"Brave" tournament

Jim her teacher

Kurt her other teacher

Chloe participated in a Pixar "Brave" archery tournament for the Ronald McDonald house charity.  The tournament took place at Pasadena Central Park where a large area was fenced off and targets set up for the participants to shoot (with a kevlar screen behind to catch any errant arrows).  They shot at 20 and 30 yards and Chloe got a total of 210 points.  Mae passed the time by being her crazy self and cheering for her sister!

chloe the rock climber

Last month we were invited to go camping in Joshua Tree with some friends. Those friends happened to be rock climbers. To our surprise Chloe wanted to try. We were so shocked! She is usually so cautious, but she went right up there without any hesitation. She was so proud of herself! We all were. It brought tears to my eyes watching her climb. You think you know everything about them and can predict what they will say and do and then BOOM they're rock climbing! I love those surprises. I love watching her grow and become her own person. Super proud moments in Joshua Tree!

15 years

For our anniversary this year we decided to each plan a little surprise date. For his surprise, I picked him up after work with the car packed for a night of camping. We drove up the 2 to the chilao campground. Once we arrived I sent him on a quick walk so I could set up our luxury camp site equipped with white linens, candles, lanterns, duvets, chocolates and a yummy salmon dinner.  This was our first solo camping trip since having kids. It was a lovely time to celebrate 15 married years.

 I love you my sweetie!

neighborhood garden

 the plot

the work

the planting

the dancing

and of course the slip and slide

the garden

Our neighbor Celeste has an enormous back yard, that has been screaming to us that it needed a garden. One day last week things just happened: first she came over to visit our chickens and saw our raised beds and liked what we had done. I asked her if she would like to have a shared garden in her back yard. To my surprise she was extremely excited about the idea. So that weekend we headed over to start the work and by the end of the weekend we had 4 tomatoes, 2 butternut squashes, 2 peppers, basil, green onions and 15 bush bean plants planted. It was a great experience for us and the kids. We've been watering and checking on it everyday. and to my surprise this little garden has brought two neighbors closer. I enjoy spending time with her and hearing stories about her life. I think she is enjoying it as well, she has plans to make plant signs and put in a border.

underground gardens

the entrance

 

orange trees that are planted 12 feet underground

 

a tunnel that was carved out for automobiles

this is the top of the orange trees at ground level

On our way to San Francisco we made a little detour in Fresno to tour the underground gardens. Kevin has wanted to do this for awhile now, so it was a perfect time to do it. We had no idea what to expect. The story of Baldassare Forestiere a Sicilian immigrant is amazing. All of the tunnels were inspired by the ancient catacombs he knew as a boy. All of his hard work was done by hand during his spare time and after working as a ditch digger during the day. 

It was well worth the stop and entrance fee.