The Quickest Camping Trip Ever

So Cheryl bought the boys a tent. It's adorable, just big enough for them. And they decided that they wanted to camp out in it -- in our backyard -- last night. Good time for it, too, as the weather has been HOT and their room doesn't have A/C. Well, after much excitement, the reality of the whole "camping out" thing set in. They demanded lights and quiet (awesome time to be running Bobcat for hours, Neighbor With Junkyard!). They got the former. We tucked them in, and ... 20 minutes later they were in their bed. Which means they just missed the thunder, lightning and rainstorm. Perfect timing! It was a weird rain, hard and quick, like hot angry tears, and gone in minutes. This morning, it was almost like it hadn't rained at all... but our cars, which we so carefully (NOT!) washed this weekend, were dusted up. And it's still hot.

I see cruise ships!

I love a blue-sky day, and cruise ships at the pier. Of course, I'd love it more if the family and I were getting on one ... Lookslike this will be a year without a cruise. But Disney, and another Rosie cruise out of Seattle, loom.

San Diego: What a Great Vacation!

So we're just back from a trip to San Diego, and wow, did it turn out great. Really, one of the best vacations ever, and I think it's spoiled me on non-"World Famous" zoos. (The San Diego Zoo is, as we learned, "World Famous.") You feel like you could almost reach out and touch the animals. You know, if you have 10-foot arms. But it feels really close. We were closer than 10 feet to a tiger when we stayed the night at the Wild Animal Park. And then there's Seaworld, which I thought might be kinda cheesy. And it was, but it was cheesy good. And I got to feed and pet dolphins and pet rays. I love rays. There's something cool and calming about them ....

If you go to San Diego, definitely hit the zoo, and make the drive to the Wild Animal Park. Costco has a good deal on five-day tickets that allow you to go to whichever of any of those parks that you want on whichever days you want. I also recommend, if you can, that you Dine With Shamu. You'll get to be with the killer whales right in front of you, in one of their auxiliary tanks. And the trainers are right there, answering questions, etc. Awesome.