Sea World

Monday the CLarks took our kids with them to Sea World.
They saw a few exibits, went on a few rides, watched the Shamu show.
The saw tanks with Sharks,













tanks with Star fish,














And they even have rides that get you wet.

Went to the cove in La Jolla

We set out to La Jolla along the coast about 11 miles from the house. They have a nice park with grass, some great shopping, and cliffs with beaches (some for the seals, and some for the kids)
We took a lot of great pictures, but there is not enough room on here for everything.








"A" was at a tournament doing her best, and we met up with her later.

The Clarks

We were blessed to have the Clarks visit us only a few days after Oma. The first day, we were rapping up softball, when they arrived. We took a few pictures, and headed to the beach. I put Mitchel on the back of the motorcycle, and the rest of the crew rode in Jen's suburban, along with the to Young kids Lauren and Justin. WE made our way to Mission Beach, and walked around and watched the freaks. The kids rode the roller coaster, and some bumper cars. We walked some more, and headed home. We introduced the Clarks to some authentic San Diego food, and took them to Rubios for fish tacos, and Shrimp burritos. We headed home.









Sunday we got up and Leslie and rob needed a workout, so they went to the YMCA, and worked out while the kids slept in. Except Amber who went to a softball tournament that would last all day ( they went 2-1 in the tournament, which is great!) the rest of us loaded up and went to La Jolla cove, and saw some seals, and wave soaked rocks. We had a nice lunch at a local cafe. We went to a few shops, and browsed, and then we looked at an open house Condo that overlooked the beach.
We split up, the boys went to the grass park by the beach and watched the scenery walk by. The girls went shopping.

We returned home, and had some dinner, and started a fire in the chimineah, smoked a cigar, drank some wine and said good-bye to Rob. Rob left for his new duty station, and is driving across country, to Camp La June in NC. I will miss him dearly.



















"A" showed up after her tournament she felt pretty good about her performance.

Today they are going to Sea World!

Dirt bike riding today

Me and "S" went to the track today, but the inspiration came from this guy:

Eastor Sunday

We were going to go Golfing with the boys, But Rob couldn't find his purse, and his wife whipped him into shape and jerked his but into Sunday Mass. We missed him, but we altered our plans. I called up my good buddy Dennie, and we loaded up two dirtbikes, and headed for the mountains. To me, there is no greater church then standing at the top of the Mountain, and looking over the great View of nature that God had created. I said my thanks, and headed into Gods Country. We rode 23 miles, and hit some fire roads, and some tight trails. Dennie took a picture of me. We headed back to San Diego, about a 50min ride. We washed the bikes, put them away, and showered up to get ready for dinner.
We are having the Breeds up, and the Youngs are coming over.

Oma's Birthday

We had a little celebration for our visitor.
Oma woke to a cinnamon roll with a candle. We went out to dinner at Red Lobster. We came home to the house, sang happy Birthday, and had, more cake. The nieghbor kids came over for the festivities.

Oma generates yard work

Oma is in town, and as a result, we have kicked yard work into high gear.

The weekend started off with a tournament that started on Saturday, and we played our 3 games, and were home by 3:30pm. We left the tournaments pool play 1-2. We beat So Cal Starz, who had beat us the week before, and offered us advice on how to play better. "Thanks for the advice Starz!". There was some rain overnight, and it was enough to cancel the the remainder of the tournament, until another time. We stayed home, and made some plans to do some yard work. We also made trip to the Home Depot to get some plants, trellice, and fertalizer.
We removed a plant or two, in the front entry, and arranged some rocks. We removed two plants that have been in for years, but because of there offensive odor, they were voted out.

















In the back yard, We cleaned up the dirt and rocks, added a trelice (sp) for a plant to creep up, thus hiding some of the things stored behind the shed... (you know, more junk). Sod will be placed where the yard meets the newly moved stone wall. We may move a palm from the front yard to the back to livin it up.
"S" and "A", did what they could to help by shoveling, racking, and moving the dirt in the wheel-borrow. It's good to let then get dirty now and then.

Presidents Day weekend at Glamis

We had the whole gang out to glamis to test out our bikes, quads, sand rails, and our ability to cook, sleep, and live in confined quarters. Some more confined then others. Some friends had their own RV rig. Some had rented trailers 27' long. The Ratza's rented a trailer form the Marine corps base. IT was 9' long, and was noticable smaller then anything out there. IT gained notorioty, and a few nick names ( the tylenol, marshmello, crackhouse on wheels) either way, after spending our last trip in the dunes in a tent, this was a monumental improvement.

















It was very busy the first night, the maniacs were out in full force loud partying went on until 4am. The next night was a little better, and the nexct night (Monday night) was even better I am told. We had already left.



















It is hard to get shots of people riding, because it tough on a camera to take it out into the sand with you riding. Some shots of camp:

Our first Desert Race

We had decided to ride in our first desert race. Here we are at sign-up.









Here the girls are asking each other " what the heck did we get ourselves into?"














'A' and her friend 'H' were going to race as beginners, and I was going to chase them. Chasing them was tougher then racing. whew! The start is a dead start. Which means all bikes are shut off, and you have to wait for the flag to drop, then you can start your bike, and take off. They had a good start. Lots of dust, it was nearly blinding, but it thinned out quick.









