We Heart Art

LUMINOUS: I've been sitting on a Living Social voucher for the Seattle Art Museum for months. No way I wanted to let that expire without using it, so we met Christian there late this afternoon. (We rode the bus and he drove there from work.)

The first thing you see upon entering SAM is Ford Tauruses (Tauri?). Lots and lots of them, including many hanging from the ceiling and speared with light sticks that flash and change colors. It's a pretty stunning visual effect, and the coolest any Ford Taurus has ever looked. (Called Inopportune: Stage One, it's the work of Cai Guo-Qiang.)

We made our way through the museum's many exhibits. I think I spent more time watching the kids to make sure they didn't touch anything or cross any lines, etc. than I did looking at art, but oh well. It's part of taking 7- and 8-year olds to a fine art museum. I won't lie and tell you they loved it all. There were parts they really liked, including the ancient Egyptian stuff, African, Native American and Asian masks. They were impressed by how old some of the items they were viewing were.

There were things neither they, nor we, could appreciate. Like .... THIS

A white canvas + a painted on black frame = fine art? Um, OK, I guess someone says so. CeeJ begs to differ.

The museum's special exhibit right now is Luminous: The Art of Asia. As described by SAM's Web site, it's a showcase of "the jewels of Seattle Art Museum's Asian collections, featuring 160 of the museum's masterpieces." Without a doubt, the kids' favorite item in the show was a wood block print of "The Great Wave Off Kanagawa" or "The Great Wave" by Katsushike Hokusai. They knew it from "Little Einsteins." :)

One of the most visually stunning works of art we encountered was "Some/One" - an enormous robe crafted out of dog tags by Korean artist Do Ho Suh.

It's gigantic and gorgeous.We all were enthralled by it.

We were all absolutely entranced by a art-in-motion installation called "The Gate" enchanted all of us. The installation, created by Do Ho Suh of the dog tag robe above especially for the Luminous exhibit, is a two-sided movie screen that looks like a wall and ornate archway or pass through. On both sides, a film (mostly black and white but with spots of color) with elements taken from nature (birds, butterflies, and such) was projected. I'm doing a miserable job of describing it. Sorry. The good news is, SAM has a video of it posted on YouTube. It still isn't as great as seeing it for yourself, but it's worth checking out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=-JVU1DmO4Rc

I think we'd all agree that the painting we found most arresting was The Visitation, ca. 1643, by Philippe de Champaigne, a Flemish artist active in France, 1602-1674. The link I included above shows a small version of it. I wish you could see the older woman's eyes more clearly. They were AMAZING. We all stared at her and marveled for awhile.


On the south side of the museum, we found a spot where kids could craft some art of their own. CJ took a pass, but Annabelle dove right in.

The hallway on the south side of the building is gorgeous, with a series of larger than life statues.

LOCKSTEP: It's neither warm nor sunny, but we needed to get out and get some exercise. Even though I didn't think we'd see any fish in the fish ladder, I decided we'd head down to the Hiram Chittenden Locks.  I'm glad we went. It's always a special place, as it's at the confluence of fresh and salt water.

"This place is a ghost town" CJ said upon our arrival. And he was right. In the summer months, the place is so packed with sightseers from around the globe (I like trying to figure out all the different languages we hear there) and locals, sometimes you can hardly walk across the locks. Today, we had the run of the place. 

Upon our arrival, we got to see a tugboat helping push a large ship (Green Provider, from Miami, FLA) through the locks. That was cool.

Then, we went out and watched the water coursing through the fish ladder. We checked out the educational displays in the underground viewing area, and listened to a narration about the fish and the locks' history. The narrator suggested we check out the visitors center across the water. Funny, in all of the dozens of times we've been to the locks, we never even knew there WAS a visitors center! There were no fish running whatsoever, but it's still an interesting place to check out from an engineering standpoint. We crossed over the dam and across the locks.


We went into the first (lovely, century old) building we saw, but it ended up being the admin building.

The search continued. We walked another 100 feet or so and found the visitors center, which was mostly a gift shop (cute stuff, might I note), but there were some vintage photos there, as well as a nice little theater running a film about the history of the locks. CJ, Annabelle and I comprised the entire audience. The kids clapped when it was over. :)


On our way out of the park, we spied a semi truck hauling construction equipment across a railroad bridge. Now there's something you don't see every day!

FALL TO PIECES: Space.com had a nice (wrong word, I know) infographic today about the coming crashdown of Phobos-Grunt. Here it is for your viewing, er, pleasure.

Source:LiveScience

RETEST: "Guess what today is?" I said first thing this morning. I held a roundish plastic toy in my right hand and showed it swooshing down toward my left and made a splashing sound.

"Another Orion splashdown test!" Annabelle said, excitedly. (Yes, this is the type of thing that excites us.)

I said to the kids, "Geez. This will be like the fourth splashdown test we've watched. Why do you suppose they're doing so many tests?"

I was proud of CJ when he immediately answered, "Well sometimes things don't go as planned."

Exactly!

There's video of today's splash down test here: http://www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems/mpcv/orion-droptest-jan06.html


WEIGHTY MATTER: Thanks to a tweet from Neil deGrasse Tyson, we learned that every day the Earth weighs more than it did the day before. Why? "We plow thru several hundred tons of meteor dust per day," he explained.

