Riley spent two weeks at band camp this summer. He is in the marching band at the high school. YES, I said high school. Riley is in high school. That still sounds so very strange to me! Anyway, the camp was not a sleep away camp, it was just during the day. They put in LONG hours though: MWF 8:30-5:00 and TTH 8:30-8:00. The culmination of the two week band camp was a performance for the families and a BBQ. I was amazed at what they accomplished in just two weeks time!!

The band marched out onto the track. Note all of the geese. Freakin' geese are EVERYWHERE in Fremont. They poop all over. 

Color guard. More geese.

The band as they came around the track. Riley is the second line in, from the back. Left side, second from the end. He's the small one there. 

Assembled for their field show.

That's the drum major there, on the platform thing. 

Riley, playing his clarinet. 

After the performance, the band leaders gave out awards to some members of the band. Riley got an award for his hard work and progress during band camp. We already love the band. Such an accepting group of kids! We look forward to Riley's first season of marching band. We will be very busy, but it's going to be a great fit for him (and for us).

Disneyland

Last week we went to Disneyland. We couldn't wait to experience the new Cars Land. It did not disappoint. It is spectacular! All of these pictures were taken with my iPhone.



Some sights around Cars Land.



The Radiator Springs Racers ride is so much fun! Such a great great ride!!!


It was HOT the entire week. Mid to high 90s, and there was even humidity, which we did not expect. We sweated our butts off every single day of our visit. Luckily we bought this fan/spritzer. Best $17 I ever spent!!


The boys watching the Radiator Springs Racers ride.


You may wonder why all of these cars are empty on the Radiator Springs Racers ride. Well, one morning we went to this ride at park opening (with 20 billion others), instead of getting a Fastpass. It took 45 minutes to get into a vehicle. Not too bad actually, but we were literally buckling in and the ride went down. Poop. We were told to get out of the car and we waited at the gates. It was silly to get out of line as we would be the first to ride once it was going again. We waited for over an hour. First they were fixing the ride, then there was ANOTHER earthquake (there was one the night before too), which shut down ALL rides at both parks. By the time they checked the ride for earthquake damage, and then got it working, it was over an hour later. We exited the ride at almost 11 in the morning. Needless to say, we did a Fastpass the next day. The crowds are just too big to try and walk on that ride, unless you are in line an hour before the park opens, or you don't mind using up your entire morning waiting. The ride is fussy and it's been down a lot. They have to work out the kinks. It's still worth the wait though. It's a really good ride.



The castle, at night. We didn't spend as much time at Disneyland this trip, because we wanted to experience all the new stuff at DCA. We did our favorite rides though.



Quinn, on a cone, at the Cozy Cone. I think I was enjoying my apple freeze at this time. Yummy! It's Disney's version of Butterbeer, only apple flavored.



Waiting for DCA to open the morning we left for home. Kevin got Fastpasses for Racers and the boys and I rode Soarin'. We didn't have to wait at all. Walked right on.



Mickey's Fun Wheel. Kevin, Quinn and I rode a swinging gondola this trip. Never again! It is just too freakin' scary!!

If you want to see the rest of my REAL pictures, CLICK HERE.


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Instagram Fun

I quite enjoy Instagram. I use a different app to jazzy up my pictures and then I post them to Instagram. There are a LOT of talented people out there, posting beautiful pictures on Instagram. Here are some of my latest posts...


My neighbor's plant was growing through my fence. If it's in my yard, it's mine! I snipped it off and now it's in my house.


Sweet Maya. I am sure my Facebook friends are sick of my dog pictures, but she's so cute!


Souvenirs I purchased on our Disney Cruise!




The back of Disney Wonder.


A cool totem pole in Ketchikan, Alaska.


The Space Needle in Seattle!

The app I use is DeluxeFX, and I also use one called Pic Jointer which creates a little collage of pictures.


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Getting Ready

I may be crazy...


...But I am getting into teacher mode. I went to the horrible Walmart and purchased everything you see. 123 items. AND I did so in the 15 items or less line! It was an accident. Their word processed, cheaply framed sign was hung up crooked, so I didn't notice it. Oh well. Walmart sucks. They need better signs, or maybe the 8 open self check lines are better for people with 15 items or less.


I also made a trip to the teacher supply store, and found some goodies there. Fingers crossed I am able to be reimbursed.



Oh, and I stocked up on new Justin Bieber folders, for those students who forget their regular homework folders.


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I dropped Quinn off at the Scout House yesterday, for camp.


He seemed excited to go. He's on his own until tomorrow, when Kevin goes up to relieve the other adult leader.


He was the first one on the bus!


Bye Quinn! Have a great time!

I miss him. It's quiet at home. He's the talker. Riley's quiet.

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Alaska

It's been awhile since I updated my blog. Blogger changed things and it's really weird to use. I don't think I like it. Anyway, I digress...

Kevin and I went on a cruise, without the boys. After such a hard school year, and lots of stress, we just needed to unwind. The boys stayed with my parents and went camping in the RV, at the beach. They were completely spoiled by their grandparents. :-) Quinn said, "I like it." Who can argue with that? Kevin and I sailed on Disney Wonder, to Alaska. We've been to Alaska three times now. If you haven't gone, I highly recommend it. It's truly a beautiful place. 

These guys are on the back of the Disney Wonder. Aren't they cute?

We saw a bear off the side of the road, on the way back from our excursion in Skagway.

Kevin really needed to check his phone. 

When we visited Tracy Arm Fjord, the crew captured this glacier ice for people to look at and touch. Pretty cool-literally and figuratively.

This is Sawyer Glacier, in Tracy Arm.

                                      
In Juneau, we went whale watching. This one is my favorite. We saw 6 or 7 Humpback whales. Very cool! I took a million pictures of humps and tails.

Kevin and I with Pluto!

We had a really good time. We spent a couple of days in Seattle before we boarded the ship. If you want to see a trillion more pictures, GO HERE. It's my Flickr photo stream. There are 7 sets for our trip. From Victoria to Ketchikan.

Summer!

It's finally here!!! Summer vacation!!! I can so use the break!


The boys and I had yogurt for dinner. That is the highlight of our first day of summer-unless you want to count the oil change for my car, and TWO trips to Target.

I am going to work hard to update this blog this summer.

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