12 of 12 for May 2010

It's 12 of 12 day photo project. Every month, on the 12th day of the month, take photos and post 12 that express what your day was like.

As luck would have it, this month my 12 of 12 landed while I am in Hawaii on a business trip. Here are my 12 pictures that defined my day in the Aloha State.

#1 - 1st picture of the day was of my work area here in my hotel room. I am staying at the Marriott in Waikiki. Love Marriott properties, this just happens to be one of my favorites. Also, it's early here, because my body hasn't quite adjusted to Hawaiian time yet. We are 3 hours behind Pacific Standard time, therefore I was up at 5 a.m. ready to go!


#2 - Here is the hotel lobby. I met the "girls" down here for breakfast and a quick meeting before we headed out for our day's activities.


#3 - Our meeting at 10 was at the State Offices in Honolulu.


#4 - The elevator in the State Offices had a tropical/jungle theme on the walls. LOVED it. Here is Julie and Elizabeth in the "jungle"


#5 - On the way back to the hotel we stopped at Leonard's for some malasadas. Malasadas are big donut holes with a cream filling. Very very yummy. The bakery has many other yummy treats too!


#6 - Back in my hotel room. We ordered room service for lunch and finished off our big proposal and practiced on presentations.


#7 - Any time I travel alone without my family, "stuffy" is my replacement. "Stuffy" was given to me by my oldest son Michael about 7 years ago for Christmas for this very purpose. I've taken pictures of "stuffy" during my various travels. I've come back to my room being made up to see "stuffy" in interesting situations. I've had maids make a bed for him, snuggle him up in the pillows and one time *gasp!* thrown on my suitcase! "Stuffy" is an accomplished Traveler for sure!


#8 - After work and preparation was done, we took off for a beautiful beach view via a world famous bar and enjoyed a Mai Tai!


#9 - And of course we had to indulge in the "world famous" Hula pie from Dukes.


#10 - The view wasn't bad either.


#11 - After Dukes, we wanted to head to the "pink" hotel, the Royal Hawaiian. Beautiful property. And here is the view as we finished off our night with one finial Mai Tai.


#12 - Final picture for the day is all three of us enjoying a beverage. It struck us as funny that the sign I am holding said no drinks on the beach. However, the bar was "on" the beach. Hmmmmm........regardless, it was good time with good friends and co-workers! Julie, myself and Elizabeth.

Where has the time gone?

A beautiful morning in Escondido!



Holy cow! It's been busy. This month promises to be a doozy! And then looking forward to June, I was just informed by my good friend Debbie that every weekend in June is booked too. The work life has been just as busy and just as exciting! Kevin has less then one month left to go for his K12 career. It's amazing just how fast the time has gone and both of our boys have grown up into something we can be very proud of.

So a couple of things that have happened in the past month. Kevin and Cierra invited me to go play Frisbee golf with them at Kit Carson Park this past weekend. The course was just installed a month ago and what a blast we had!



Our Frisbee Golf game was cut short, but it was okay, because Roxy started to enjoy going after the frisbee. She has us laughing so hard, tears were going down our faces. I'm just sad we didn't get video of her with her butt and legs up in the air as she was going after the frisbee. She hit a hole, tripped, butt over head, didn't miss a beat and kept going. This dog is a source of constant entertainment! Enjoy the following video:



We are also currently going through a brand new roof installation at our house. The guys that have been doing it have been wonderful. I can't wait to see the final outcome and get my house back to myself! (no offense guys!)




So next week, I'm going to try and complete and accomplish my 12 of 12 day. I will be away from home and it's a fun place to be when you are not working. Even when you are working I suppose it is a fun place. Plenty more opportunites are coming up for me to take photos. Kevin's Girlfriend Cierra has her prom this month, therefore Kevin will be getting dressed up in his monkey suit again. (he's so darn cute in it) John's Birthday. Even though he will complain about me taking pictures, he'll thank me for the memories 10 years from now right? Then we have Kevin's BIG Graduation and after that, we're going to have a combo Graduation / 18th Birthday party for him. Oh and of course Memorial day on the Riviera.

With that, here is an orange blossom from our tree. I love the smell that these put out, my allergies not so much. But they are beautiful!



See you soon!

