Pool Fun

Pool time was also on the list for the last-things-to-do-before-going-back-to-school. We went down the road to our local rec. center.

I decided not to put sunscreen on while at the pool in the hopes of getting a few final summer rays and ended up with sunburn. Serves me right.

Cullen used to hate to put his face in the water but has since discovered that its not such a big deal and having goggles really helps too. From a kid who would get upset about a bit of water on his face to a water baby who is underwater more than anything else.

Will he ever lose those 2 top front teeth?

And so the end of Summer '08 arrives...and its back to school for the kids on Monday (first time for Cullen though who starts Kindergarten).

Last Days of Summer

Today we went to the Denver Children's Museum at the request of Cullen who wanted to go 'to the place that has the anthill'. The CM is a fun place for kids because there are many activities and 'stations' for kids to interact at.

Cullen (dressed as Peter Pan) loves the room that is set up to look like kids and grown-ups alike have shrunk to ant size - everything is oversized and there are costumes for the kids to wear that range from earthworms to squirrels to birds.

My boys enjoyed being birds and built a 'nest' from fabric leaves and acorns which they protected and guarded from the other hopefuls who wanted to play in the nest too.

Underground next to a giant mole

Forcing my kids to dress up and pose for a photo (is that a form of child abuse?)

Jordan & I spent 45 min building a helicopter from recycled materials. I managed to stab myself when the screwdriver slipped as I was trying to screw the thing together, making a small hole in my hand. Jordan was getting impatient with me at one point and said "you're doing a great job Mom but if Dad was here, he'd do a better job". A mother sitting at the next work station sniggered as she heard Jordan say this.

Recycled Helicopter

Cullen enjoyed being a cashier at the mini grocery store and then made me lunch with fake food at the little deli/pizzeria.

He still loves trains

Peter Pan in action.

Jordan was shorter than the drawing of the boy behind him when we first started going to the Children's Museum. Now look at him!

Outside the museum was 'Hopscotch' the cow.

They used blackboard paint on her body so kids can draw on her using chalk.

It was a good day and the boys had a great time. I'm glad I got to spend the day with my kiddos.

The Crystal Cathedral

fOn the last day of our CA vacation, we went to see the Crystal Cathedral which is an extraordinary experience.

I found the following on their website:

"The Cathedral has more than 10,000 windows of tempered silver colored glass that are held in place by a lace-like frame of white steel trusses."

Imagine trying to clean that sucker. What happens in the event of a hail storm?

"In addition, two 90 foot tall doors open electronically behind the pulpit to allow the morning sunlight and warm breezes to enhance the worship services."

"The sanctuary seats 2,890 persons and over 1,000 singers and instrumentalists can perform in 185 foot long chancel area. The service can be viewed on a giant indoor Sony "Jumbotron" television screen, or outside on a giant Nit-Star directly adjacent to the Cathedral, for "drive-in" worshipers."

"The Cathedral pipe organ, made possible by a gift from the late Hazel Wright of Chicago, is world renowned for its size and quality, and stands among the five largest pipe organs in the world."

Whoopdedoo!

"The chancel area is constructed of Rosso Alicante marble, quarried in Spain and cut and polished in Italy. The altar table and pulpit are made of granite, and the 17-foot tall cross is antiqued with eighteen karat gold leaf."

Money well spent, I'm sure!

Did you know that you can bury your loved one on the property of the Crystal Cathedral? This, again is from their website:

"Our state-of-the-art lawn crypts for traditional below ground burial, are complete with double depth concrete vaults that provide for either double or single casket interment. Our lawn crypt prices include the property, the concrete vault, endowment care and the flower vase. Prices range from $9,750.00 to $11,750.00."

I guess if you're in the shade you have to pay more if you're at the edge of the garden...the crappy spot...you only have to fork over $9,750.00.

"Marker and inscription fee is $600.00. Opening/closing fee is $650.00 per placement".

Nothing's for free or even at a decent fee here.

My favorite: you can buy an 8-place burial site beneath the sculpture of Job for a mere $750,000.00 - maybe that's cheap for California. If my family had that kind of money, I'd rather they took that money, bought a nice piece of land in the Rocky Mountains, cremated me and buried my ashes next to an Aspen on that land. And for good measure, find a rock and drop it on the place my box is buried. Then I'd like them to build a fun cabin to spend many a fun weekend or vacation in.

I wonder where Shuller will be buried. Maybe under the pulpit in the cathedral itself (and I'm not trying to be sarcastic here...I just wouldn't put it past him.)

Although the cathedral is spectacular to look at, the sculptors lifelike and incredible, I do wonder how they could have used the money it took to build all of the above in a more constructive way...like feeding thousands of starving families, building homes for those who are homeless, building schools for those who don't have a place to get an education. How about funding missionaries to go to countries that need to hear the Gospel, translating bibles, etc.

Instead Robert H. Shuller has a glamorized a building that has placed the town of Garden Grove on the map. I also think he's had a bit of a nip-n-tuck glamorization done to his face, judging by his picture on the website. I guess that kind of thing comes with a celebrity and having your own live broadcast each Sunday.

Still, in spite of all this bling, I believe God uses Mr Shuller to bring people to Himself. And who am I to judge, right? ;)

This cracked me up. Church in your car.

Do they serve communion with ushers or servers on roller-skates?

I Felt the Earth Move

Mid-July Warren had to go to CA on business to facilitate the move of Kong merchandise from one warehouse to another. He was there for 3 weeks instead of 1.5 weeks. That is because the city of Downey employees suck at getting things done.

The kids and I flew out 3 days after he left for CA and had the pleasure of staying in a really nice hotel, courtesy of Kong.

Warren was booked into the Embassy Suites in Anaheim (south of LA) and it’s a lovely hotel with an atrium courtyard right in the middle of the hotel. We had a 2-room suite with a sleeper sofa for the boys and 2 TVs so we were pretty much 'set'.

The kids loved the Koi pond and Cullen adopted a turtle-friend while Jordan adopted a fish-friend. Then of course both Warren and I each had to adopt a fish-friend too.

Despite having to work, Warren managed to spend 4 days with us, 2 of those being parks - Disneyland and Legoland. The rest of the time he had to work but we met him at the bar each night for 'happy hour' which was fun because the kids ate popcorn and had soda for free while we had chips & salsa plus fancy drinks for free. It was always a good end to each evening.

We got down to the beach too and that was probably my favorite part of the vacation.

The most exciting part of the vacation for me was experiencing my first earthquake. The boys and I were at the beach when it hit. At first I thought I was having a dizzy spell but then I heard others around me say "did you feel that?" and I realized it was an earthquake. Warren called me on my cell and asked if we'd felt it - he was inland and had felt it more than we did. He said the cars in the parking lot were swaying back and forth because of the earthquake. Then I started worrying that my boys were in danger because I heard someone say that if the quake had occurred out at sea, it could result in a tsunami or a tidal wave so I was watching my boys with an eagle's eye, expecting the sand and sea to open up and swallow them at any moment. On the news that night we learnt that the quake happened inland and it was a 5.4 magnitude so a pretty good size one, but nothing too serious for anyone.

So yeah, the earth moved for me! Literally!