In years past, because of the locations/neighborhoods we have lived in, we have never been able to go trick or treating in our own neighborhood… We had an awesome Halloween this year… The kids had a fall festival and parade at their school, and for the first time, we were able to go trick or treating in our own neighborhood with some of our neighbors! The pictures tell a story all their own…

Trick or Treat!

Shortly after moving in and meeting some of our neighbors, we were told about the 4th of July block party. 

It all starts about Noonish.., It’s not like the street gets a whole lot of through traffic anyways, but the street gets blocked off at each end with official street signs; “ROAD CLOSED”. How cool is that. Everyone starts setting up chairs, tables, etc. very laid back and casual. We arrived around 2ish and the party was in full swing. We were immediately welcomed and within minutes we were handed icy cold drinks and signed up for a team on some lawn game. 

The kids also had plenty of stuff to do and friends to play with. They had a HUGE jumpy, a dunk tank, and full run up and down the street. Egg & water balloon toss, plenty of snacks to munch on and we ended up eating sometime around 4:30 – 5ish

Needless to say, everyone had an awesome time… Meeting all of the neighbors, getting to know them and visa versa, food, drinks and good times!

Enjoy some pics.

A few weeks ago (6/22/08), the weather had been pretty warm, so Sunday after church, we decided to venture over to the other side of Folsom Lake and visit Granite Bay area.

Yes, thats right! You are allowed to swim in the lakes in Nor Cal! Imagine that! FINALLY! A place we can swim in fresh water less than 10 Min’s from our house. You can even ride horses around the lake and take them for a swim too… You know Jessica just loved this!!!

It had been a little windy that day on the lake, hence the darker water near the shore. But usually the water is very clear.

The kids and I enjoyed the water swimming & fishing while Rochelle enjoyed the peaceful breeze, watching the horses and us playing in the water from the back of the Van. Oh did I mention, Rochelle took these shots from the back of the Van! Thats right we drove right down on the beach. How cool is that?!

Warning: When you come and visit us, you may not want to leave! Nor Cal is a well kept secret.

Man I miss being a kid sometimes. Think of how we might make a buck knowing what we do as adults… Na, come to think of it, that would probably ruin it. As I drove in the driveway, coming home from work, they even sold me a cup!

The boys had our friend Gideon for a sleep over last night and I took the opportunity to take all three boys out for a ride today. Andrew is doing great on his new mountain bike that he got for Christmas and Gideon had just recently learned how to ride with out training wheels. Zack had almost mastered riding with out training wheels about a month ago when he had an unrelated fall off the kitchen chair and cracked his collar bone. So, for now he has to ride in the trailer. He should be back up riding in no time. Towards the end of the ride, Andrew & Gideon were tracking along pretty good down a little hill, when Gideon must have hit some sand and went down. I missed the actual crash itself, but I was only a few feet in front of him and I sure heard it! Man, he had a good crash! He’s was fine, just a little shaken up. I think that was his first “good” crash!.. and he has a couple scrapes on his cheek and chin to prove it! Way to go buddy! He was a champ and I was able to convince him to get back on his bike and ride most of the way back to the car. Wasn’t soon after heading home, he and Andrew konked out! What an awesome Ride! Enjoy some pics.

Fortunately for us, the fire to the north did turn south east a bit, but did not really go too far and fire crews are setting back fires to control them from going any further.  The fires south of us are really too far to reach us. Unfortunatly when the winds changed, the fires turned back on themselves and burnt through areas that were not already burned. Turned toward what we call Rancho San Diego and the Jamul area. Some friends of Rochelles mom lived in Jamul and lost there home.

Nothing has really changed for us. Still keeping the kids inside, etc. The winds have died down a lot, which good for the fire fighters. But that means the air is worse today. The fires are not anywhere near us at this point. If you want to see a fairly good updated map, check this out.

Thats all for now.

12:36 PM PST

The fires are burning to the north and south east of us and there has only been a little talk on the news of evacuation of our area. (Lakeside)
If the fires to the north of continue south, I’m sure we may be next to evacuate. Although we are not in any immediate danger, as you can see from the attached map (above), we are on the edge of one the evacuation areas. We are actively monitoring the news as to any changes. Although, most of the attention on the news, as it should be, has been on the areas currently in immediate danger we do not get too much updated info on our immediate neighborhood (Lakeside) The areas that have been evacuated have been notified by reverse 911 calls. So, if we get one of those, we are out of here.
I will try to update as often.

If you are interested in local San Diego news:
http://www.fox6.com
http://www.cbs8.com
http://www.10news.com

Steve

Andrew got a new (used) 20-inch (mini) BMX bike for his birthday. I picked up the bike the morning of his birthday… Long story. Actually two identical bikes, one frame in really good shape, very few scratches and the other an almost complete bike. The guy I got them from the guy who owns/runs the 2 BMX tracks here in San Diego and lives 3 houses down the street. (How cool is that!) When I was picking up the bikes, he said, take them both, combine the parts and build a complete bike. Nice! Well that’s what we did.., Sunday the day after Andrew’s birthday… We only needed to purchase a couple items, a new chain, rear tire, and pads. It took me & Andrew all afternoon on Sunday to tear down the one bike, clean up, prep and lube the newer frame in preparation for, and the build. Andrew helped a little, but at his age his attention last about 2min. then off he goes… returning every now and then to check on progress, lend hand, ask questions, etc. But he will continue to learn how to maintain and take care of his own bike.

If you remember from the first Video, Andrew had long outgrown his little 12-inch bike and when riding he would quickly reach the limits of the small cranks and sprockets… But he rode it without ever a complaint. Now, the new one, the cranks & sprocket are a little big. We will be looking for a shorter set and smaller sprocket. That’s all for now, enjoy the vid. Oh ya, and BTW – Now his little brother Zac is already riding the 12-inch with training wheels…

Thanks to the great planning of my wife, the party went off without a hitch. We had a great turn-out and the party moved along at a steady pace. She planned several games for the kids to play which they enjoyed greatly. Enjoy the photos here.

Ps. Yes thats correct, we gave Andrew a new BMX race bike. Check back after Thursday for an update on Thursday eve at the BMX Track.