Now that January is pretty much over, I suppose I ought to just do an overview of the month.
Having spent quite a lot of winter break just hanging out at home, we tried to get out a few times. One night we ate at Oinkster in Eaglerock. As big Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives fans, we were excited to eat at one of the places visited on the show. Their sandwiches are huge so we shared two pastramis between the four of us.
Carter had his turn at the AYSO indoor soccer tournament. I think he had a blast during the first game but his team was creamed in the second game (I was super frustrated by the other team's coach and parents!) plus he got hit hard in the face with a ball, so the experience didn't end well.
Fortunately, the day ended well with dinner and star gazing at our friends, the Heatherly's, house. We had a great evening!
We decided to do a little home improvement, so the kids and I worked on adding some colorful plants and flowers to the front planter. Ashlynn really enjoyed the task and did a big portion of the planting!
The weather has been so warm on many days this month that ice cream treats seem very appropriate.
One Saturday we took my parents and brother to Knott's Berry Farm for their Christmas present. We were supposed to go during winter break, but it rained that day, so we postponed. Well, it turns out that our visit ended up being on a rainy day anyway. Sometimes the rain was fun and other times it made it feel kind of miserable. In all, we had a great time!
We spent a lot of the morning in Camp Snoopy. We almost had the place to ourselves for the first hour or so.
Dave, Eric and my mom on the swings
My brother, Dave, was quiet silly all day.
Carter wanted to go on a big and exciting rollar coaster. The group decided on Ghostrider, since we thought it would not be as scary as the big steel ones. Carter, Eric and my parents rode it and it was such a crazy ride that poor Carter ended up biting his lip, causing it to bleed and swell. Guess he won't be going on that one again any time soon.
We finished off the day with a dinner at Mrs. Knott's Chicken House. It was a tasty meal but really overpriced. Oh well! It was a good end to the day!
Ashlynn has had her friend Lydia over a few times this month. On a couple of occasions, the girls have practiced violin together.
We got to hang out with some of Eric's UCLA friends. Fun!
Over Martin Luther King, Jr. weekend we celebrated Eric's Aunt Laurie's birthday in Arrowhead. It was another year of no snow... but it was pretty cold, especially at night!
At the Belgium Waffle restaurant
Around Arrowhead Village
We took a hike along the lake.
The cabin we stayed at is near the UCLA Conference center. Hee, hee!
Another exciting development at my school was that after 18 year of teaching there, I finally got my handprints on the handprint wall. Yay!
This past weekend we had a family project of trimming the tree that belongs to our next-door neighbor but hangs over 1/3 of our yard. That blasted tree causes allergies for Pippa, me, and others who come to our house and grass cannot grow below it because it drops some kind of sap. Grr. So, we trimmed it. Look how high Eric was up in the tree!
Ashlynn's friend Lydia's family had a lot going on this past weekend, so Lydia spent the night at our house. The girls tried to make themselves look as much like twins as possible. They have such a fun time together!
Since Ashlynn was busy with her friend, Carter needed some extra cuddles. I was happy to give them.
On Sunday we went to a fun Cub Scouts event where they built and shot off rockets made from two-liter bottles. Since our boys' den is the youngest, the dads had fun helping make the rocket.
Ashlynn was in a group with the sisters of the Cub Scouts.
Can't believe it is almost February!
