Cali Living by CBHine -- Home, a busy place!

Our household is always busy. This past week, my son took off to see the Angels play Oakland. It was college day and all the seats were cheap for those students who could produce an ID from their university. He and friends were able to "worm" their way pass security gates to sit behind home plate (he mentioned they were only asked to move 6 times). At the Angels game, they are always celebrating someone or something and they hand out goodie bags etc. I think he said Oakland won? After the game the young men stopped off to see the new movie Iron Man; which by the way, they enjoyed. A few days later he was off to see the Dodgers play. Between he and his buddies, someone always has tickets and taking off at the last minute to see one of the professional baseball games is a frequent occurrence.

Also this past week, my daughter was in the conference high school swimming championships. We didn't expect her to perform great since she is taking a heavy load this semester in school (AP World History, Honors Chemistry, English, and French) and has missed several swim practices. BUT to our surprise she did pretty well. Even her brother, who watches with a critical eye, was pleased with his sister. He commented that she had a powerful start and swam like she wanted it!!! She made finals in her events. Lots of pressure, since the Lady's teams are highly competitive and points are needed in every race to stay in the competition. Not only do the swimmers answer to their high school coach after each event, their club coaches are also sitting in the stands, taking down all their splits and errors (not always a pleasant experience)! After its all said and done Claremont girls finished 3rd in the conference. With it being an Olympic year, the swimmers are in great shape and are working very hard for trials, which are coming up soon (and I can tell you, this is super serious business) Whew!!

This weekend my husband and I headed down to Dana Point, which is just south of Laguna Beach and Newport Beach. We packed a picnic for dinner, wine and blanket so that we could watch the sunset. Salt Creek is just one of the most beautiful beach areas. It sets between the Ritz Carlton Hotel and the Ritz Carlton homes overlooking the Pacific. Above the beach area is a grassy area about the size of a football field. It's in this area high above the ocean that we threw our beach blanket and enjoyed several hours of natural beauty. There is just something about looking out over the ocean that is calming and soothes the soul. And, with two teenagers, I'll take the soothing and calming anyway I can get it!