The Accidental Boilermaker

 Nate had the day off work for Juneteenth and since we had plenty of worms leftover, we planned to go fishing at the hurshtown reservoir. It was cool and overcast this morning and too windy to rent a row boat so we fished from shore.  We had very little luck. I did catch this tiny little blue gill.  Jameson’s soccer game was canceled due to standing water on the fields. So we thought why not try again in the evening at the ponds in our neighborhood. We had so much better luck. At one point Jameson caught 4 or 5 fish in row.  Nate caught a small mouth bass early and then got busy helping Jameson. Before we left, we really wanted him to catch one more. So then he catches this tiny blue gill. 

 Evelyn is at Camp Roger this week. Nate dropped her off Monday morning. It is a little weird without her at home.  There’s a camp photographer who posts pictures everyday. We found this one of Evelyn yesterday.  Today Jameson and I went fishing with Bella and Millie. They have a pond in their neighborhood.  The girls brought some nets and Jameson had his fishing pole.  After a couple of casts, he caught a nice sized blue gill. Then there was a stretch of no bites, so he decided to switch to an artificial lure. First cast, he catches this bass. I think we all were a little surprised. Jameson was working hard to reel it in and Bella helped with her net.  I got up and helped with the final bit. 

 Global day of running was June 4th this year. Fleet Feet always organizes a 5K fun run to celebrate. It’s a good day for GOTR too because Fleet Feet donates a portion of the race proceeds back to our council. It was just me this time representing GOTR and thanking runners, plus my two helpers.  The original plan was Evelyn and I would also run the 5K.  Jameson has basketball practice Wednesday evenings and I wasn’t sure the timing would work for him to run too.  As it turned out, several things worked in his favor and he got to run. The race was moved forward to avoid rain in the forecast. Jameson’s practice schedule came out and his team practices at 7:30. I decided as the only GOTR representative, I didn’t feel comfortable leaving the table unmanned. And finally, there was no same day registration, so I gave Jameson my bib and he ran for me.  They both did a great job. As Jameson was running I had the thought that his time would count for me in my gender and ...

 Jameson’s last soccer game was the same Saturday as the GOTR 5K. So Nate took Jameson to Nappanee and Evelyn and I were together. I don’t remember all the details, but Jameson’s team did well. They had a big break in between so they got lunch and checked out a car show. Jameson will play at the same level next fall, just an age group up.  Hopefully he will play with some of the same boys too. GOTR 5K went well. The theme was Hawaiian luau so lots of leis.  It was a cooler day which is always nice for running. Evelyn was again a huge help setting up for the event. It is a long day for her. She spends the morning working and then still participates in 5K in the afternoon.  Then that night she went to see Freaky Friday the Musical with choir. She was very excited to find her friend Peyton at the 5K.  

 School has been out for a while now. But here’s the pictures to prove it. It will be different having kids at two different schools next year.  I don’t have any pictures from 5th grade graduation but it was a nice ceremony.

 We had gotten a lot of sun the past two days, so I proposed an indoor activity like a museum for our last day in LA. We settled on the California Science Center.  It is a free museum right across the street from USC. We couldn’t go on campus but it was fun to get a glance of where Kate works.  We took the metro for a change of pace. Hans loves trains and Nate said it was nice to not have to drive. The museum was fun. They have a big nature exhibit where you explore different ecosystems on earth. There is an area dedicated to the Endeavor space shuttle but the actual shuttle is off exhibit which was disappointing.  In anticipation of the summer Olympics coming to LA, the museum had a big sports exhibit. It was neat, but unfortunately many of the stations didn’t work. Overall it was a fun experience and we didn’t come close to seeing everything.  We took the metro to Little Toyko for lunch. We all got Korean corn dogs. This was my favorite food. I have heard abou...

 Saturday we drove to Griffith Park to hike up to the observatory and see the Hollywood sign. It was the weekend and a warm day, so the park was busy.  The parking lot was full and Nate and I didn’t know what to do. We drove through the lot and then started up the road toward the observatory. We decided that was the wrong idea and came back to the lot. My dad had found a spot so we dropped off kids and by our third time around, a car was leaving and we got a spot. Phew.  The hike up was not long but somewhat steep. And warm and sunny. Thankfully Evelyn and Jameson did not argue about wearing sunscreen. We had gotten plenty of sun at the beach.  We walked around the observatory and relaxed before our walk back down the path.  We drove to Porto’s, a very popular LA deli and bakery, for lunch. The food was very good. Evelyn said it was her favorite. (Jameson picked In-N-Out as his fav).  Nate thought they had forgotten Evelyn’s chocolate croissant, but actuall...

 On Friday we drove to Huntington Beach. This was a big to do for many people. It was a great beach day. Warm inland, but cooler by the water. Windy so there were big waves. The lifeguard recommended only going out waist deep. We left LA early so the beach wasn’t crowded when we arrived. We even saw a pod of dolphins playing near shore.  After swimming for a bit, we left Oma and Grandpa and walked along the water to the pier. It was a little bit of a longer walk than we thought.  Everyone was hungry so we found an authentic Italian pizza place and brought pizza back to the beach for lunch.  That night back in LA we visited the H Mart for dinner. Jameson had pork katsu, Nate got Korean bbq wings, and Evelyn and I shared chicken fried rice with some fried dumplings. Not overly adventurous choices but there were so many options! And that was just the food court in the H Mart. The grocery itself was pretty amazing. Hans introduced Evelyn and Jameson to Hi-Chews and since...