Variety du Parton

I found a new program (well to me anyway) on my computer, Picassa, and started playing around with it. To my great delight I discovered it has a collage feature that pops in as many photos as you select and resizes them to fit various templates. Very cool.

The boys have finally got a week to chill at home, and now that they're stronger swimmer I've lifted the ban on pond swimming so Ben and Ethan have been spending parts of everyday floating around on tubes and jumping off the dock. We're also getting projects together for Fair and finding last minute editions to some collections (leaves, wildflowers, insects, and rocks). They also spent a fair amount of time playing old Playstation 2 games and had a Harry Potter movie marathon, watching them all from beginning to end.
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Fox is in a teenage boy body-building phase and is always asking about exercises to build different muscle groups. He's also very conscientious about what he eats. He walks everyday, long runs one day, does sprints the next, and then bikes a bit on the third day plus does weight lifting each day. And he never stops eating! Cross-country practices start in a couple weeks, I think he'll be ready for his jump to the 3-mile race.

Japanese Tea Garden, Golden Gate Park


Big Sur, California

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4H Mystery Clue Camp was a big hit. It started off extremely hot the Wednesday of drop-off and not many slept that night because even with fans the cabins were extremely stuffy. Thursday was high temps and humidity as well and an extra swim time was added in. The kids still had a great time doing crafts, experiments, solving a murder mystery in the woods during the Nature session, and of course swimming at the lake. The big time fun was their huge slip-n-slide, I've never seen one so long before. Thankfully things cooled down Thursday night and the kids were so exhausted from a full, fun day everyone slept like babies. Friday started off pretty tolerable weather-wise but did warm up by afternoon. Science was contraption day, we made catapults, wobble balls, and more. They also had crafts and a lesson on train safety. In the evening for group activity the kids played Predator / Prey where they are omnivore, carnivore, herbivore, and a couple humans and they all vie for food and water beans. Both boys had a great time and are planning on participating next year; I would like to be involved again as well.

Alex has been working 3rd shift all summer which has put her on a very odd routine. She's still supposed to take a couple placement tests before finalizing her enrollment for the Fall semester at Mott. She has one class she is retaking for a passing grade (part of the academic probation clean-up), a second guitar class and she needs to get her math and English credits squared away. Supposedly her manager is moving her back to days next week, which better happen so she can get back on a normal schedule before classes start!

I am going to be returning to school myself in the Fall through Mott Continuing Education, which excites me very much. They are online classes which is optimal for my busy life, I can still substitute teach without scheduling problems and get the boys to their activities. The classes I'm interested in are about starting a 501c corporation, writing grants, and fundraising. There are many ideas I have for supporting academics through artful endeavors and it's getting to be time to put all my experiences together in a cognitive form and start branching out.....but first, I've got a lot to learn. ;)

Robert is also heading into a huge shift as far as his employment goes. Not going to give it away yet but our family routine will adjust drastically, in a good way, very soon.

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Ultimate Outing

Wow, finally got through all my pictures and selected a few to post but it was really tough. The boys had a great time both camping in Port Austin and at 4H Mystery Clue Camp which I will post about later but for now I'll just share about my adventure out west. For years Rob has been trying to get a business trip together that I could tag along on but for one reason or another it never came together, the stars finally aligned and two clients committed and got their deposits in for work in northern California AND it just happened to come together during the same week the kids would all be gone so that made making arrangements for them all the easier.
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We headed out early on a Sunday morning, me not having flown in close to 15 years, was a little apprehensive about all the new security in place. I fit everything into a carry-on bag and had another large purse with my in-flight essentials, iPod, new Yoga mag, gum, journal, etc.


We got through check-in with no problems, at the gate we heard over the loud speaker Rob Parton to the counter please. Thinking it was about all the tools in his suitcase we were a little nervous but we get up there and the attendant says "we need to change your seats, we're going to bump you up to first class." What!? Apparently there was gum on the seat and since we were traveling together and there was room we got bumped....cool!


