July 4, 2013

One aspect of Boy Scouts is community service and every year on July 4th, Scouts all over America demonstrate this. Here in Santa Barbara as part of Troop 26, Nathan and several of his fellow scouts help set up and take down garbage and recycle bins up and down State Street for the annual 4th of July parade.

Nathan and other scouts from Troop 26 setting up for the Santa Barbara 4th of July parade.

Nathan and other scouts from Troop 26 setting up for the Santa Barbara 4th of July parade.

It’s great seeing Nathan and his friends in their full Class A uniforms doing this community service. They looked very sharp, were well behaved and in general, represented Troop 26 (and their families) very well.

Getting ready to walk

After the setup was done, some of the scouts headed over to actually walk down State Street with scouts from other troops and carry a very large American Flag. This was a really fun opportunity and they allowed parents and siblings of the scouts to participate as well. This was a huge deal to Devyn!

The boys took their places to carry the flag down State Street.

The boys took their places to carry the flag down State Street.

That is one big flag!

That is one big flag!

Marching down State Street

Not a whole lot of commentary coming up as I think the pictures speak for themselves. 🙂

Another group in front of us showing their spirit.

Another group in front of us showing their spirit.

 

That's our boy.

That’s our boy.

 

Devyn looks back while marching in the parade.

Devyn looks back while marching in the parade.

 

Troop 26 proudly leading the way for the Los Padres Council.

Troop 26 proudly leading the way for the Los Padres Council.

Along the way, if the scouts weren’t carry the flag, one of the Scout Masters graciously purchased USA stickers to hand out to the crowd.

Nathan handing out some USA stickers.

Nathan handing out some USA stickers.

At one point, a young boy who was with his family watching the parade stood up and approached Nathan. He was so excited to see Nathan’s scout uniform.

This boy was very impressed with Nathan and his scout uniform.

This boy was very impressed with Nathan and his scout uniform.

And next, he asked if he could have his picture taken with Nathan. And being a good scout (and a good kid in general), Nathan gladly complied with the request. I hope he smiled for their camera – because he rarely smiles for mine!

And wanted his picture taken with Nathan. It was so awesome.

And wanted his picture taken with Nathan. It was so awesome.

 

 

Devyn and Kate

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Devyn and Kate chatting it up.

The other day, Devyn’s friend (and across the street neighbor) Kate came over to play for a little bit. After a while, the girls ended up on the patio out back chatting it up. This was my attempt to be stealthy and photograph them.

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Something was funny! But I have no idea what they were talking about.

I have no idea what they said, but something sure cracked the girls up!

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Classic Devyn laugh.

Devyn just kept on laughing. It was awesome.

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Posing!

In the end, the girls caught me trying to be sneaky and were gracious enough to pose for this photo.

 

Sunday Morning

My Sunday morning ritual. Coffee and the ads.

My Sunday morning ritual. Coffee and the ads.

This morning, like most Sunday mornings, I made a pot of coffee and read the Sunday paper. The LA Times to be exact. Truth be told, I miss the Oregonian, but this will suffice.

What I thought was kind of funny about this shot is that I didn’t even set it up. I was playing with my new camera, a Canon 6D, and I wanted to see if my off-camera flash hardware worked with it. Turns out it sort of works in that it will fire the flash, but I can’t fully control it yet until the hardware gets updated. No big deal.

However, the flash will at least fire and when I looked at the shot later, I thought that it kind of worked out. The way that I laid the flash on the table just so happened to be pointed directly at the front of my favorite coffee cup. The Best Buy ad just happened to be in the frame – I wasn’t even looking to see what was in the frame, I just wanted to see if the flash would fire.

No body is going to be banging down the door to request permission to use this photo, but I thought it was kind of cool for an accident and it pretty much encapsulates my weekend mornings.

 

Day at the Beach

Enjoying a day at the beach!

Enjoying a day at the beach!

It was a bit of a hot day by Santa Barbara standards, so we took to Padaro Beach. Of all the beaches we could go to, this is one of the furthest, but it’s also one of the nicest. The sand in the water feels like you’re walking on carpet and packs of Dolphins regularly swim by.

 

Surfing

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Devyn getting some instruction on how to stand up on the surf board.

Which way to the beach?

Even before we moved to the Santa Barbara area, we had talked about taking a surfing lesson. Now that we have a few months under our belt, we thought it would be a good idea to get at least one try in before the kids and Chris head back to Portland for a summer break.

After asking a few friends, we ended up at the A-Frame Surf Shop in Carpinteria, CA. Both friends had been there before and highly recommended them.

Our instructor Rob was great. He gave us some great instructions on the beach and walked us through the process of going from being prone on your stomach to standing up on the board. After about 20 minutes, we were ready to hit the water.

Up on the first try

This is more of a testament to Rob’s teaching skill and his approach than to my surfing prowess. But, after paddling out maybe 20 yards (we were still in waist-deep water), Rob spotted a nice easy wave, guided me into it and then told me when to start the process of standing up. All the while, he was keeping the board steady from behind. Eventually, he let go, but not before he made it seem really easy.

Me getting up on the board on my first try - all credit goes to Rob, our instructor!

Me getting up on the board on my first try – all credit goes to Rob, our instructor!

So you can see Rob in the water behind me in the photo above. I think I’m about 30 feet away from the shore when Chris took this picture. Later in the lesson, we went out a bit farther and I was able to ride a wave in all on my own and it was a blast. Granted, I wiped out plenty of times because I forgot the stand up sequence and pulled my hands up too soon before I had my balance. Or I had my front foot to one side of the board instead of in the middle. All things that I’m hoping I’ll learn in good time.

Devyn had no fear and did a great job on her first surfing outing!

Devyn had no fear and did a great job on her first surfing outing!

 Surfer Girl

Devyn was a natural in the water. She absolutely loved it and had a great time. So much, that she asked if she could get a wet suit and surf board for Christmas!

Another great ride by Devyn!

Another great ride by Devyn!

 

Midway Mania Family Champ

Chris claimed the high score for the family in our most recent trip to California Adventure.

Chris claimed the high score for the family in our most recent trip to California Adventure.

Chris now holds the title of “Current Family Champ – Midway Mania”. I’m looking to reclaim the title in the Fall when we return to Disneyland.