Kites & Crafts

Recent adventures to watch kite surfing at a local beach and Earth Day crafts in Newport's Back Bay.

Fleas and Trees in August

Back in August, we visited the Rose Bowl flea market with Armilyn's parents and cousin Joanne who was visiting from Michigan. Surprisingly, I have never been to the Rose Bowl, even though I have lived in Southern California all my life and been to Pasadena a number of times.

It was a very spur of the moment trip, and we arrived an hour before closing time, so it was kind of a mad dash looking for the arts & crafts section Joanne wanted to see.


Joanne ready to go in

Alex and I taking a break after going around the Rose Bowl on a hot afternoon

The following week, we went to the Peter and Mary Muth Interprative Center in Upper Newport Bay. It's a free science center at the uppermost point of the bay and you can hike or bike on various trails that lead off from the center. It provides a gorgeous view of the upper bay and you can pretend for a moment that you are not in the middle of an urban area--until a jet that just took off from John Wayne Airport flies overhead. There's a lot of wetlands, grasses, brush and a few trees.



Reflections of the ones I love


Alex wants to head into the river


I think the authorities would frown if we grabbed some tubes and floated down river.


Click on the picture to see the full panorama

Corona del Mar

Wednesday we went to Corona del Mar with Melissa, Steve and the kids before they went back to Austin. Steve's parents and his eldest brother Mike and his 3 boys also came along.

We got there late in the afternoon, but found plenty of parking in the lot. We took everyone to the little cove that is on the other side of the rocks, facing into the jetty. It's enclosed, so the kids can only wander off so far. Mike's boys loved it as well as Alex, even though the water was COLD! Maddy went in for a little, but was content to build a humungous sand castle with Grandma and Steve's help.




Wyatt, Will, and Eli



by Armilyn