We spent four days camping at Lake Isabella, which is just east of Bakersfield. We went with the Buchers, the Olsons, and friends of the Buchers from Boy Scouts. We came with high hopes of fishing action, but the lake didn’t yield much. Probably some bad after-effects from a big fire earlier in the year.… Read More: Lake Isabella »
The El Segundo Elementary School Musical Instrument Program at both Richmond Street and Center Street Schools held their Spring Recital. Morgan played a duet of “This Old Man” with her classmate, Lily. About halfway through the song (the 0:41 second mark in the video below), a bottom valve cap came off of Morgan’s trumpet and… Read More: Spring Recital »
The fourth grade classes at Center Street School in El Segundo took a field trip to the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. Ron volunteered to be one of the chaperones, and he met Morgan’s class at the museum. There were enough parent chaperones to break the class up into small groups, so, in… Read More: Natural History Museum »
Iris’ mom, Sue, had knee replacement surgery this morning. The operation went well, and we went to visit her in the afternoon. She’s got her leg in an interesting apparatus that automatically bends her knee every few minutes. And wrapped around her knee is a neoprene sleeve that’s attached to a hose, which keeps her… Read More: Sue’s Knee Surgery »
We spent Mothers Day with Iris’ family having dim sum at the Sea Empress Seafood Restaurant in Gardena. We got there early (10:30 AM), which allowed us to get a table right away. When we left around 11:30, the wait for a table looked at least to be an hour long. After dim sum, we… Read More: Mothers Day »
Ron and the two girls ran in El Segundo’s Run for Education, benefitting the El Segundo PTA. This was Stephanie’s third 5K and Morgan’s first. It’s a fairly hilly course (El Segundo has an incredible number of hills for such a small town). Luckily Morgan is a slow runner, so Ron could hobble along beside… Read More: Run for Education »
We got together with Iris’ dad’s side of the family, the Uematsus, represented by Iris’ mom, Sue; Iris’ Aunt Lily; and Iris’ Aunt Michi. Greg & Patty Uematsu hosted this big gathering at their home in Trabuco Canyon. They had put in a koi pond since the last time we visited, and it was just… Read More: Three Aunts »
Happy Year of the Rat! Stephanie and Ron ran the Los Angeles Chinatown Firecracker 5K. This was the second year in a row that they ran together. The weather was much better (it was pouring rain last year). They went with Ron’s co-worker/friend, Tom, and his wife, Aya. Tom’s friend, Paul, also met them at… Read More: Firecracker 5K »
Stephanie decided she wanted to surprise her friends on her birthday by doing a “reverse” snatch. We started off at 6:15 AM and went to 10 different houses, “kidnapping” her unknowing friends. The rules were simple: no makeup and no changing, other than to put on shoes and a robe or sweatshirt. With three carloads… Read More: Stephanie’s Birthday Snatch »
Morgan’s birthday was actually Dec. 18, but we decided to celebrate it during her school’s winter break. Instead of a party, Morgan invited a couple of friends for an overnight trip to Disneyland. We booked a suite at the Disneyland hotel, which fit all six of us comfortably. The four kids took the bedroom while… Read More: Morgan’s 10th Birthday »