Sean's Birthday

I was looking to do something fun for Sean's birthday but couldn't think of anything.  Of course I wanted a creative spin on the birthday bash too.  A couple of weeks before his birthday we were talking with friends about Goosebumps and how the only Goosebumps book I read was a choose your own adventure.  Then it hit me, this was what I was going to do for Sean's Birthday.  I would create a Choose Your Own Adventure book that he could pick exactly what he wanted to do. 

I showed him the book the night before because he thought I was going to do something lame for his birthday.  I just showed him the front (not letting him flip through) and told him he had to choose carefully because what he chose in the beginning of the day may affect the rest of the day. 

In the morning I gave him his book which had the first adventure of choosing what to eat for breakfast.  His choices were having omelets at home, getting donuts (he had been wanting to do that) or going to IHOP (which he has been wanting to do also).  He choose IHOP.  We had a very tasty breakfast. 

Then he had to choose his next adventure.  He had to choose between going to an Angles game or going to Santa Monica and biking the Strand.  There really wasnt any competition with that, he chose the Angels game.  Because he chose that, the rest of our day was spent in the OC.  He got to choose between exploring Newport or hanging at Downtown Disney and he chose the latter.

Downtown Disney was fun because we went into all the shops and even headed to the resorts and walked through the lobby.  We ate our dinner at hte Jazz Kitchen Take Out and even had Beignets for dessert.  If you have not had Beignets then you are missing out on the tastiest dessert!  Hanging out at the Jazz Kitchen and eating the southern food really made me want to go to New Orleans.  It's near hte top of our to see cities.  AFter that we went to the stadium to enjoy some batting practice which Sean was able to get TWO balls.  He always acts like a little kid at Christmas when we go to the games.  We enjoyed a great game with great seats and to top it all off, the Angels won!

The next day Sean's parents came out to visit us for his birthday (they are now empty nesters).  His last two cakes were baseball themed so I thought I had to do something along those lines so I put one of his MLB baseballs that he caught in the middle of my bundt cake, wrapped in saran wrap of course!  I would have to say, it was a success birthday for my best friend!

It's a Bird! It's a plane! It's a SPACE SHUTTLE!

 Endeavor made headlines a couple of weeks back and I was lucky enough to get some great shots of it.  I work at the Southwest Museum which is situated in a valley north of downtown making it an ideal location to see the shuttle as it headed through downtown.   

All I knew was the shuttle was suppose to be in LA around 11:30.  I didn't know exactly where.  A couple of coworkers and I went to the roof of our museum and stood in the blazing sun waiting.  We waited for about 20 minutes when two of my coworkers left.  They were done standing in the heat.  I was determined to see this thing.  I had called my brother in Burbank to see if he had seen it yet.  He said he was watching it on the TV and when it got close enough he would go outside.  Since I was not privy to a TV I asked him where they said it was.  He said it just left Santa Monica.  Literally when he said that I could see something through the haze downtown.  I got off the phone with him so I could get some good pictures with my camera.  It was really cool to see this big blob coming through the haze and circling downtown.  Then it headed towards us which I was not expecting and we got some great shots of it before it headed across the hills towards Burbank and Universal. 

Lake Powell

In August Sean and I traveled to Lake Powell with his family for a Madsen Family Reunion.  His youngest brother Mark was going off to college so it might have been the last time we got together as a family because he'll be going on his mission next year. 

The drive to Powell was very long but we stayed in a nice house (I've totally been converted to renting houses as opposed to booking hotels) and had a great time on the lake.  Sean was excited to try out the wake skate which is now all the rage and I was excited to have a relaxing vaca on the lake.  Sean's brother Daniel has a GoPro so we took tons of footage and both Sean and Mark made their own videos using the same footage.  Each has a different feel.  You can watch them here and here.