Merry Christmas

Thea's Christmas Tree

Jacob and I trimmed Thea's Christmas tree while she and Michael did fix-its around the house. A festive tree indeed.

Ho, Ho, Ho Merry Christmas

Las Vegas 2015

It is official, Las Vegas has become an annual tradition.  This is our 6th consecutive trip.  We stayed at The Encore which has become our mainstay and as usual food was a big part of our trip.

We had afternoon tea at the Mandarin Hotel. Michael drank Mandarin Orange and I had Darjeeling. We lost count of how many cups of tea we drank in the course of our meal. The front row seat by the window was a plus too, great view of the strip.

These were the little plates of food we ate. They may look small but by the time we finished them all we were very full. We had savory plates of curry chicken salad, smoked salmon and black forest ham role ups. There were two types of scones and 3 spreads/jam to put on them. And finally desserts which were 4.

And then there were two.

We chose to do something outdoorsy this trip. Michael picked Valley of Fire State Park which is 55 miles northeast of Las Vegas and 6 miles from Lake Mead.

Upon entering the park there are signs posted that say no drones. Glad that our state parks are keeping up with modern technology.

Valley of Fire derives its name from red sandstone formations, formed from great shifting sand dunes during the age of dinosaurs, 150 million years ago. Complex uplifting and faulting of the region, followed by extensive erosion, have created the present landscape.

These rock formations are called Beehives, unusual sandstone formations eroded by wind and water.

We took a little hiking trail on Mouse's Tank (3/4 mile). Named for an outlaw who used the area as a hideout in the 1890s, Mouse's Tank is a natural basin in the rock where water collects after rainfalls, sometimes remaining for months. There was no water at this time. The ground was covered by this soft powder-like sand. 

Rainbow Vista. Multi-colored sandstone and our turning around point. 

255 pound Wynn tower fashioned entirely of gingerbread, fronted by a replica of the show's talented cast of singers, dancers and musicians, crafted entirely from gingerbread, sugar, chocolate and fondant.  We enjoyed our dinner at the buffet. Happy Holidays!

Happy Halloween 2015

Jacob did the pumpkin carving this year and the toothpick addition was his idea. Micheal programmed the lights to change colors inside the pumpkin. 

They added Jacobs LED lights to the fence that also changed colors.  Despite all their efforts to attract trick or treaters business was very light last night.   I think next year I will sit outside and just hand candy out.  So instead of answering the door we watched Frankenstein the 1931 version staring Boris Karloff.

JPL Open House

JPL open house, Disneyland for geeks.  We headed off 8 AM in the morning for a 9 AM open house.  We figured we have plenty of time but what we didn't know was that everyone else had the same idea.  We got to La Canada Flintridge in 30 mintues and then promptly waited in traffic for over an hour.  We finally decided to park in the surrounding neighborhood and walk in.

We and throngs of others had the same idea.

This was one of the few exhibits that we could get into.  The lines were very long.

We were told by JPL employees that they were expecting 65,000 people for the open house.  I think if we had know we would have stayed home.  We met up with some friends and had a good social visit but we did not see much of JPL. Jacob did not sleep well the night before.  I think the heat and walking wore him out but he will swear that he did not fall asleep.

August Round Up

Welcome to another addition of the August Birthday Round Up.  We have celebrated a few milestones this year.

We started off the month, the first to be exact, with Hank's birthday.  He turned a very proud 85.

In case you were wondering I made another Dorie Greenspan cake, Perfect Party Cake,  It was a vanilla cake, raspberry filling, buttercream frosting and coconut on top.  Hank requested pineapple upside down cake for next year, I can do that.

Jacob made Zaide that award to see there.  I think everyone can expect a 3D modeling gift this year.

We celebrated Michael (49th) and Jacob's (12th) birthdays together this year, as far as cake baking is concerned.  When your wife is involved in a baking club there is always something sweet in the house.  We had just polished off a Cherry Crumb Tart and another cake was just not needed. Michael decided he could suffer the 5 days until the next cake.

Jacob asked for a hamburger cake this year.  I searched the web hoping I could find one I could make, cake decorating is not my forte. Thanks to the Food Network I found a doable cake with a tutorial.  It came out better than expected.

Scott said he wanted one of these beauties for his birthday next year.  I said this cake was not worthy of a 50th birthday party but then again I am speaking to The BBQ King.

I tried to get the September birthday girl to pick out a cake for her birthday. She decided on a box cake mix with canned frosting.  Sigh, you can't win the all...

First Day of School

Tuesday was the first day of 7th grade.  Jacob seemed to have survived the experience.  This year he is taking drama, technology, English, world history, honors math and life science.  I am sure he will have more to share on Saturday.

Given that he is in a uniformed school the pictures are not going to change much.  He is taller this year!

CicLAvia

SO. MUCH. FUN.  We participated in CicLAvia this year since it was in our own backyard.  It was titled Culver City meets Venice.  The route was from Venice Blvd, to Centinela to Washington Blvd and ended at National Blvd.  We took it from Lincoln then went East to National and back again.  We skipped going down to the beach.  

This is the intersection of Sepulveda and Washington Blvd.

The end and our turn around site.

Venice Blvd free of cars. Jacob took a video of the experience under the freeway and uploaded it to Youtube.