a midsummer's day distraction

I should be working, but I'm not. It's summertime and it's hard to concentrate. Why doesn't everyone get the summer off? Kids AND adults need 3 months of vacation. If I had it my way, I'd be at the beach reading a good book. Maybe I'd go in the water, maybe I wouldn't. Either way, I wouldn't be staring at my computer in my matchbox office. I would be outside. Sounds lovely right now. I guess the beach will have to wait for Saturday.

So, the last few weeks have been busy, but mostly the enjoyable kind of busy. We made trips to Redlands and Claremont, celebrated Kent's mom's birthday, enjoyed a fun-filled Fourth of July, replaced the Cat converter in our car (don't ask me what it does, but hope you never have to replace yours), saw a Wilco concert (maybe that was before the last post?) and attended Michael Jackson's Memorial Service. Yes, we went. Did we put our names in the lottery? No. Kent probably wanted to, but we didn't. The tickets were given to us by Michael Vega, a yellow page rep I work with. Bless his soul, he also got us tickets to the Spice Girls Reunion Tour, a concert that would bring Kent and me that much closer to matrimony.

Moving on to some summer shots.

The Fourth:

The Claremont Parade Crew.

Grandpa Sommer and the parade entries.

Cute Sommer nieces and Lainey. Love the big bows, very festive.

Mimi and Sommer

I don't think they make American flags much cuter than this.

MJM (Michael Jackson Memorial):

The police were out in full force: bikes, horses, even Segways (sad I didn't capture those) were everywhere in case the crowds got rambunctious. They weren't really necessary. Everyone was quite calm.

Our glorious parking pass. We were prepared to pay at least $40 for parking, but this little pass came free with our tickets.

Jess and Nate, our memorial buddies. Tickets and wristbands were required to get in.

Oh, Michael. Those BAD days were good for you.

I'm not quite sure about this, but I think the host from the Bachelor was a newscaster at the memorial. Not sure why he was there.

The site in front of the Staples Center. Camera crazy.

Michael reincarnate.

See those programs we're holding so excitedly? Well, one of them is for sale on eBay. The bidding ends in about 14 hours. We'll see what we get.

Kent couldn't see him in person, but the memorial was a fine second choice. (Click here for Kent's review.)

Grandma and Grandpa West's House:

My sister Jayne. How does she do it? Not sure. She has quadruplets and here they are in the pool at the same time.

Brynlee

Weston

Cambria

and Addison. Whoever invented Floaties is a lifesaver. Quite literally.

My other sister, Nini, and little Malia.

Is it bad that I took the camera out and watched this little guy soak himself? At least I turned the water to a warm setting.



An outside, afternoon shower? Why not.

Summer is all about: Swinging. Isabelle knows that and...

so does Grandpa.

It's also for Jumping and...

Playing games, and Grandma is the ultimate Game Lady.

Mom and Dad. They make so many things possible. Love them.

Summertime is so great.

What a good life we live.

zucchiniland

This summer has brought us more zucchini than we know what to do with, so we have been gathering recipes and experimenting with this abundant vegetable. Sauteed with onions is always good, but I had to make cookies for an activity tonight, so I searched the Internet for a zucchini cookie recipe and ended up with a delicious, healthy find. Well, relatively healthy for cookies. It has wheat flour, honey, brown sugar and zucchini--healthy, right? Here it is in case you find yourself in the same zucchini bind:


ZUCCHINI CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES
(Makes about 3 dozen)

1 egg, beaten
½ cup butter, softened
½ cup brown sugar
1/3 cup honey
1 tbsp. vanilla extract (Mexican vanilla if you have it--it's the best!)
Combine in large bowl.

1 cup white flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
½ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
¼ tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp nutmeg
Combine in a separate, small bowl and blend into liquid mixture

1 cup finely shredded zucchini
12 oz chocolate chips
Stir these into other ingredients, mix well. Drop by spoonful onto greased baking sheet, and flatten with the back of a spoon. Bake at 350°, 10 to 15 minutes.

Enjoy and Happy Summer!

donostia (aka: san sebastian)

I'm going back to posting about the trip. There were a few random posts thrown in there (i.e. the cheer leading video), but I just need to get through the trip documentation for posterity sake. The last city we visited in Spain was San Sebastian or Donostia, as it's known by the Basque population.

Everyone speaks Spanish and Basque in the region. The schools even teach in both languages. Below is a written example of the Basque language. It looks similar to Russian to me, but....

Interesting fact: the Basque people have inhabited the area for an unknown period of time. It has been so long, in fact, that historians cannot trace their origin. They are at the origin. Fascinating.

