embry-Riddle Graduation

Bengt graduated from ERAU!  We had great weekend in Prescott and moved him back home while he looks for a job.

ERAU graduation crowd

New grad

Jaya - UCSD Class of 2021

Jaya finally graduated with a degree in Chemistry from UCSD.  Graduation ceremonies were restricted so we didn't go.  One kid down, one left to go!

Graduation!

Jaya graduated from SDA this weekend.  Jo's parents and sister came into town and my parents drove down for the occasion. Grandmas had lots of balloons.  One down, one to go as Jaya heads off to LMU.

Weekend Activities

• Plenty of beach time - water is still warm
• Safari Park - loved the new Lemur Walk exhibit
• Hike with the kids and Sophie in the La Costa Preserve - dusty but nice views
• Dart practice after a long layoff

SDA Winter Formal

SDA has their Winter Formal this past weekend.  Jaya joined a large group of kids who arranged for a bus to take them to the event and back.  Prior to, we had dinner at Buca di Bepo with two of the other families that also had kids going to the event.  Jaya looked great in her black dress, curls and Converse All-Stars.

Abacus

Bengt passed his 9 kyu level abacus exam! The next level has more complicated multiplication and starts division.

First Lego League

Jaya and Bengt started on their First Lego League team this weekend. We got the standard parts and the competition mat but won't get the challenge for a couple weeks. They are very excited but will it will be very challenging to build and program the robot to complete the tasks. I am allowed to provide guidance but not solutions.

Weekend Activities

* Attended the last Adventure Princess event with Jaya. In a twist of fate, it was at the same venue where we had our first event, Fiesta Island. I will miss the good times, but I made many friends that I will have for life.

Old Town

On Saturday afternoon, we all went down to Old Town to see the sites and visit some of the museums.

* First, we went through the McCoy House Interpretive Center. This is a very nice museum with each room representing a different period of Old Town's history. Unfortunately, the docent said this house is the first to be cut when the money gets tights so is closed often.

 * In the Robinson-Rose House, we saw the wonderful model of Old Town from 1872.

* We did the tour through the Estudillo House. I enjoy the period costumes that the park employees and volunteers wear.

* The kids dipped candles at the candle and soap shop.

* We ate dinner at The Alamo Mexican Food, which is the only fast food Mexican food we could find within walking distance.

Weekend Activities

* Guides trip to Agua Caliente County Park. The weather was perfect and made for a great time at the mud caves and on the Moonlight Trail. Bengt's pinewood racer was the 3rd fastest in the tribe and he made the nation finals where he got the second round. The ranger was a bit persnickety and made us douse the campfires way too early.

* Walked dog at San Elijo Lagoon.

Weekend Activities

* Awesome Adventure Princess event at Agua Caliente County Park. Visited the mud caves which were amazing. They are formed by water carving tunnels through the hills, but they look like they were drilled out by man. Tested out the new pool which is unheated buy very refreshing.
* Kids had a piano recital.

Weekend Activities

* Hiked Elfin Forest Reserve for the first time.



* Adventure Guides event at Indian Hills.

Weekend Activities

* Spent most of Friday at Disneyland on the kid's new annual passes. Lines weren't too long and it wasn't that hot.
* Waited out the heat in our nice cool house (sans a/c).
* Grilled up a fabulous pork tenderloin with my rotisserie grill attachment. Haven't used it in ages, but it cooked up the roast beautifully.

Weekend Activities

* Adventure Guides trip to Dos Picos

Washington D.C. Trip

Went to Washington D.C. for a week to see the sites.

• Washington Monument - always awesome. We didn't have trouble getting tickets since we stopped by early in the day. Apparently there is a walking tour that shows off some of the interior; I will give that shot next time.
  

 

• World War II Memorial - a bit underwhelming; it seems as though the designers went for quantity over quality. While deserving of a memorial, this detracts from the view from the Lincoln Memorial to the Washington Monument.


• Lincoln Memorial - a classic.
  

• Korean War Memorial - having never seen this, I really liked it. The statues were impressive.


• Vietnam Veterans Memorial - goes without saying.


• Capitol Building - very worthwhile. Since we had to go through our Representative's office, we also got to visit his staff (although he was not there). Found out there is a staircase that leads up to the top of the Rotunda but is not open to the public. Make sure you find out about John Adams and how we use the acoustics in the original House chamber.

• National Mall - must have walked the Mall several times getting to all the places.
  
• White House - a difficult ticket to get and probably not worth taking little kids.


• National Gallery - didn't even get to a quarter of it; plan on spending days to see everything.


• National Portrait Gallery - unexpectedly nice.


• American Art Museum - ditto.


• Air and Space Museum - gets better all the time.

• Hazy Air and Space Museum - still a work in progress, but the sheer volume of historic aircraft make it a winner; the SR-71 is worth the trip just by itself.


• International Spy Museum - if you are interested in espionage, you can miss this. Don't expect much James Bond stuff, there is just a small homage to 007. The kids enjoyed it even though they didn't understand it.


• National Archives - first time here. They are trying to make it more than just the Charters of Freedom by adding some additional exhibits. Well worth it even thought the Magna Carta is no longer there.


• Natural History Museum - ours kids get to the San Diego version of this so this wasn't as big a deal to them.


• Marine Corps War Memorial - much more impressive in person.
  

• Flew in a helicopter (an R-22) with my uncle.
  

Del Mar Beach

First Guides trip of the year!

Zoo Urinals

The family and I went to the Nighttime Zoo this past weekend. I always love the evening zoo hours as most of the animals are more active, especially the cats.
One thing my son and I noticed about the bathrooms is that they don't have child level urinals. This is quite puzzling since half the patrons at the zoo are kids. Even my office has low urinals and kids are never there. Most of the bathrooms look like have been refitted with the no-water units, so why didn't they make them lower then? Very strange.

Mean Mr. Ice Cream Man

We recently had an ice cream man starting coming around the neighborhood. He has the typically van with all the advertising stickers on it. He also has the corny music. But this ice cream also smokes like a chimney and seems to hate kids. Once my two heard him coming and, after getting permission of course, ran to get their money. The guy saw the kids hurry off but didn't bother to wait and drove off. Now maybe his compensation packages is tied to mileage instead of ice cream treats sold, but now the kids aren't really excited when he comes by anymore.

Rawhide Ranch

Jaya and I spent an awesome weekend at Rawhide Ranch this past weekend. The girls got to learn horse riding, pony showmanship and vaulting. I highly recommend it if your kids like horses.