Circuits, Lucky Elephant, and Raging Waters - Part 2

Karen, Michelle, and Winona capped off their computer science week with building circuits in the morning and have robot races in the afternoon. After class, we made another trip to Target to buy a humidifier - poor Michelle got her second nosebleed in one week! We are hoping that the more humid air in her room will help her dry nasal passages. Of course, no errands on a hot day would be complete without a trip to Razzle Dazzle - I had the Hawaiian tart... For dinner, we took everyone to our favorite Thai restaurant - The Lucky Elephant.

pomfret with special sauce (Zach also ordered the pra lard prik...)

as always, a delicious and aesthetically appealing experience at Lucky Elephant

After dinner, we had to squeeze in time for games, even though it was getting late! We taught Karen and Michelle how to play one of our Island favorites - Pig. Then, while Karen was showering, we taught Michelle and Winona how to play Spades. I'm confident that Karen and Michelle slept well on Thursday night!

Friday, we returned to Raging Waters for another day of long lines and water slides. Winona's friend Lucia came with us, which was fun. I think we have learned that Fridays are crowded, no matter what (not just on holidays, like 4th of July). If we go back while Karen and Michelle are here, we'll have to try a day earlier in the week - Monday or Tuesday. Michelle and I agreed that we like the beach better than Raging Waters, so we're having a beach trip next week - For Sure!

Robots Continued + Mall Scavenger Hunt

Karen, Michelle, and Winona enjoyed another full day (morning and afternoon sessions) of Zach's robot experience at Webb. Karen was recruited to help another student better understand the programming process.

Taking a break to Instagram...

Winona and Karen (the robot), with Prof Dodds (aka Dad) and another camper looking on...

When the afternoon session ended, we picked up Julia C. and went straight to the mall for the 73 item scavenger hunt that Zach and I assembled last night while the girls were at the movies :) Julia and Karen made one team, and Winona and Michelle the other. Both teams did great, especially considering the limited time they had (about 75 minutes). Some of Zach's clues were super tricky. I suggested that the girls collaborate and make a scavenger hunt for us - and they can make it absurdly difficult.

I grilled salmon and corn on the cob when we got home. We had a nice picnic on the patio - the evenings are still cool at this time of year. We played a round of "My Grandmother's Trunk," and Karen and Michelle did really well - they even remembered Winona's "Renaissance rendezvous," and "whispering Winifred."

Michelle is thinking about taking Niall in that trunk.... Karen is dreaming of her yummy yogurt...(or maybe she's thinking about Zach's leaping leprechauns...)

Robots and Running Around Town

Zach, Winona, and I were so happy to see Karen and Michelle again on Sunday evening, after their adventurous weekend with Nancy & company. Of course, even though it was late when they arrived, we had to play some games before bed. We were lucky that Winona's friend Lucia was visiting - she is super friendly and had no trouble fitting right into our game routine. First, we had a quick round of Apples to Apples. Then, we had to play LIFE, which took over an hour with six players.

Yesterday - Monday - was the first day of computer/robot camp at Webb with Zach and his Harvey Mudd team. All the groups worked on simple tasks, like getting the robots to make noise and move around. Today, the groups succeeded in getting the robots to follow a path in a specially created arena. Karen and Michelle both wanted to return for the afternoon session with the robots, so that's what we did today - Tuesday.

After camp finished on Monday, Karen and I spent some time looking for a camera repair store and trying different methods to remove the sand that got into her camera's lens. We found a camera store in a seedy section of Upland - coincidentally, right behind the Outback Steakhouse where Michelle's family had eaten the previous evening. In the end, Joe ("but you can call me Joseph") was not able to repair the camera - but we were able to see a slice of life through the visits to his shop that we would have missed otherwise :)

Karen and Michelle taught us how to play a card game called Heart Attack, which was fun, and we taught them the game "I Doubt It." Then, since we had done little to no exercise during the day, we all walked down to Fruizen. Karen and Michelle enjoyed talking with the Taiwanese owners - they both got the oreo gelato. Winona got the Florence Shave Ice, which was quite tasty - we all helped her eat it.

everyone looks a bit kooky

We went directly from the afternoon session at Webb to retrieve Karen's camera, and from there, to Razzle Dazzle - not quite as fancy as Fruizen, but fun and tasty all the same.

Winona, which finger are you pointing at the camera?

Tonight, the girls all saw How to Train Your Dragon - Part 2, while Zach and I did a "special errand" that no one can find out about until we tell them soon.

A Very Patriotic Raging Waters Experience

Michelle, Karen, Winona, and I visited Raging Waters yesterday - July 4 - and despite the crowds, we had a fun time. I had fun staking a claim on a few chairs - fortuitously clumped together - in the middle of an island on the infinite loop of the Lazy River. Happily, this section of the park is cool and shady, so I sat there reading for a couple of hours while the girls went down two - yes, 2 - water slides. Cursed long lines!

We ate our picnic lunch in the air conditioned van, then returned to the park for one more slide.

We met Nancy back at our house - she was picking the girls up early to take them to Claremont's 4th of July parade. I hope they survived - as it was super hot at that time of the afternoon. I also hope that Karen and Michelle were able to see some fireworks last night.

