4th of July Weekend

While Jonathan enjoyed boogie-boarding at the beach on July 5, Timothy and Benjamin got creative with sand and a shovel... and are quite pleased with the results.

At the Del Mar Fair

The garden exhibits are always my favorite part of the Del Mar Fair ("San Diego Fair" is not jelling with me yet). The musical theme was well-done in the above exhibit by Home Depot -- I love the piano-key walkways and the fun tropical shack. It was definitely the kids' favorite exhibit, too -- both Elizabeth and Timothy were clicking away with their cameras, capturing the exhibit from every angle. I think the only thing they liked better than this garden exhibit was the funnel cakes....

Cuyamaca

Stonewall Peak (right) and Little Stonewall (left) with Lake Cuyamaca in foreground.

Lake Cuyamaca

Every summer when I was a child we camped in the Cuyamaca Mountains, east of San Diego. I took the kids to Lake Cuyamaca a couple of weeks ago to meet a Brave Writer family from the Shakespeare class I taught in May. I love these mountains that I've climbed on foot and on horseback, the lake that I've hiked around and rose horses around, and Fletcher Island in the center of the lake, the scene of many picnics over the years. My mother camped here throughout her childhood, as did I, and my kids camped here before the fires of 2003 swept through here, decimating the trees and several of the campgrounds, including Los Caballos, our horse camp. Despite the fire damage, it's still a gorgeous place, made sweeter by the generations of memories that reside here.