Grandpa Brian, and Glendale Police Station

The first week of February, my dad came down from Oregon on the train for his annual Superbowl Week Visit.  We spent a lot of time hanging out in the backyard, and the kids went crazy dancing to music on the portable speakers he brought.  We watched the Superbowl, of course, and I have to say, our Superbowl lunch was pretty awesome.  Ryan grilled Italian sausage outside, and I did baked zucchini, grilled peppers and onions, homemade guacamole, and marinated portobellos.  At halftime, we left my dad alone and spent the second half at our friends' house (he was invited, but preferred to stay put,) which was good in retrospect, since it allowed him his period of mourning when the Seahawks lost!  The rest of the week we spent mostly running around to our usual lessons and activities, although we did do an afternoon at the zoo.  I was "encouraged" to purchase an iced tea maker, since it's basically the only non-coffee liquid my dad drinks, but in the end I actually learned to love herbal iced tea!  It's pretty healthy, too.  It was nice to see my dad and spend time with him.
   

   

Dance Party Intermission

We found a salamander in our pool!

    

    

Superbowl Food

    

Cub Scout Soap Carving

Los Angeles Zoo

I reached BOTH my sleep and exercise goals!

Slobbery Connor

     
The following week we had an awesome Joy School field trip.  Mason's dad works for dispatch at the Glendale Police Station, so he arranged a VIP and rather lengthy tour for all the Joy School kids, plus the babies and Connor and Elise.  I was really grateful they let me drag my homeschoolers along, or we wouldn't have been able to go.  We got to meet the Chief of Police, see the dispatch area and listen to the police radios, get everybody fingerprinted, watch a police dog find somebody's keys, and sit both in a squad car and on department motorcycles.  We also saw the area where they unload prisoners from cars.  The jail was too busy, or we would have seen that, too, but the kids were all getting hungry and tired.  It was pretty amazing.