Prom 2010 Orange Glen High School

As I sit here writing this, it is the "day after" one of my youngest son's, new high school memories that I am sure he will not forget. Kevin is still snoozing away in bed, happy dreams about finally getting those dang dress shoes off that he had to wear all night.

This year "the group" of kids came over to our house for pre-picture prior to the Limo Bus showing up to whisk them all away to Humphry's by the Bay for dinner and afterwards, The House of Blues for Prom 2010. The weather held out and we had a perfect evening for "pre-prom-get-together and pictures. Below is the "picture" story of the "pre-prom-get-together".

Here is Kevin waiting for his date Cierra to show up. Okay, yes, typically boy goes and gets girl for Prom. But in this case, special circumstances were in place. Cierra's family lives up in Ramona (about a 1/2 drive up the mountain from us) and her family wanted to come down and take pictures and see the kids off in the limo.


While we were waiting, I took Kevin outside to test some photo locations in the yard. He actually succumbed to his mother's pleading and humored me. Of course...I did get some nice shots of him.


When Cierra arrived, it was her turn for the photo shoot. She looked like a princess.


Kevin and Cierra looking so grown up. So amazing how fast time has gone by. I remember these two as infants. (Cierra was literally born in the same hospital as Kevin, the day before)


Time for the Boutonniere'


And then the Corsage




I was so amazed I got this shot. Kevin actually smiling and enjoying himself. ;)


Pretty soon other couples started to show up. Here is Andie and Eric.


Once everyone had arrived we lined up all of the girls first for a group shot. I loved the color of all the dresses and they all looked fabulous!


Then the boys. So handsome!


Next, the entire group. All very ready to get their evening on the move on and get down to San Diego!


A different angle at the group.


Of course mom and dad had to sneak in a picture with their baby boy.


Then the Limo bus arrived and it was time for all of our grown up kids to get going and have the time of their life!




I am positive their were some happy memories made. Comming up on May 22nd, Kevin gets to escort Cierra to her Senior Prom for Ramona High School. So one more go around for these two. And of course one more go-round of torturing these kids through another round of pictures!

Easter Weekend in the Desert

Boy oh Boy it's been busy! So much happening lately and of course we have the home stretch coming up on Kevin's senior year in high school. Prom this weekend, Graduation in May...College in August.

We had a fantastic weekend out in the desert! Here are the pictures and the stories that go with them.

We arrived late Thursday afternoon before the Easter break. First order of business was putting out our Flamingos in our front yard. Our desert neighbor Ron Neeley passed away in a an accident a couple of weeks ago. At Christmas time he had given all the neighbors Flamingos to hang on our door. He liked flamingos.


Sunset on our first cocktail hill run ever. We are starting a new tradition on the Riviera. Everyday at sunset we'll head to the hill at the end of Saundra and have a cocktail and watch the sunset. Catch up on the days events with our neighbors and maybe plan things for the next day. Our first sunset on our maiden run was beautiful!


The "Day before Easter" potluck at Scott and M.A's. So much food, so many people, lots of good times. All the neighbors and their friends joined us. I think we had over 50 people show up.


Our "Day before Easter" potluck host, Scott aka Pappy


Some of the "girls" at the "Day before Easter" potluck


Another run to our newly annointed Cocktail hill. This time we toasted our friend, Riviera family member and Neighbor Ron Neeley with Orange Martini's. His favorite color was orange and he LOVED the desert. Ron's wife, Cyndi is in the red jacket.


A part of "the gang" at cocktail hill. What a great night we had, tunes, dancing, talking and watching the sunset.


The next day was Easter Morning. All the neighborhood kids met at our house to look for the eggs that the Easter bunny had hidden in the lots next to and behind our house. I think we had over 20 kids show up! They all came back with a basket full of eggs and each got a gift. Thanks to our desert godmothers Debbie and Paige. They'll have some fantastic memories!


An overflowing basket of found easter eggs!


My sons Michael and Kevin and I went on a little Easter ride. We did a geocache while we were out and then Kevin led us around on a nice little ride in the desert.
Here is Kevin


And here is Michael looking for the Geocache "Busy Intersection" We ended up finding the cache in the street sign out there.


