Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Do these glasses make me look cute?


We sent Truman off to EFY (Especially For Youth) mid-June and he came back wearing these glasses you now see Winston sporting.  Although Truman has been wearing prescription glasses since Kindergarten, he stopped wearing them in 6th or 7th grade.  Saying he doesn't need them and the eye doctor doesn't know what she's talking about.  I guess that's when vanity crept in.  Now he wears these beauties, that he took from a fellow EFY girl, daily because he thinks they make him extra special looking.  Forget about seeing clearly, for the 15 year old boy, it's all about the looks!  Go figure.
Yes, my ottoman is looking ragged and yes, I am going to recover it.  Truly.  Just you wait! I've got ideas!

Sunday, July 24, 2011

Thursday, July 21, 2011

Can you buy me a lot of broccoli?

(Quinn & Sydney playing with the computer at the beach house)
The other day I took Quinn and one of his best friends, Cooper, to see, "The Zookeeper."  Prior to arriving at the theatre we stopped by the store to purchase some snacks.  Don't judge.  One of the snacks Quinn chose was a box of Now and Later candy.  Before the movie started Quinn and I had the following conversation.
Me:  You don't have to eat the whole thing.
Quinn:  I won't.  I don't eat a lot.
Me:  You do if it's candy.
Quinn:  That's true but if you gave me a lot of broccoli, I'd eat it, or cauliflower or those pea pods.  Can you put those on your list?

Monday, July 18, 2011

Waves, Dory & Doughnuts.

Mr. Q knows how to work the waves with his skim board. 
Our family picture at Balboa.  Even though Cole wasn't there to cause me grief with his picture taking antics, Truman isn't far behind.  I suppose he feels obligated to carry on his big brother's tradition.  He's actually mostly decent in this picture. 
Yep, you read the t-shirt right.  Our first beach shirts ever reads, "Beach, Eat, Sleep, Repeat." courtesy of Tiffany, Rick's sister, the mistress of fun. 
All but two!!  We got every one in the picture but Cole, who's in Japan, and Nixie, who was sleeping.  We learned last year not to wake her up for a silly family photo!  I counted 36 family members.  Nuts.
The old fish market at Newport Pier.  Needless to say, I've only gone in once, maybe twice in the last 25 years!  But isn't the outside quaint?!

Our official stop after our Seaside Doughnut run.  Literally, some of us run 2-3 miles each morning and then walk 1 mile back to the doughnut shop where I (I can only speak for myself) get a cinnamon roll  .......is that weird? 
Emily and her camera. It's still attached at her wrist. 
Our beach house is the little blue one.  It was better than expected which is always a good thing.  So long beach house until next year.

Sunday, July 17, 2011

A little bit of Newport, CA

Last night we returned home from our yearly vacation to Newport.  The weather was great and the water was bone chilling cold, as usual.  The only thing missing was Cole, my missionary!  Several of the Tipton family members commented at different times about how it's just not the same without him.  However, we carried on, we know Cole would want that. 
Emily Zoe and her camera.  It's attached at the wrist. 
Truman took on skim boarding this year which left little time for anything else.  He did a bit of surfing and boogie boarding but spent most of his time skim boarding.
 Quinn is devouring a bear claw doughnut from Seaside Doughnuts.  He branched out this year from his usual dozen doughnut holes.  He kept saying, "I like the apple in the bear claw!"
Winston loved the sand, not so much the water.  If left to his own devices, he would be face planting himself into the sand all day.  A handful or two may have made it into his mouth and subsequently his diaper.  Sand tends to have a fibrous effect when eaten.

We (when I say we, I mean at least 31 of us Tiptons and some Sarager relatives too) took a harbor cruise from Balboa Island. It was nice until we got out to the open sea and our boat acted like a bobbing apple.  Heather, my sister-in-law, and I got pretty sea sick but nothing a frozen cheesecake on a stick dipped in chocolate didn't cure.  (Sorry, no picture.  I ate it too fast.)

TK Burger is a famous little hole in the wall down by the Newport pier.  It's delicious as burgers go.  The inside is plastered with surfing album covers and pictures.....this is how Truman told me he wants his bedroom to look.   
The Ferriss wheel at Balboa.  Quinn is there with two of his cousins.

More harbor cruise pictures.

By this time I was feeling the full effects of the ocean so Rick had to take over the camera.  This is the dingy where the boat turns around very slowly to head back to the pier and to allow for pictures and gwakers to view the sun bathing seals.  The captain brings the boat around this dingy on each side allowing fair viewing for all.  All I can think of when I see this picture is, I'm glad I'm not a seal, for oh so many reasons.

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Haboob!!

Yesterday evening, as I was walking out of work, I looked up to the sky and saw this.  It wasn't hard to miss.



Amazing, right?!
Once in my car, I got on the freeway heading east toward home and soon enough, the entire freeway was engulfed by this massive dark, dust cloud.  I pulled off to the side of the freeway, because it was hard to see anything.  Safety first.  Right behind me pulled up Channel 15's new van and the camera guy started to take video of the storm.  Then, he came over to my car and asked for an interview.  I said, "Sure!"  I wasn't doing anything else at the time.