It Never Rains in Sunny Southern California..

...but when it rains, man it pours.

We have had some wild, rainy weather this winter. Noooo, it's not an El Nino, they say, but who are they kidding? Lots of weeks with 1-2 storms a week, and several rained out weekends.

Makes for some great weather pictures, and the flowers sure love the rain too.

Some other things that have happened the last few months include a Pinewood Derby, a day hike while on the lookout for cougars, a day brushing up on Camporee skills, cleaning up a park, strep throat, cooking practice, algebra tutoring sessions, a bowling outing and a Vegas outing.

Kevin, Matthew, and I have campouts scheduled this month and next month, some concerts to attend, and family get togethers planned, so stay tuned for more pictures.

..And the Rest of the Year

The months of October and November meant marching season in full swing - plenty of practices and all day tournaments for Kevin (yeah, and me). The weekend before Thanksgiving signals the Savanna Tournament, which meant lots of extra hours of planning, coordinating, and a gabillion minutes used on my cell phone plan.

RJ was in charge of the BBQ Row, serving up hundreds of pancakes, cheeseburgers, and carne asada tacos. The day ended with a fantastic performance by the UCLA Bruin marching band - a show that wowed the crowds of spectators and volunteers alike.

The first weekend of December was the SCSBOA Championships in San Diego. A busload of us band parents and friends tagged along, gabbing and playing 50/50 on the bus. The group ended up taking first place for their division - a great way to end a winning season.

Sam got a job at WalMart back in September, and spent the last 3+ months working plenty of hours selling phones, TVs, and assorted other electronic items. He's getting great experience working with the public and learning the responsibility of the working world. Driving lessons are also continuing, but our two schedules don't always allow for much time.

Christmas came with the usual note to Santa asking once again for their trivia scavenger hunt. I wonder if these things quizzes would sell...

The week after Christmas found us back at the float barn decorating this cockatiel/rooster/parrot/toucan thingamabobby bird for the Jack in the Box float.

Matt, Kevin and I went for the first time to the Rose Parade and sold programs to the crowds. A portion of each program was given to the boys for their scout accounts - helping pay for summer camp and other activities. Having never been, it was a fun and wild experience for all of us. We got to see some kids who were marching in two different bands, and also ran into distant family who were spectators. What are those odds?!??

We walked for what seemed like forever, sold a bunch of programs, and also waved to two other friends who were participating in the BSA entry in the parade... all before noon. Came home to sleep through the Rose Bowl game. What a way to wrap up the year and kick off the new decade!

Some Random Fall Happenings

Kevin and Snoopy celebrated a birthday, one of them adding another few inches in height..

Fall decor came our way in the form of a .99 cent store spider web...

Matt and I took a weekend to go camping with his buds...

... got in a little rock wall climbing...

... and we enjoyed the time off with no Tournament planning; the sounds of Chino Hills coyotes, tent zippers, and no cell phone service; and the foreign sights of a million stars at night with a couple shooting stars thrown in...

It's Fall Again

Wow - can't believe that it's OCTOBER already. Seems like school started only last week...but now looking back, we've had back to school nights, Scouts starting back up, football games and even a couple tournaments.

Kevin's troop had a court of honor at Firestone...where the lovely Ms Stephanie arranged a Dutch Oven dinner for the families. I had to take notes, cause Matt and I will be camping out there in a few weeks.


Kevin spent a Saturday washing cars for band, even taking a break to say hi to Nick who happened to be in town for the weekend. He seems to be having a good time with all the practices and fundraisers and high school in general.

Their group already has a couple first place finishes under their belts, I'm sure that helps.

Labor Day Weekend 2009

Every once in awhile, when we're not working on rank requirements that have to do with compasses, crossing rivers, CPR, knowing the native plants of California, or knowing what a bowline knot is for (and then tying it), the Boy Scouts go and do something FUN.

Saturday Kevin and I got up at the crack of o-dark-hundred and went to Angels Stadium with his troop. We were there with quite a few other Boy Scout and Girl Scout troops of various ages, along with all the other parents that had driving duty.

We were there cheering on the runners for the Disneyland Half Marathon, and the nine-mile mark was them running through Angel Stadium. There were all sorts of athletes, from the professionals we saw at 7:30am; to the wheelchair runners; the large amounts of folks sporting any and all manner of Disney-related costumes - Tinkerbell, Peter Pan, Cinderella, Snow White, and Minnie Mouse (both girls AND guys wore this!!); the folks walking the route and stopping to take pictures and video of it all; down to the last straggling walker at 10am. We cheered especially hard for her. Elvis even made an appearance.

It was most fun when we went down to the wall and gave high fives to the runners - they were very appreciative. And sweaty.

BTW, Kevin just made his First Class rank, and knew how to do all those fun things (and more) listed above. And now, so do I.

The rest of the weekend included a pool party in Temecula; dodging drunk drivers on the road; and a beach day. . .