Anyway, we were hoping for sunshine in San Sebastian, but no such luck. It rained most of the day, so instead of going to the beach, we slept in by accident (jet lag finally caught up with us), walked around town and hiked a hill.

I really liked this building. You just don't see architecture like this everyday.

Kent in the pouring rain.

The water-filled harbor.

We saw this statue above us at the harbor and decided to find our way up to it.

Why not? Who cares that we're drenched.

We made it to the statue after waiting around in the San Sebastian Aquarium's art museum while the rain slowed down a bit. It was time well-spent though. A teenage girl, who I think had a thing for Kent, told us all about the Basque culture and Asier Elcoroiribe Lerma, a San Sebastian artist. I actually wanted to buy this painting, but it wasn't for sale.

We found an old fortress at the top of the hill and tour guides who were more than happy to show us around the small informational museum. The thing I remember the most is that San Sebastian has burned down multiple times. So sad.

Here's a view of the city below.

A hike well-worth the exertion, not that it was that difficult, but we were so close to not doing it. I'm glad we did.

We ended the day walking from one bar to another, trying to find the best-looking/tasting tapas and found a great place in the pension (hostel) district. When we got home, it was about 10 o'clock at night and the sun was just setting. It was a beautiful way to end the Spain portion of our trip. And we will be visiting San Sebastian again, but it will be in August next time, when there isn't a chance of rain and the city is in full, beach resort mode.

the sisters are coming, the sisters are coming!

I was never a cheerleader (I didn't make the squad in 9th grade), but this is the type of thing that happens when my sisters and I get together. On this particular occasion, we ransacked the "out of season" closet at my mom and dad's house and found Jeannine and Julie's old song leading outfits. It doesn't matter that they've both had a few children, they fit right on into those mini-skirts without a problem. (I hope I'm like that after a kid or two.)

Anyway, Jayne and Jeannine are coming into town which means the rest of us girls will try to make it to Redlands to join the fun. They come every summer when the heat of Arizona becomes unbearable and it is so exciting! We swim, we talk, we play, we eat....we simply spend time together and watch the kids soak up summer and life. That sounds so nostalgic and old, "watch the kids soak up summer and life"? How old am I? Am I allowed to be looking back? I don't even have kids of my own yet.

Either way, it's going to be a great time. I love my sisters (this includes the in-law sisters too) and I can hardly wait for the summer get-togethers. Let the fun begin!

catchy

So, I don't listen to KROQ very often, but as I was driving to work last week, I came across this band called Metric and now I can't really stop listening to one of their songs. I'm stuck on Help, I'm Alive (see video below), but they have a few good songs. I need to do a little more research on them, but I think I'm sold on their goodness. My goal is to somehow get us to Halifax, Nova Scotia to see them next month. We'll see.

curator kent

I'm not sure when it happened, but Kent has grown the proverbial 'green thumb'. It's true-I've seen it with my own eyes. I had no idea he enjoyed working in the yard so much, but guess what he does almost every day after work (besides watching soccer or some other sporting match)? He gardens and beautifies the backyard. Yes indeed. No more of this sitting on the couch business, not that he sat on the couch that much before, but now he is outdoors tending to the yard. He has been determined to get that yard fixed up since we moved in, but within the last couple of months, he has made some impressive progress.

Here's what the backyard looked like when we moved in last August,

and here it is now.

Pre-yard clean up,

Post-yard clean up.

We didn't do this all on our own though. We've had a lot of help from our families (and my mom and dad's trusted gardeners), but I feel like Kent has done most of it and has been the motivation behind getting that green grass. He really wanted to walk through some grass barefoot out there and now he can. Besides the grass, we also have two box gardens that are thriving. I love the garden part. I've always wanted one and now we have more vegetables than we can handle.

Box Garden #1: Our zucchini bushes went crazy.

Fruits of our labors.

Box Garden #2: The cantaloupe plants went kind of crazy as well.

But all the produce sure is pretty.

This guy works so hard. He just dug a hole under a cement slab (something I didn't think was possible) so we can run an electric line to the garage. Once we have light, maybe I'll clean up my mess in there?

I love this man,

and our new and improved backyard.

burgos

More documentation of the trip. I know, it keeps going and going.... but I love looking through our photos. It already brings back good memories. That being said, here's Burgos. David Axelgard recommended this city to us, so we decided to check it out on our way to San Sebastian and we were not disappointed. Another beautiful cathedral, a plaza full of senior citizens and a group of trees that Kent really likes....what more can you ask for?

Los Arboles

La Catedral

Un cartel

Amigos viejos de Kent

Me gusta esta foto.

La calle

El Toro

Up next: Basque country.