Walk Around the Block

A photo tour, for Louise...

Front of house, with baby Rachel magically floating in doorway.

Walking up the street towards bay.

This is the beach where we watch the Christmas Boat Parade.  And catch fish.  Well, one fish.  

Someone needs to call the public works department and have them bury that storm drain a little deeper.  I'm thinking it's a tripping hazard.

The bay, where we play.  Across the channel (where the kids are pointing) is Bay Island.

Up the back alley.

Heading in the back door... and the boys doing some goofy dance.  They do that a lot.

She makes me want to...

Griffith Observatory, Los Angeles

A beautiful observatory.

Amazing views of L.A.

The famous Hollywood sign.

Some would call it a hat trick.

Zac (in green shirt, top) makes his way up, up, up,

up to the telescope.

Look close and you can see the "Hollywood" sign above Zac's head.

Hollywood sign with a side of crow.

L.A. skyscrapers in the background.

A beautiful landmark.

Yeah, but can you show me the Griffith Observatory made out of Legos???

Of course.

(aka "Legowood")

Petersen Auto Museum

One of our vacation day trips took us to the...

You might recognize a couple of these cars...

I can hear my dad and brother yelling 'yahooooooo'!  (Or was that 'yeeeeee haw'?)

The Love Bug.

Just a fast racing car.

Josh would love to be a policeman some day.  At least that's the current plan. 

 

Happy Father's Day

...to my grandpa, father-in-law, hubs, and of course, 

to my dad.

He's given me some of the best advice in the whole world.

"Life's tough being a kid."

"Don't get married until you go to college."

He made me learn how to change a spark plug, the oil, and a 

flat tire before I was allowed to get my drivers permit.

My fingers were stained with oil the first day of school my junior year of high school.

Lovely.

But still. 

He's the best.

Four Cuties

I just want to eat them up.

Beach Time

Umbrella, check.

Boogie board, check.

Row boat, check.

A daddy who will help dig out a 'hot tub', check.

What more could you want?

New friends are made easily on the sand.

Rachel (now 4 months old) is convinced that she's able to stuff her entire fist into her mouth.

Josh on his boogie board.

The olders.

Where did all these cute kids come from?
Oh, they're mine?
I have FOUR kids???
Oh my.

Milkshakes at Rubys

Strawberry-Banana, Double Chocolate Chip, and Turtle.

Mmmmmm, summer is tasting good.

41 Years, Baby

Dear Mom and Dad,

I'm so glad you two got married 41 years ago today.  

1969

Let's just say my life depended on it.

2008

Oh, and these little lives (plus two more!) also depended on it.

God is good.

love

Wendi

Fishing

Tap, tap, tap.

Is this thing on?

I have an announcement to make.

Ahem.

Team Garland has caught their first fish.

And the angels rejoiced.

We loved our fish.

We used squid as bait.  Apparently all the fish rave about this stuff.

(Sorry for those of you who get weak in the stomach.)

He was beautiful, but alas, he was only 8 inches long.  

And he had to be at least 12 inches long to fry 'em.

So the fish talked.  He asked if we'd kindly put him back in the bay.  

So we did.

Goodbye forever, fish.