At 10 to 4 on Easter Sunday we experienced the Easter Earthquake. The kids and I were sitting in the living room and John had gone back to the bedroom to get something when it started. Kevin was the first to say something: "Am I the only one feeling that?" Then Michael and I: "nope, we feel it too" We still were sitting on the couch. The Salton Sea area gets a lot of quakes and so we just ride them through normally. This one wasn't stopped and seemed to be getting worse. When we started hearing things fall down in the kitchen was when we decide we probably should get outside. The most amazing sight? Seeing John's Avalanche truck with the trailer attached shaking back and forth on the street. It's truly amazing to see that kind of energy from our planet earth. After the quake was over we went inside, I went online and saw the magnitude of the quake. Initially registered as a 6.9 it was later upgraded to a 7.2. It was the most powerful quake I've been through. I'm blessed that my whole family was with me. No worries about anybody being okay. Here is a picture of our kitchen. Some of the tin from up top came down, pictures on the wall in the kitchen fell and framed pictures throughout the house needed to be straightened. Other things fell down throughout the house. I'm good with earthquakes now. I just hope I can live through the rest of my life saying that was the strongest I've been through. I'm done! ;)


It was a doozy.

Road Trip to Phoenix!

This week, I need to be in Phoenix for an Education Trade show on campus at Arizona State University. So instead of flying this time, I opted for driving. 1. I've always wanted to drive to Arizona. 2. Wanted to grab some geocaches on the way out and of course 3. Wanted to take some pictures. I left my house at 7 a.m. this morning and arrived at my hotel at 5 p.m. I think a typical drive at the speed limit is 6 hours. ;) We'll see how long it takes me to get back home on Wednesday.
Below are the photos along with descriptions of my road trip day to Phoenix.

My 1st stop was a geocache at this location. It was cold here. The wind was cold more then anything. Cute location. The Cache was attached to the back of the sign via a magnet.


This was a stop in El Centro for another geocache that I could not find. I hate when that happens. I remember seeing this as a kid when we'd drive through El Centro. Our house in the Salton City is 82 feet below sea level too.


I have read about Plank Road in Imperial County and have always wanted to visit it. Today, I got to do just that! What a cool piece of history in our desert that I am sure not a lot of people are aware of. Plank Road was built in the early 1900's as a way for early era cars to cross through the sand in the desert to get to their destination,whether it was Yuma or San Diego. Today, only fragments of the Plank Road remain. They are protected under the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Land Management.


The Imperial Sand Dunes are the largest mass of sand dunes in California. Formed by windblown sands of ancient Lake Cahuilla, the dune system extends for more than 40 miles in a band averaging 5 miles wide. These dunes are amazing and are SO big. This is also known as the Buttercup riding area for off-road enthusiasts.



This is actually the largest geocache I have ever found. It is located at a Shell Gas Station in Yuma and requires the combination for the lock in order to access it. The combination is located at Geocaching.com I left a trackable coin there that I had found in a geocache in Escondido.


Dateland, AZ. These are Date Palms. There is a geocache here that I could not find. I hate posting sad faces, meaning I can't find the cache. There is also a store here that sells Date Shakes. Someday I will try a date shake. They sell them in Indio, CA as well.


Aztec, AZ. This was the location of another geocache that I was able to find. Aztec, AZ was established in 1889 and was a stop on the Southern Pacific Railroad between Phoenix and Yuma. Now Aztec, AZ is just a ghost town. This was the only "standing" structure there There are several cement slabs in the area as well.


This is one of the many cement slabs in Aztec, AZ. This looks like it went up to some one's house.


Gila Bend, AZ. I stopped here at the Dairy Queen for an ice cream cone. I had intended to do another geocache here, however, unfortunately the museum where the cache was located, was closed with a sign saying that they took Roy to the hospital. I really hope Roy is okay. Definitely a small town and small town feeling.


The Space Age Lodge and Restaurant in Gila Bend. Built in 1963, The 41 unit motel was one of a number of futuristic themed lodges opened by Al Stovall, a friend of President Eisenhower, a supplier of manganese to the government during World War II, and the owner of copper mines and a plastics factory. Stovall invested heavily in the future with the Fabulous Space Age Lodge at Disneyland, which I remember staying at when I was in middle school.


That's all for now. Thanks for reading my ramblings and viewing my pictures. :)