Another season of cross country is in the books for Margaret. She did very well, getting 3rd (out of a couple hundred) in a couple of races. She would have done better in the one these pictures are from, but she had to stop with 100 yards to go to throw up and a few people passed. All in all, she did very well. She will have to work a bit harder to make varsity next year.
For our last trip with Katy this summer, we chose another jaunt up the coast north of Santa Cruz. This time in search of tide pools. We went to Bean Hollow and Pescadero Beaches. The most interesting find was a tide pool with 2 Moon Jellies in it. They did not seem too happy.
For father’s day we went to the aquarium then down to Bixby Bridge. Along the way we played around on the rocks near the ocean. It was a nice father’s day for me. We ended up inn Carmel for lunch.
Sam has started climbing a bit. Luckily, we have Evan to help us learn what to do. This trip to Pinnacles National Park was a lot of fun. I get to belay Sam while he does the climbing. This works out well.
The kids were very lucky to have their Grandma Susan take them to the Galapagos. Margaret and Sam even got to miss a week of school. They all had a great time there seeing all the wildlife, snorkeling, etc. They met Marcella there as well. They took LOTS of pictures.
We went to castle rock with the Bigall’s. Climbed around on the rocks a bit, put up the slack line.
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We had a great time going whale watching in the Monterey Bay. It started out kind of what you would expect. We saw otters and seals like you can often see from shore. When we got out just a bit, we saw lots and lots of Rossis dolphins (no good pictures though). Then we went a bit further out and saw Grey whales. It turns out you spot whales by the spouts of water as they breathe in the distance. The grey whales would come up for 4 or 5 breaths then go under for about 5 minutes. As we were getting done with the last set of grey whales, we saw 2 sets join up to make a set of about 5. We then high-tailed it to what our captain suspected was Killer Whales. We got there in time to see the pod of 5 Orcas hunt and kill a seal. (It took 30 minutes or so.) Margaret got a great picture of the final impact (gory).
Of course, we got a few pictures of Katy.
Katy passed her multiplication today, so we made a cake to celebrate.
I am in Spokane with Karl – Rusty
I am at home with children who have pink eye and ear infections – Elizabeth