Trying to Beat the Heat in Claremont

After all of the action yesterday, we decided to have a less packed schedule today. We spent the morning working on vocabulary and reading comprehension, and Karen and Michelle did some writing for their blogs. When we were finished with morning studies, we walked up to the Von's shopping center to get additional items for lunch and to check out a few of the other stores nearby. No visit to Claremont would be complete without a stop at the world-famous Pixie Donut, run by a donut maven - or so we are told...

The donuts only slightly helped mitigate the scorching temperatures - we trudged back home and were relieved to return to the air conditioning. The girls prepared a tasty lunch that included prosciutto and mozzarella cheese.

Our post-lunch activity was a guided tour of Harvey Mudd College, from our very own Prof Dodds. We visited Zach's lab and saw the 3D modeling project he and his students are working on. We also got to see lots of demos from students working on projects at the college this summer. We spent time in the outdoor classrooms and roof gardens of the Shanahan Building, just opened this past September. We wrapped up our college visit with a trip to the bookstore. I wanted to find some items to get for Michelle's family, who will be returning to Shanghai early next week.

 

After a delicious dinner of salmon, rice, and quinoa salad that we enjoyed on the patio, we played Candyland, Charades, and Apples to Apples. Karen was the big winner in Candyland and Apples to Apples. It was especially entertaining to see Zach acting out the word "bikini" for his team to guess.

Fashion Island & Crystal Cove

In true southern California style, we began our trip to Newport Beach with an hour-long traffic jam on 57 South, just minutes after our 10:30 a.m. departure. Little did I know that a one hour wait doesn't even begin to faze our girls from Shanghai. Michelle told me later that once she had sat in a five-hour traffic jam on the freeway. But no traffic delay was going to ruin our plans of visiting Fashion Island and Crystal Cove State Beach.

We arrived at Fashion Island just in time for lunch, with extra time for walking around. While Ashley and Lica had lunch with Nancy, I went with Winona, Michelle, and Karen to window shop and check out the many different and interesting fountains situated throughout the outdoor mall. Our favorite stop was at the high end pet store, where we saw fancy breeds of puppies and cats, and we were able to pet the mini-bunnies. Super cute.

Winona ordered the Doritos nacho cheese taco from Taco Bell, along with a churro and some icy, bright green beverage. I'm sorry to say that Michelle and Karen ordered and ate the same exact thing (don't worry, moms and dads - I fed them a healthy dinner when we got home!).

 

We made it to Crystal Cove State Beach by 1:30 - thankfully, it's only a 10 minute drive from the mall. Everyone was excited to get to the beach and play in the ocean. Even though there is a steep hill down to the beach from the parking lot, the effort is worth it. We found a good spot, and Nancy and I enjoyed the cool ocean breezes while the kids frolicked in the ocean, played paddle ball, and built sand castles.

Life is a beach... (right, Karen?)

We left - reluctantly - after 6 p.m., and enjoyed a mostly traffic-free ride home. Needless to say, everyone is happily worn out - the girls have showered, worked on their blogs, and are now going to sleep.

Exploring Claremont Village - Old & New - AND - Authentic Pho in Pomona

Michelle, Karen, and I took a comprehensive tour of Claremont this morning before the temperatures settled in on the day. Before 10:00 a.m., the Village is quiet - most of the stores don't open until later. We loosely followed the Claremont Heritage Self-Guided Tour http://www.claremontheritage.org/villagetour.html (great resource!), which took us to about a dozen sites, including Village West and the Packing House. We started at the train station on First (picture below), then walked north to see City Hall, the Claremont Post Office, and the Claremont Public Library.

It was fun for me to see the town through Karen and Michelle's eyes. They were particularly taken with an eclectic house on Third Street (I believe) replete with cat, American flag, and seashell wind chimes - everything nestled into a postage stamp-sized lot. Even though I've passed the house dozens of times in my years living here - I never actually looked at it closely until today.

 

The Packing House west of Indian Hill is always a treat - I love the way the floors gleam in the morning sunlight that streams through the skylights. There are always interesting things to see inside and out at the Packing House.

 

  

After the big loop around town, we revisited the library, which had been closed on our first trip through. I promised to take the girls there one afternoon to hang out and read. We ended the Village trip with a stop at Boone Companion - my once-favorite toy store, now under new ownership - not bad, just different. I bought Clue and Life - more games to play with Karen and Michelle.

Back home, I met with Karen and Michelle separately to discuss their writing on yesterday's blog. We also reviewed some of the vocabulary and reading comprehension homework.

We followed our lessons with lunch and a break, then Karen, Michelle, and Winona played several Wii games together. All of us played Apples to Apples, a fun game that builds vocabulary.

The girls and I met again in the afternoon for further English instruction. For dinner, we all went to Zach's and my favorite Vietnamese restaurant - Pho Ha - in Pomona. Karen and Michelle ended up choosing chicken fried rice, and tried the spring rolls and jicama rolls, as well as Zach's pho.

We had grand plans of playing charades when we got home, but after five minutes we found Karen and Michelle fast asleep, exhausted from another full day of English immersion - in the classroom and in the world.

so many choices... my head hurts...