August 2007 - Photos from this period can be found here.
God has blessed us this year just like he has every summer. Like most fast-paced Americans we've crammed lots of fun into the summer.
Our annual trip to Escondido was very nice. In fact this year was even better than previous years. The weather was perfect in the 70's all week with gentle breezes. Morgan spent most of the time playing with Paige and swimming and Ethan spent less time escaping. :)
The kids swam at least once every day, usually about 3 times. I think Morgan had the record and hit the pools 5 times on one day. She is now old enough that she was very independent and didn't need much help with anything. As usual she spent her time at the pool trying to make friends and playing with floating toys.
We spent one day at Legoland and I was surprised at how fun it was for the kids. I expected it to be a small park with some legos laying around. But they really built that park with small kids in mind. One third of the park has rides and stuff designed to soak you with water. Morgan and Ethan both loved that stuff. Morgan's favorite part of the park was the 4D theater where they splash stuff on you and make you feel like you're actually experiencing the movie.
The guys played one round of golf together at Castle Creek, a course we play almost every year. I like that course because it's not as crowded or as expensive as the better courses. But I mostly like it because it's similar to Riverside golf course in Fresno, wide open and long. So if you've not practiced in a while, like me and Kala, you have more room to shank shots. James smoked us as usual and shot a 78 6 over par! Punk! Glad we didn't have any money on the line. I hadn't swung a club since last years Escondido round so I just focused on swinging easy and tried to picture a nice round swing arc. The course was so empty we never ran into a slow down and finished in just over 3 hours. So we played an additional 9 holes and did our best to harass Jamie to even the score.
Morgan was much busier than the rest of the family this summer. Larry took her and her cousins Blake and Ashley to Oklahoma in July on a trip to visit Morgan's great-grandparents EB and Louise. She had a great time and seemed to enjoy the independence of being on a big trip away from the parents. She experienced getting her first ticks and chiggers and the gentle pace of the mid-west. She attended a family reunion where she said everyone in the town was a Condit.
Then the following weekend she spent about 4 days camping with Lisa and her family. Lisa took her kids and Morgan and joined Kim and her family at the annual camping trip at Moonshine on the Yuba river. The kids spent the whole time swimming in the river and trying to catch fish with home made fishing poles. The campground has a small snack shack where the kids get ice creams and candy bars.
And finally the following weekend, this weekend, Morgan took a trip to Deanna's house for a week of relaxation and play time with Paige. She loves this time each year because Mom (Deanna) gives her a lot of attention and she gets to play on the beach and play with Paige. One of the highlights of her visits is a trip to the local ice cream shop where they have a scale train running on a continuous track.
Since the Wibber's moved out in May Caren and Morgan have spent time redesigning and decorating Morgan's bedroom. It now has a cats + beach + Pooh theme. :) All her favorite stuff.
She's decided not to play soccer this year so that means I won't be coaching. She wants to try out gymnastics or martial arts or an art class in the fall.
I'm doing well. Caren and I decided in the spring that we're going to take is easy this summer. We usually try to pack lots of activities into the summer. We still managed to do a lot this year, but we're both pretty tired and just need a long break. So we eliminated the multiple camping trips and family rafting day and trips to Fresno and San Luis Obispo. It's been very good for us. We're not caught up of course, but we've been able to recharge the batteries a bit.
I've been working for the State of California for 9 months now and have settled into it. I enjoy my job and the people I work with. I especially enjoy working in downtown Sacramento except for the expense of parking.
I'm in my second year of learning to invest in stocks. I'm doing better this year and am continuing to improve. I've now attended 3 workshops, read about 6 books and belong to a local investment club that meets regularly. I did especially well so far this year with solar stocks SPWR and FSLR and shoe manufacturer CROX.
-rob