We caught up to a few people, at a big sand hill. We did not get through it cleanly, and it was just the begining. The girls did real well in some very rough sections. they went through some hellish sand, and lots of rocks, and old river washes. They had the toughes time with the hills. Believe it or not there are some large hill climbs out there. Between the two of them the probable had about 12 falls. 2-3 hills each that they had difficulty negotiating. It is hard to build up speed to climb the hills, because there are lots of large bumps at the bottom, are a sharp turn, and you need speed power or lots of skill to get up the hill at that point. We were scheduled to 2 laps (23miles each) but we took too much time, and we only completed one lap. The girls took a beating, and they were exhausted. Here is an "after" picture.














Here is a picture of Kelly ( in the white and black) and the girls. Kelly came along for his first desert ride, and really seemed to enjoy himself. We borrowed a 250 for him from another generous friend. This is also the bike I need to get Amber next. She is just too big for her 80.


















A quick vid of 'A'riding by:

Chargers advance in PLayoffs

We watched the Chargers beat the Tenessee Titans on Sunday to advance in the post season NFL playoffs.

Thirteen long years after their last postseason victory, the Chargers finally came to life late in the second half Sunday to beat the Tennessee Titans 17-6 in an AFC wild-card game.

Now it is on to Indianapolis Colts. Indianapolis? My sister is in Indy. This is going to be good!

Christmas, pageant, and Christmas morning

"S" had a Choir Christmas concert. Of course, to be politicaly religous neutral, they sang "Holiday nights", and they sang of every ethnicity. so we had to set through a song for every religion, and race.... She did a good job, here is a video.:





Ah Christmas morning. The girls got a lot of clothes, and a guitar hero for the playstation. We went down to Kims parents house for what might be the last Christmas at that house. I was fortunate enough to recieve a very nice Ryobi cordless power tool kit. (drills, saws, sander, vacuum, radio,. tool bag)










Dec. 24th, and 26 were golfing days. I did not get any pictures, but we wore shorts and short sleeved shirts, and enjoyed some beautiful weather. The girls both golfed, and did very well. I may have to get her on the highschool golf team. We also went to the Del Mar state beach, where you can bring your dog. We brought my good friend Kelly who is stationed out here in the Navy, attached to the Marines. We Met up with a friend of mine and his family we ride motorcycles together, and our daughters play ball together. He had his Great Dane out there. The beach was full dogs, babes, families, and a horse.

The show, and the Snow

Saturday started off with The girls and I going to the international motocycle show in Long Beach Convention center. We picked up Kelly, and made our way up to LA. 2hrs.
All the manufacturers were there with their new models, and all kinds of vendors, and exibitors with there new products, and liquidating their old products. The girls got all kinds of stickers, sat on bikes, and watched a streetbike stunt show. Kelly and I got our eyes filled with other eye candy as well.



Sunday morning was a break in the rain. We loaded up the trunk, and we took Kelly, and went to the Cuyamaca mountains outside of San Diego. It is about a 45min drive, and we were in snow!
We took a few pictures, threw a few snowballs, and drove to a lake resort and got a cup of hot chocolate. We drove to the Indian reservation, where there is a outlet mall. bought a few items. We had to.. its Kims law! Had some dinner at the Casino, at the outletmall/ Casino. and we made our way home







My first snowball in years

Chino Hills Holiday Classic

We had another overnight tournament this past weekend. IT was cold! The Chino Hills Holiday Classic. was almost rained out, but the facility has artificial turf. This stuff is top of the line stuff. The pouring rain had minimal effect on it.during the day it was 50-55 deg., and when the sun went down, it dipped to 35 deg.. We bundled up, used heaters and blankets. We could see snow in the mountains just north of us about 10-15 miles away. The 14u team that I coach, and 'A' plays on, made it to the semi finals, where we met a very strong team from Cerritos, and lost 9-1. We tried everything, but just couldn't hit the ball. The 10u team met some girls that were obviously overaged, and outsized us. The 10's gave everyone they met, the best they could, but when you are playing teams from Orange county, lets face it, they are the best in the U.S. which makes them the best in the world. Softball is done for now. we will take about 1-2 months off, and we are going to try to go riding, and do some golf. We got the Christmas lights up on Monday, but I did not get any pictures yet.

We are the Champions!

What a great Thanksgiving Day weekend we had.
We went out to Las Vegas for the Annual T-giving classic Softball tournament. Every year we finish aroiund .500 win vs. loss. This was also the first year that Mira Mesa had a 10u team for the little ones. The 10u team is new, and had a large learning curve., But 'S' hit for the cycle ( a single, double, tripple, and home-run) her home run was hit very far, and recieved a huge ovation. She played 2nd base very well, and even turned a double play.

The 14u team Which I coach, and 'A' plays on, had a great weekend. We had 2 wins, and a tie on Saturday, and @ wins on Sunday to win it all A' was aable to pitch quite a bit, and did very well. She also played shortstop. She batted well, and is showing a lot of power in her hitting. We had a nail-biter of a game for the Championship against Pico Rivera, we led 5-0, the they tied it up 5-5, then we squezed in 2 runs by bunting, to lead 7-5. 'A' was the pitcher for the first 4 iniings, and was taken out. Our relief pitcher was hit in the face by a one-hop shot, and it took her out of the game. Amber came back in, and two girls hit hard off of her, and we caught them out in the outfield, to seal the win.
It was a glories win that I am still high from. The girls played great, and were sooo happy. here are some pictures:
















We had one poor young girl pitching, and the batter drove a ball back, and drilled her after it bounced once, and she went down, and needed attention for her contusion. check out the lump: