Christmas, 2007
Here we are again, with our adventures from the past year.
As always, we made the rounds of the museums. We saw the "Star Wars" exhibit at the Science Center. Not much actual science there, but it was fun to see all the movie props and costumes. We also took Lucinda to the Queen Mary and the Russian submarine in Long Beach. Also in the military history area, we went to the Midway aircraft carrier museum in San Diego. Our less-serious museum trips were to Ripley's Believe It Or Not in Hollywood, and to the Museum of Jurassic Technology.
We saw a few art shows this year. "The Secret Life of Cows" was a digital-photo exhibit of cows in improbable and often hilarious situations. "Cone Migration" featured orange rubber traffic cones that had been 'released into the wild' for a time and then made into art.
Our live theater adventures included a visit to Magicopolis in Santa Monica. We also saw "Tammy Faye Starlite's Born Again Again" and "Varla Jean Merman is Anatomically Incorrect" in Hollywood.
We did some renovations on our house this year. We painted the back two rooms and got new carpet. Leopard-print carpet. Anyone who knows us will know that that's just perfect for us.
Some outdoor adventures included a hike to some wind caves in Orange County. We also took Lucinda hiking up Echo Mountain and Strawberry Peak in the San Gabriels.
This year we did not go to Lake Tahoe. Instead, we took a trip Back East to visit friends and relatives. Cathy has a lot of family there, and we wanted Lucinda to meet some of her cousins, since she is the only kid in the family out west. We also visited a few of Stan's old friends, as well as did some sightseeing around New York. And we even saw a wild bear in New Jersey.
On a sad note, Bella died at the end of last year. She was the puppy we got last fall. We only had her for a few weeks when she got sick and died. This was very sad, but in March we adopted Suzie Q, who is another corgi-mix like our other dog, Ripley.
Cathy had some adventures on her own this year as well. She has taken up dancing again. This is something she has wanted to do for years, and she was lucky enough to find a suitable partner to dance with. They can be seen at retro-disco events around Los Angeles.
Stan's job is still going well and is still great fun. His 'pet project' from years past has turned into a Big Deal. The USGS Earthquake Notification System now has over 115,000 subscribers worldwide. He's also still doing bike rides with the Foothill Cycle Club. Many of these rides are sightseeing trips around Los Angeles, including a visit to Bela Lugosi's grave for Halloween.
Lucinda is in third grade now, and she's still taking art classes and horseback riding. She is also doing a lot of baking with Stan. Together, they make chocolate cakes, cookies, and they came up with the perfect blueberry muffin recipe.
And as always, all of these adventures and pictures are available on our family web site: