2025, July 21-27

Hallie and Eliza went to the rodeo, Mike took a flight to his hometown, Hallie got a tattoo, and Landon got out of doing something.

In honor of National Ice Cream Day on Sunday, Rockwell (which was closed) had a promotion on Monday. Hallie got a bunch of Muddy Buddy. Don't worry! Only one of these is for her. 

Brooklyn is developing all sorts of personality. It seems like she enjoys being out in the sun. Hallie got to babysit for a few minutes and loved every minute.

We got some stormy weather off to the east on Monday, which meant rainbows. The girls met up with friends at the farmers market and brought home treats. 

Spanish Fork had Fiesta Days leading up to Pioneer Day. While we didn't participate as much as we have in years past, Hallie, Eliza, and work friends did go over to see the rodeo. Yee haw! Three of the five had never been to a rodeo. They all had a lot of fun.

Eliza has chosen to go back to regular school (of a sort). She will enroll in American Leadership Academy (a local charter school) this fall. She's had quite the interesting educational journey since COVID. We're hoping for good things and something that will work both for Eliza and Hallie's schedule while Mike is up in Montana. Eliza and Hallie went to Old Navy to look at uniform options.

Mike had Pioneer Day off, so we decided he should take advantage before heading up north to go out to Simi and see how his family is doing. He got up bright and early on Thursday and was greeted with this sunrise at Salt Lake International. 

While Mike was flying, the girls were looking after horses. Specifically, Eliza went to Leslie's. The first picture is of Elton, who Eliza has helped train. His owner is preparing to sell him. Hallie likes to come in at the end to say hi to the horses.

 

Once they got home, Hallie showed Kai some love too. 

Eliza caught Ferg blepping. 

Turns out that Post Malone also went to the Fiesta Days Rodeo, only on Pioneer Day instead. 

Kai needs to get walked, so here we go. Mornings are best with the heat. 

When we take Mike up to Missoula, the family will all ride up. This means we'll need somewhere to sleep. Eliza had to check out the air mattress to see if it was big enough for her. It isn't really, but Eliza said it will do.

Here are some pictures Mike took on his trip. He didn't get a lot of people pictures because most of his people are camera shy. He happened to recognize home from the air. That wide strip of road in the distance is the 118 Freeway. Technically, Mike can't see his house because it's on the other side of one of the ridges to the north/right. 

 

Upon arriving in Burbank, Mike's sister picked him up. No. She wasn't in the Rolls Royce. Some people have fancy relatives.

 

He spent some time with Emily and her family in the Valley before she took him out to Simi. Later in the afternoon, he and Alie took Molly for a walk around Atherwood Elementary School, home of the All Stars (should have been Alligators, says Mike. Humph).  

The pets at Gma and Gpa O's house took a liking to Mike right away. 

Later in the weekend, we ran a few errands had a few conversations. 

He also grabbed a few photos of memorabilia hanging around the house. He made this bear with a honey pot in Kindergarten out of salt-and-flour clay. This thing's ooollllddd. 

He made this glazed clay tiger doorstop in 3rd grade. 

Like the leisure suit from 1976?

Here are Emily's kids, who (besides Alie) came to visit us on Friday. We had fun in the backyard.

Mike took advantage of the phenomenal (unseasonably cool) So Cal weather to go for walks around the neighborhood. The close to 50-year-old pine tree in front of the house is actually taller than either the sequoias or the eucalyptus nearby.

 

The city recently took out the eucalyptus Mike used to sit under down at Atherwood Park. Mike enjoyed seeing the low clouds hanging onto the hillsides across the valley. 

The park's a nice place for walks and pick-up soccer games. 

You go out early enough and walk quietly enough, you'll also catch a few coneys unawares. 

Hey! Lantanas! Mike saw a few monarch butterflies flittering among various flowers on the trip. His sister Amber has plants that bring all the orange-and-black lovelies to the yard. 

Another sunrise view of the park. 

On Saturday, several family members went out to Moorpark for breakfast at the Cactus Patch Restaurant. Moorpark's High Street has undergone some major renovation tied to the Metrolink train. The pepper trees smelled particularly fragrant. 

After breakfast, Alie had her riding lesson. Today she rode Bentley, even managing to get the ol' girl to canter for a bit. 

Views over the Simoroaks area nestled between the three communities of Simi, Moorpark, and Thousand Oaks. 

While Mike was out in Simi, Hallie was involved in her own adventure. On Saturday, she got a tattoo to commemorate turning 50 and going to Japan using the design Eliza and Mike made together. 

Meanwhile, Mike and his friend Grace caught up on old news. She took a photo.  

Somehow, it doesn't look like we've aged much in the about 8 years since the last time we did this. Clean livin' (or something)! 

While they chatted in the warm sun and cool breeze, clouds making unique configurations drifted by. Apparently they're something rare called a Kelvin-Helmholtz instability or KH wave clouds, which gives them that "fluctus" or ocean wave appearance. Another bit of trivia: The name Simi comes from the Chumash word "Simiji" or "Shimiyi" for the high wispy clouds so common here. 

As he took an evening walk, those high wispy clouds showed off one last time at sunset. 

All too soon, it was time to go back home. Here's a parting shot from over three decades back. Who were those little kids? 

Landon has studiously avoided the spotlight for the last little bit. He's working, doing driver training, and otherwise preparing for senior year while spending the time he isn't sleeping in with friends. It's a tough life for the 17-year-old!