Flew into Houston first, made a very easy connection and then made our way to San Jose unfortunately back in coach which felt veerrrryy cramp after our roomy accommodations on the first leg. Arrived early and safely, got the rental car, checked into the hotel, he showed me where the shop was, we picked up a few supplies, had some food and chilled out for the night.
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Monday morning I dropped Rob at the shop, found a Starbucks had my peppermint mocha and spinach/egg/feta wrap then drove a few minutes away to the cute little town of Campbell. Rented a 3-speed bike from Treads and pedaled across the street to a park where I caught the Los Gatos Trail, spent a couple hours riding it to both ends, one just stopped in the middle of the city, the other direction went into a state park, probably did a little over 20 miles total. The weather was perfect, sunny but not to hot with a little breeze. I was amazed to see man-eating sized dill along the sides of the trail, dill is a weed in the true sense of the word in this area. The trail at one point runs behind an industrial area and during their break employees would come out and get some exercise in.

After I was done riding I turned in the bike and explored the artsy downtown area, there was a kaleidoscope shop that was incredible, a retro second-hand store, soda pop/candy shop where I found some wacky packages for the boys (remember those?), and neat mystic type place where I couldn't resist purchasing some new incense and 'healing' stones. Picked up Rob at the shop and had a fantastic dinner of middle eastern food at Dish-n-Dash just a stones throw from the hotel.
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Tuesday after dropping Rob I headed to Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. There is a ton of stuff to do there and I planned to check out several of their gardens but the weather was cold and drizzly so after perusing the Japanese Tea Garden (incredible) and the Botanical Garden (Free that day!) I decided to take the adventure inside at the deYoung Museum of Art enjoying Masterpieces from the Musee National Picasso, Paris exhibit. Being by myself I splurged and did the audio tour which was quite interesting, providing background and commentary from fellow artists and family members. Picasso was a bit of a scoundrel in his personal life and his very early work was extremely 'normal' and beautifully done. There was a painting of his first wife Olga that was stunning which made me wonder if it was more challenging or easier to present his subjects in such a grotesque state ie: cubism. There was quite a bit of sculpture by Pablo as well, elementary but interesting. Some men were practicing their Tai Chi and some women their fan dancing in the park. The tea garden was inspirational and calming, I loved all the stone pieces and was in awe of the amount of bonsai. In one of the pictures below a gardener works carefully on a shrub, and I thought my gardens were a lot of work!

The botanical garden was phenomenally done and there was so much that I took photos of I couldn't even choose, a few I'll post along the side bar because I just loved to colors, absolutely dazzling, my camera can't even do them justice. After Rob got done we drove 'inland' toward Fresno, to a not-so-small rodeo town called Clovis. Here it was HOT! but lucky for us they were having a cool spell.....
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Wednesday after getting Rob to work I drove northward to enjoy Yosemite National Park. My timing was perfect as I pulled up right as the entrance gates were opening. I'd been told you can wait hours in line just to enter the park. Once you pay the toll it's 34 miles into the valley at 25 miles an hour an a gorgeous and winding road. I rented a bike and off to the trails I went marveling at the waterfall, rocks, river, and stone bridges. The weather down in the of the park was perfect.

I had to stop when I went by the stables so I could pet some horses. There are such wonderful animals, I miss having them around the property, there hasn't been I horse I've met yet that doesn't love a good nose rub or jowl scratch. On my way I went around the loop one more time but by now the trail was getting very congested with more and more visitors and between you and me their trail etiquette was crap. So I turned my bike in, picked up a few items at the gift shop and started the long and glorious drive out of the park noting to self that I must return with the whole family sometime. When I got back to the shop I almost passed out from the heat. I don't know how Rob survives working in that type of heat all day. Although he really didn't want to do anything I coerced him into going out to dinner at Tahoe Joe's a local steakhouse and it was fantastic, I was satisfied with the appetizers and salad let alone the dinner!

Thursday I did an adventure closer to 'home'...the Chaffee Zoo and the Fresno Art Museum. The zoo was small but very well run, they had educational talks and feedings going on nearly every half hour. I caught part of the bird show and was impressed to see several teens working as volunteers, pet a stingray and had a great chat with one of the keepers about their care and breeding, fed a giraffe, and smiled like a dork for 20 minutes watching a chimp swing back and forth and a mother orangutan maneuver around with her little baby.

