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.
This year, we had to wait for Katy to get home from college to go get a tree. We did the whole thing today. Drove up into the hills to get a tree. Went to see the Festival of Lights in the park. And trimmed the tree. Katy has decided that she will put the star on every year, even though this year was Margaret’s turn. Being the middle child, Margaret got left out again.
After doing this for many years, the kids have one a variety of different awards, Best Project, Teamwork. They have always finished in the top third or so in the Robot Game. This year they managed to do something that none of the past teams have done. Get 2nd in the Robot Game and win the Grand Champions award. Congratulations to the kids, they came through when it mattered. Now it is on to regionals sometime in the December-February. Lots more work to do for that as well.
At Michigan, there is a rock that the students have been painting and repainting for many many years. Well, Katy got her first turn at it last night. Maybe the next time she and the girls in her sorority can learn about how paint drips. I am very proud of her. To me, this is one of the things that you must do as a Wolverine.
Margaret went to Coronation (Homecoming dance) with a bunch of her friends mostly from cross country. Isn’t she pretty?
