December Nights

Last night was the first evening of December Nights. In the spirit of the holidays, for the last 31 years, the museums in Balboa Park have opened their doors free of charge for the first weekend in December. In addition, to free admission, the park is decorated with lights and full of festive activities, holiday and cultural shows, artisan booths and food food food!


The Prado:
Full of people and lit up with holiday lights

Not sure how many people were at the park on Friday night -- but it was jam packed! It was an adventure just trying to reach the park. All the streets in the surrounding area were grid locked!

The Spreckles Organ Pavilion was lit up with a Christmas tree and through out the evening various choral groups performed. My favourite memory of the evening was the beautiful hammer duclimer music that played while we browsed the artisan cottages at The Spanish Village.

Happy Canada Day!

Happy Easter!

I started off Easter this morning at the early church service. It wasn't technically a sunrise service - but it was early for me. After church I took a quick nap before heading out to spend the day with friends.

I was greeted at the door by 5 year old Z-. He was over the top with excitement about wearing a tie earlier that morning. The excitement over the tie and the anticipation of the egg hunt was contagious. We pulled out the life size pick up sticks and played a few games followed by a round of scrabble. A- and I were busy coming up with abstract and complex words such as 'toe', 'we', and 'cat'. Meanwhile Z- tried to convinced us that the object of the game is to make robots on the board with the tiles. The result was an interesting hybrid of simple three letter words with the tiles creating an 'oddly' shaped robot.

Easter dinner was an wonderful surprise! Two of my favourite foods in one meal -- grilled salmon and asparagus. I love asparagus and had forgotten that I was in the company of fellow asparagus lovers! The experimental part of the meal was the potatoes. They were made with olive oil, thyme, lemon zest and kosher salt - an amazing combination.

Pick Up Sticks!


Easter wouldn't be Easter without an egg hunt. While friends in Canada were searching in the snow for their eggs we were enjoying 89 deg weather! Once the eggs were found and the treats unloaded - the eggs became sailing ships in the pool. The egg/ships spent the afternoon sailing from China across the pool to Encinitas for a birthday party - and then floated on to France. The wonder of a child's imagination!

Searching for Eggs


Basket of Eggs

Good Friday

picture "borrowed" from here

Happy Pi Day

Enjoy some pie on Pi (3.14) day!

President's and Family Day

Happy President's Day!

I have to admit I am not really sure exactly what President's Day is all about. I think it originally had something to do with Washington or Lincoln's birthday and then became a general day to honour the President's. It is also a holiday in my home province of Ontario. Folks in Ontario are celebrating Family Day.

How should President's Day be celebrated? Ever wonder how many people call or send gifts to the President on his day? I generally celebrate (?!?) by doing my taxes. I figure that is my way of sending a gift to the President. I just wish it wasn't such a BIG present!

How do you celebrate President's Day?

Surfrider Beach, Malibu

It's a long weekend and so I am celebrated by making a little day trip.

Today's destination was Surfrider Beach in Malibu. It was a gorgeous day with great surf. Lots of surfers in the water and some were catching some great rides. It was fun watching the nose riders.



I took a stroll down to the pier. Lots of families with little kids, out enjoying a day of fishing together. I talked to one cute little girl who had a hot pink plastic Barbie fishing reel! She gave me a huge smile and shook her head when I asked if she had caught any fish.

Just north of the surf break is the Adamson House and the Malibu Lagoon State Park. There are no tours on Sundays but you can wander through the grounds. The Adamson House is famous for its' Malibu Tiles. I saw several as I explored the property. I look forward to returning again and taking a tour of the house. The Malibu lagoon was full of all sorts of neat aquatic birds - even with all the rain we have had lately - it was still rather dry.

Dry Malibu Lagoon


Tile Fountain at the Adamson House


I had planned to continue my earlier dessert tour of L.A. by stopping at Dough Boys for dinner and then complete the day with some of their awesome red velvet cake. Alas, the restaurant in Santa Monica was closed and I was too tired and lazy to head up to Hollywood. Instead it was off to the Farmer's Market for Fish and Chips. I discovered a new Pinkberry at the market - very cool. Still I held out for red velvet cake and was happily suprised when I found some in the Starbuck's on the top floor of Barnes and Noble.

I brought along my iPod for the drive and listened to Spanish PodCasts on the way up and back. Trying to get back in the Spanish groove after taking the fall off.

¡Tuve un viaje bueno!

PancakeTuesday!

Today is Pancake Day. Woo hoo! Look out IHOP here I come!!!

Shrove Tuesday, the day before Lent, is traditionally celebrated with merriment and great quantities of pancakes. In fact, in many places, including Canada, the day has come to be known as Pancake Day, or Pancake Tuesday.

Back in the day, strict Lenten rules prohibited the eating of all dairy products. Pancakes would be made to use up the supplies of eggs, milk, butter and other fats. The rich Shrovetide pancakes were eaten as a ritual or symbol of self-indulgence before the fast.


Click here to read about Shrove Tuesday on Wikipedia.

Celebrate Pancake Day at IHOP! From 7 am to 10 pm IHOP will be giving away a free short stack (three) of buttermilk pancakes. All that they ask in return is that you consider making a donation to support local children's hospitals through Children's Miracle Network or other local charities. Click here for more info.