The art museum was rather small but had a nice variety of pieces. In the lobby as you first enter was a huge sculpture orchestrated by two high school teachers and put together by their students that brought attention to the homeless issues in Fresno. Another gallery had renderings for an eco-village intended to be built from reused materials and provide shelter for the homeless. There was also a gallery of woodblock prints, some modern paintings, and an eclectic mix of sculptures. This was my last day on my own since Rob finished his work successfully we then headed back to the coast and stayed in Pismo Beach for the night.

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Friday we got our belongings together, had a big breakfast at Denny's and jumped on Highway 1 for a beautiful drive up the coast. Our first stop was to check out the elephant seals, laying on the beach, barking, molting, flipping sand, flopping to new spaces, and some floating in the water, very interesting to watch.

Next we pulled off at Ragged Point to stretch our legs and fill the tank with some $5.44/gal. gas, the only place to fill up for quite a ways. The overlook was outstanding and I went crazy over all their flowers and plants.

Moving on our next respite was in Big Sur an artists' community that Rob knew I would go nuts over, which I did. I snuck a few pictures of the artwork but I didn't want to take to many for fear they would find it intrusive. There was a cool stage area where they have concerts and dance performances and one artist made several 'spirit nests' out of tree branches. If we didn't have to travel home by plane I would have bought some art but interested I took several business cards to maybe purchase by internet in the future and splurged on a gorgeous silver and amethyst ring. Rob found the real estate listings for the area intriguing from a couple acres of land for $3 mil. to a fully built, off-the-grid compound for $17 million. Yea, no problem....

We finally came off the road in Salinas, to rest up for our return home which was long, cramped, and hot. Flying all night long is tough, I didn't sleep at all, so I was pretty trashed the next day. I'll spare you all the gory details but let me just say, Phoenix Airport -- BOO! Our last jump from Chicago to Detroit I sat by a woman with a newborn who was bringing him to meet her husband's parents in Dearborn. She was so worried about him crying, but he settled down quickly and slept the entire short flight, we started talking near the end of the trip and I even ended up holding him while she got her belonging together at the end of the flight. Her husband hasn't even seen the baby in person yet, only by Skype because is in Dubai taking care of family business and she is staying in San Francisco (better medical and safer). I can totally relate to that phase and am grateful I had family to help me when the kids were babies.

Although it was a fantastic adventure, there's no place like home. I'll write more about what we've been up to later. Hope everyone is having a fabulous July.

Trippin'

Everybody is getting ready to hit the road. The boys will be doing their annual trip to Port Crescent State Park with their grandparents, something they look forward to with great delight. My husband's family has been going there since he was little except for a few rare summers where they ventured somewhere different. It's cool to have such a time honored tradition, something that never really came together in my own family. (Today's mandala is another Sue O'Keffe creation.)

Both Ben and Ethan passed their swimming test with flying colors, they are getting very strong and confident in the water. Ethan is a bit of a goofball but Ben is pretty serious. He's even thinking about going all the way to get his lifeguarding certificate so he can lifeguard when he's 16. Great starter job.

Rob and I will be heading off to California for the week, while he does a couple of service calls I will get a chance to explore San Jose and Fresno. My itinerary currently is to hit the Los Gatos Creek Trail on rented bike, peruse the Golden Gate Park, bike again in Yosemite and check out the zoo and art museum in Fresno. When he's done with his work we'll take a day to drive up Hwy 1 which should be amazing.

Enjoy a few snaps from my garden, things are finally starting to come together around here, with help from the boys we've won back a few more areas and the blooms are starting to abound. Alex has been making her share of trips to the counselor's office at Mott CC trying to get her financial aid and schedule in order. She is going to finish her general ed. Associate degree so at least she can say she has finished something. From there she may take a year off to work (hopefully more in her field of music/drama) or take the next step to working on her bachelor's. She's feeling pretty good about the plan so for her it's lookin' like blue skies.

Hope your summer is shaping up nicely. Check back in a week or so for my California report!