2008 August

Archive for August, 2008

Pacific Beach… Paradise Found.

Aug.23, 2008

For the second year in a row, we were fortunate enough to benefit from friends in high places. This friend just happens to own a condo on the beach in what is most possibly the best climate on earth, Pacific Beach, San Diego.

This one-bedroom condo is perfect for the five of us. While Christy and I enjoy a private bedroom, the kids have a sleeper sofa and air mattresses laid out in the living room, where they can enjoy the flat-screen TV, Playstation, and Tivo, not to mention the fantastic view of the nearby pier:

For the first few days, we decided to enjoy the weather and simply relax. The kids chose to spend their time in the pool and hot tub instead of heading to the beach just yet. We had the pool completely to ourselves, so Marco Polo and Chicken Fights were the main order of business:

We decided to forego the San Diego Zoo, Sea World, and the Wild Animal Park, but since Annalia had won 4 tickets to Lego Land from her efforts of collecting Box Tops for her school, we decided to join Cyndi, Mia, and Annalia for the day:

On our last day, we decided to enjoy Mother Nature’s playground, and soak in the sun at the beach. We chose to set up shop on the south side of the pier where there were fewer surfers, and less seaweed littering the water and sand. After some good ol’ fashion hole digging…

and football catching…

… we were ready to head home. All in all, it was a great vacation. Just what we all needed as the kids get ready for a new school year, Christy gets her school ready for another year, and I get ready to start my new job.

One thing I will certainly miss the most are the beautiful sunsets:

For a complete set of pictures from the vacation, click here!

Shamir Merino

Yard Sale Day!

Filed Under: Family Events

Aug.09, 2008

As we do every year, the Merino, Kim, Mendez, and Castillo families gather all of our unwanted wares, shine them, organize them, and price them to SELL!! This year, we came back to the Merino house in Pasadena, after last year’s run-in with the Alhambra Code Enforcement which requires yard sales to be in the back yard (LAME!). Even though we didn’t expect to have a lot of goods, we were able to fill our entire front yard with toys, housewares, electronics, tools, bikes, strollers, furniture, and nick-nacks galore:

The Merino Boys were in charge of selling their toys and games, as well as manning the Lemonade Stand, although they seemed to drink more than they sold!

We placed an ad on Criag’s List and Recycler.com, set up a few strategic signs, and waited for the hordes to come. And come they did. Although it didn’t seem to be as busy as year’s past, we did sell off all of the big items, and by 4:30 pm, we were throwing in the towel. With the remaining inventory going off to charity, we felt pretty good about our event. The final tally was $1,453- of which, $166 was the boys’ earnings from toys and lemonade. Not bad for a day’s work (let’s not mention the 2 weeks of preparation it took leading up to the sale)! The weather was beautiful, and after all was said and done- a familiar sound was heard caroling up our street- just in time for a victory treat!

A Fantasmic Night at Disneyland

Filed Under: Family Events, Our Vacations

Aug.09, 2008

As Annual Pass Holders, we generally try to fit in as many rides as we can whenever we visit Disneyland. We usually try to stay all day, or at least for 8+ hours. This time, however, we had a purpose- an agenda. We went to Disneyland just so we can see Fantasmic. But not being content with just seeing the show, we wanted to get front-row, center seats, which meant that we had to lay out the blankets and claim our land mass at 6:00 pm for the 9:00 pm show. As Annalia, Mia, Mark, David and Christy snuck in some rides, Steven and I just laid back and watched as the crowd slowly crept up like the tide. Every wave of people washing ashore making others realize their intent. By 8:00 pm the front sections were full, as stragglers squeezed into nooks and crannies. Yes, we had the best seats in the house, but I’m not sure if it was worth the 3 hour wait. Our view was mildly obstructed by the iron fence separating us from the Rivers of America, and we were pretty sore from sitting on the concrete for so long:

Tom Sawyer’s Island looked beautiful as the sun set and the mood lights danced on the water:

The show is pretty awesome, although I imagine some of the scenes from Fantasia scare the crap out of some of the little kids in the audience! I guess that’s why Mickey comes to the rescue…

Annalia and Mia seemed to enjoy their first Fantasmic experience just fine. Other than a few sore butts and backs, I think we all did.

Shamir Merino

How High, Mount Lowe?

Filed Under: Our Vacations

Aug.04, 2008

Being the adventurous bunch we are, the boys (including Steven!) and I decided to join Grandpa on a leisurely jaunt from the top of Mount Wilson down to our house. Of course, we chose to drive up with our bikes in tow, while Grandpa showed us up by riding his bike for 4 hours up the mountain, much of which was single-track trail! We rode down on The Mount Lowe Fire Road, which starts near the top of Mount Wilson, and ends in the foothills above Pasadena. The fire road was once part of The Mount Lowe Railway, which ran for 43 years, from 1893 to 1936, and carried over three million people up into the San Gabriels. The Mount Lowe Railway was one of the most popular tourist attractions in Southern California. Today, between fires, floods, Forest Service dynamiting, road building, and just plain age, not much remains. Nevertheless, there’s still enough to give you a feel for what it must have been like to ride trolleys high into the mountains.

The fire road is a series of switch backs that take you through the mountains and canyons at a fairly steep decent. The road is full of rocks and loose sand that make for a challenging ride down, especially for us novices (save for Grandpa). The following map shows the path in its entirety (click to enlarge):

Needless to say, we didn’t make it down without casualties. David was the first to biff as his front wheel caught a groove and flipped him over his bike onto the rocky path. While Grandpa, Mark and I were tending to David, Steven, who was well ahead of us already, tore open his front tire on a sharp rock, which sent him out of control and head on into the side of the cliff, where his helmet literally saved his life. When we finally caught up with Steven, he was standing on the path recounting his experience, with a bewildered look on his face. He was trying to figure out how he managed to survive the crash with nothing but a couple of minor scratches on his arm. The severity of his crash was obvious by the mangled front tire and twisted and torn bike seat. Luckily, Grandpa had a spare tube, so after a quick pit stop, we were off and riding down the rest of the way. All, in all, it was an exciting ride, and one that we plan to do again in the near future. For anyone else who may consider riding this trail down… make sure your brakes work well, because you will be using them A LOT!

Shamir Merino

Magic Mountain… Shaken, not Stirred!

Filed Under: Family Events, Our Vacations

Aug.02, 2008

Where were we during July 29th’s 5.4 magnitude So. Cal shaker? How about waiting in line at Magic Mountain for our Annual Passes. The little building we were in shook like a mobile home rolling down a cobblestone path. At first, we all thought it was one of the rides making the building shake, but the rolling motion made everyone realize what was going on.

After waiting an hour for the rides to re-open, we were able to enjoy ourselves and shift our fears from quakes to thrills:

This is one way to cool down: