Heading Home

We are leaving L.A. today. A few highlights from the rest of the trip:

Knott's Berry Farm:
The boys all loved this place. They love the thrill-seeking rides and went on all of them multiple times.



After the Perilous Plunge, a boat ride that goes up, up, up and then takes an almost vertical dive down, Steve told the boys they could dry off if they went on The Riptide. Here they are. At one point you can hear Simon yelling, "I want my mom!"



The Beach:
It was pretty warm out, but the water was cold. That didn't seem to bother Torsten and Simon.

Fox Studios:
Stacey took us to her work at Fox. We watched them work on the score for a new movie. It was pretty cool to see all the musicians playing as the movie goes along. They work on just small sections at a time and do several takes until they have it perfectly synched with the action. Then we went to the Royal Diner from Bones. I tried to get my picture taken in front of it, but the security guard wouldn't let us.

Food:
Steve wanted to try out some more L.A. food, so we ate at In-n-Out Burger. The drive-thru lines are really long, so we went inside for faster service. It wasn't anything fabulous, but for $1.69, I'd say it was a good deal.

Mini Golf:
Stacey took us to glow-in-the-dark mini-golf. That was fun until Torsten threw a tantrum and left.
There is a little time left today before our flight. But I'm not sure what we'll do to fill it.

Christmas in L.A.

Spent the morning after Christmas looking at fossilized bones at La Brea tar pits.
Simon was really excited about being there. He let us know how excited he was about our day every five minutes.
Then we decided to join the other tourists at Pinks for lunch. 40 minutes in line and nothing special, although I did chose a plain turkey dog.

I believe I was wise to skip anything with chili, since it looks like it is loaded with grease.

Then some more touristy stuff: Hollywood Blvd. Did not pay any celebrity look-alikes or costumed characters for a picture. Steve, however, did his best Chuck Norris pose and we took his picture. He didn't charge us for his services.
Had dinner at one of Stacey's favorite restaurants. The food was good, portions were big (too dark for photographic evidence), and I'm pretty sure this guy was at a table next to us.
What to do tomorrow? Hmmm...

Simon's Birthday!

I can't believe this kid is 10 years old. Time really flies by. And now I'm feeling a little bit old.
Simon is also sporting his new glasses. And a new haircut. Finally!

Catching Up

What will happen if you decide to repeatedly smash your head between two carpet samples at Home Depot:
Warning: Your parents will not be happy with you!

Lacrosse game in Issaquah:
Halloween costumes:
I didn't take too many pictures this year, but took these before school on the day before Halloween. Torsten changed his mind about the costume and went trick-or-treating as a whoopie cushion.

These pictures also show just how much I am need of some decorating. The mantle is very boring. If anyone can lend me some decorating expertise, I wouldn't mind. I am not good at doing it myself.

Pumpkin Carving

Friday night family activity:





Thanks to my friend for having us over and taking care of the mess.

Soccer Saturday

More News

Torsten has now joined the blogging bandwagon. You can check him out at www.t-manworld.blogspot.com.

No TV? What will we do?

When you have a rule at your house that doesn't allow you to watch TV on week nights, you have to get creative about staying entertained:

And in other news, Simon now has own blog. You'll have to go there to find out more about this entertaining activity: www.simonscrazyworld.blogspot.com.

They Did It!

I have been feeling like a really lame parent because I haven't been able to teach my kids how to ride a bike. But finally, they did it. Torsten somehow got over his fear of trying and basically hopped on the bike and started riding. Simon is unusually uncoordinated and it took him more time to get it, but after his brother started riding, he had more of an incentive to keep trying after each fall. And there were a lot of falls. But now they are enjoying some time outside riding bikes, which may make my no-TV-on-school-days rule less painful (for them and me).

New Addition to the Robinson Pet Farm

Meet Cornelius, the corn snake. I have been telling Steve and the boys no to a snake for years now. I finally gave in so that I could buy myself some more time before having to get another dog. This little guy is kind of cute because he is so small. But I am not going to have any part of the feeding. He eats a "gourmet rodent" about once a week. This "gourmet rodent" has no qualities that make it gourmet, except maybe its size. It is a tiny, innocent just-born mouse.


The boys are very excited about this new pet and want to hold him as soon as they get home from school. Simon held him a couple of days ago and got to experience the first poop, which managed to get on the carpet and on his face. Snake poop is more difficult to get out of the carpet than dog poop, so I hope that from now on he/she (because how do you tell the sex of a snake?) does its business inside of its home where someone else will be in charge of cleaning it.

That's it for today.

We are back at school and tired and busy. No time for blogging.

Buck Lake: last hike of the summer?

This one may have been our last hike for the summer. Now it is time to get back to work. But that doesn't mean we won't try to get in some fall hikes!

The boys and I went up to Buck lake in Hansville. There were some nice walking trails that led to a swampy area called the quiet place. We also took a short trail to the edge of the lake. There was no one else around that day so it was very quiet and peaceful. I think we ended up hiking about 2 miles. There were no hills on this hike, so it was very easy.
After the hike, we went to the beach at Point No Point. A little girl started talking to Torsten and asked him if she could help him dig a hole. He said ok, and then she started ordering him around. He was very nice and did everything she told him to.
There were a lot of people out fishing that day. I'm not sure what kind of fish they were looking for, but something in shallow water as most of them were just standing in the water along the beach. You can see them all along the beach in this picture: