Visit the kelpforest....

Heh. Avalon & I are at the Long Beach roller derby, watching the Belmont Hot Broads vs. the Bixby Rollerettes with some friends from work. I think we're sitting in the wrong section - every one around us is rooting for pink and I think we're 'posed to be for turquoise.... Avalon was acting all excited to come and now she's acting like she wants to go to sleep. Silly girl.... don't you wanna learn how to throw a shoulder like that?

Edit: oops, sorry for all the typos - must not be able to see my phone as well as I thought. I'm actually surprised it posted at all, considering most of the time it won't let me comment...

I think I finally got it straight how the scoring works, by the end. I'm glad they're finding some use for the Spruce Goose dome.

PH and his wife came as well, good to see him since he retired about three years ago. He told me his favorite team is the Terminal Island Toosties - who whose uniforms look sort of like sailor suits and everyone roots for by their acronym, of course. *rolls eyes*

We'd gotten there by parking at the Aquarium and taking the free shuttle over, and it's a good thing - the parking at the Queen Mary is $12. Mary & Ian were going to give us a ride back across the bridge to the AOP, but we wound up standing around for half an hour until the press of traffic getting out died down. So we got to have a nice chat

They do have junior leagues, and there's one here in Huntington Beach. Might be something we'll have to put aside for; I think it'll be good for her.

Whee! We get to go see this tonight because some friends of mine bought tickets, but then one of them had to go out of town, and she didn't want to go by herself. Mainly because it was his idea, and she'd rather go to the roller derby. She threatened to take my daughter along with her; that might be a good idea. She told me they even have leagues for girls her age, and given what an instigator Avalon is, maybe she'd be good at it. Maybe it would get her to lay off her brother - she and Gareth both got put on computer restriction the other day because I told them about SIX TIMES to leave each other the hell alone. BECAUSE GODDAMMIT MY BED IS NOT A CAGE-MATCH RING.

But I digress. John's mom is taking the kids for the evening and we're going to take the special bus from Lakewood that goes straight up to Hollywood Bowl, no messing with parking, whatever. I picked up some fruit, chips, etc. at lunchtime, and John's going to grab some sandwiches - and maybe an alcoholic beverage or two, and maybe a picnic before John Williams. Yay! Should be fun - John's picking me up in maybe an hour, and off we go.

Sackboy went with us to Anime Expo, although I forgot to pull him out until we were going home on the train. Here's a place that's famous sort of near me - the Staples Center where the Lakers and Kings play (Los Angeles basketball and hockey teams, for those elsewhere).

Staples Center & L.A. Convention Center
Los Angeles, CA'
Canon EOS 1000D
3 July 2010

( cosplayers and something in the mail... )

21. Famous/Important place where you live ♥
(July Scavenger hunt here)

Sackboy visiting the Aquarium, and was trying to tell species of rockfish from one another (there are about 50 different species on the West Coast). In this pic are, a boccacio (brown), about three black & yellow rockfish, and a couple of canary rockfish (orange stripy), possibly some blue rockfish in the background. Also a strawberry anemone and a couple of sun stars.

Aquarium of the Pacific
Long Beach CA
Canon EOS 1000D
27 June 2010

( moar )

We went to the beach again to participate in Hands Across the Sand. Apparently the girls next to us were hestitant to hold hands with Angus; they wouldn't grab on until the last second, and then dropped hands and ran up the beach as soon as it appeared to be over. I chatted with the older man next to me who seemed to be from Northern CA and said something about having started one of the first organic farms in the state. He asked about the oil rigs visible a few miles in the distance, and I told him they were pretty much grandfathered from before the ban on drilling. However, the major oil spill we've had here was when I first started at the Department; an oil terminal right about a mile of Newland St. where tankers offloaded to the Edison plant. A captain forgot to take the shallow water and the tides into account and the ship sat on its own anchor. Guess what company it was. >:( The guy shook his head and nodded at Avalon running back and forth among the pier pilings and in and out of the water, then said, "We aren't doing this for ourselves. It's for people like her."

An older woman up on the pier looked down disgustedly and yelled, "DRILL, DRILL, DRILL!"

Hands Across the Sand
Huntington Beach CA
Canon EOS 1000D
26 June 2010

( civic duties )

Avalon, a doll (given to her by one of my brother's friends), and some of that green pearly putty that some kids toys come in:

"Gareth, look! Barbie's getting a brain transplant! (moving it to her knees) And now she's being sucked on by leeches!"

(Honestly, I did not coach her in any of this...)

Hmm, runsamuck just suggested that "Miss Congeniality" could be very empowering for her to watch. I'm not sure whether he's serious.

My garden club usually tries to put on its own flower show, but sometimes the logistics don't work out. Since my friend Carole became the president of the county district garden clubs, we put on a district wide flower show. I helped by registering everyone's entries, and helping to set up and tear down. I think my favorites are the miniature arrangements. This one is only a couple of inches wide.

District Flower Show
Sherman Library and Gardens
Newport Beach CA
Canon EOS 1000D
17 October 2009

( +1 )

Avalon picked out this cookbook at the bookstore, and wanted to make this recipe from it. A little heavy on the cream cheese, but still tasty. I'm not sure whether the recipe actually called for the Fruit Snacks on the top, but she thought they'd be a good idea.

Perfect Parfaits
Huntington Beach CA
Canon EOS 1000D
16 August 2009

Avalon just waltzed in and asked runsamuck:

"If girls grow up faster than boys, shouldn't I be older than Angus and Gareth?"

Among the mustard... tried again for the one we missed yesterday and this time we found it! We were looking for this one, and the first hint was "where the fence makes no sense." Hmmm.

Bosco's Bluff part 2
Bolsa Chica
Huntington Beach CA
Canon EOS 1000d
21 June 2009

( ? )