Heads Up

MAKE AND TAKE: Forgot to post this gem from yesterday - it's a helmet Bee made in her art class. I  wish I had captured the fine detailing on the top and the back of it. From this angle, it looks a bit like something from a horror movie. ;)

She also made a fun ring toss game out of a one-liter pop bottle, some paper plates and some tape. She, CJ and Kirby played it today and had loads of fun.

WALLY WORLD: The kids have their l-o-n-g break between classes (3.5 hours) today, so we had time to kill. They played some math related games on the ever popular coolmath-games.com.

In one game involving ramps, gravity, momentum and other physics principles, CJ demonstrates how NOT to park a car.

The kids also played outside some. but it was really cold, so we didn't last too terribly long.

We would up going up to Wal-Mart in Lynnwood. Yee haw. There, we spent some time tooling around the toy aisles, looking for the worst toys we could find. This one was a contender. It's called a "Lots to Cuddle" baby ...

but to me it, it looks like Winston Churchill. A fine world leader, but lots to cuddle? Maybe notsomuch.

EASY OUT: In the kids' LEGO class, they're given kits to complete and when they're done, they get a photo taken of the assigned project. After CJ finished building a LEGO bird today, it was a chance for him to do a free build. How did he spend his free-form, liberated time? Well, he took about 30 seconds to craft this before raising his hand to let the instructor know he was done and calling it good.

"It's a shrunken head," he explained.

INCOMING!: Got an email today letting me know our rocket is on its way - w00t! 

Weeks ago I learned that a model SpaceX Falcon 9 (rocket) and Dragon (capsule) Flying Model Rocket Kit would be available in the future. I signed up on Amazon.com to get a notice of when it became available, and yesterday that email came. We immediately ordered a rocket and it was shipped today. We should have it next week, which is good, because we need to get going on it!

Back on the day I attended the NASA Future Forum, it was announced that NASA had granted SpaceX permission to combine a couple of upcoming missions and gave them the go-ahead to dock with the ISS sooner than expected. If all goes accordingly it will be a historic event -  the first time a commercial spaceship has visited the orbiting science laboratory.

The launch is scheduled for Feb. 7. We want to launch our rocket on the same day (weather permitting)!

CRAZY NEIGHBORS: We found out that the ISS would be orbiting overhead at 5:01 p.m., rising in the west. So at 5, the kids and I beat feet to the top of our lot and stood there, scanning the skies. The neighbors probably think we're crazy, as we can pretty frequently be spotted standing outside, scanning the skies. Next time maybe we should do it wearing tinfoil hats. ...

It wasn't until about 5:03 by my cell phone's time that I finally spotted it, to our WSW. It wasn't as bright as we're used to - I think that's because it's not quite as dark as it has been at 5 p.m. recently. In this photo, along with the kids you can see a bright planet (Jupiter or Venus, I'm ashamed to admit I'm not sure which), and just above and to the left is a light spot that's the ISS.

FYI: I used Photoshop to put the halos around the planet and ISS so you could see them better.

Another successful ISS sighting. I love how the kids never tire of seeing it. :)

MARK YOUR CALENDARS (& DON YOUR HELMETS): According to an AP report, fragments of the ill-fated Russian space probe Phobos-Grunt are expected to come back from whence they came on Jan. 15. As you'll remember, it was aiming for a Mars moon but never made it out of Earth's orbit was launched on Nov. 9. Per the AP story, "The failed spacecraft weighs 13.2 metric tons (14.6 tons). Most of that weight, about 11 metric tons (12 tons), is highly toxic fuel." Hopefully, most of that will burn up upon re-entry. Fingers crossed. ...

TRICKY DICK: Did you know, it was 40 years ago today that good ol' Richard M. Nixon announced that "the United States should proceed at once with the development of an entirely new type of space transportation system designed to help transform the space frontier into familiar territory," per NASA's "Image of the Day" info..

In this photo (image credit NASA), President Nixon and Dr. James C. Fletcher, then NASA Administrator, discussed the proposed Space Shuttle vehicle in San Clemente, Calif.

Image Credit: NASA

The real thing wound up looking a lot like this model. The Space Shuttle did, indeed, help make the space frontier (well, at least Earth's orbit) familiar territory. Ironically, that's also when and why a whole lot of people lost interest in what NASA was doing. After all, Star Trek taught us that space exploration is supposed to be "to seek out new life, and new civilization - to boldly go where no man has gone before!"

Image courtesy of NOAA

DOESN'T GET ANY CLOSER: Tonight I interrupted CJ and Annabelle chowing down on chicken wings to let them know that rightthissecond the Earth was passing the closest to the Sun that it gets all year. The event is called Perihelion, a term that's from the Greek word peri meaning "near" and helios meaning "Sun."

During the Perihelion, it's approximately 147,097,206.9 km./ 91.4 million miles from the center of the Earth to the center of the Sun. That's about 5,000,000 km less distance than in early July's Aphelion, when we're farthest from the sun (94.5 million miles).

I asked the kids why it's dark and cold out even though we're somewhat closer to the sun. Happily, they knew it was because right now we're both tilting away from the sun (winter) and facing away from the sun (nighttime). 



Also on the Perihelion, the Earth is moving about 1 km per second faster than when it's Aphelion day in July. Fascinating, no? ;)

MAILBAG: This morning the kids spent some time refining and adding to the letters they've written for the Great Mail Race. Annabelle's letter is headed off to an elementary school in Rhode Island and CJ is writing to a school in Nevada.

They each shared a bit of info about their school in Shoreline, as well as some of their favorite things to do in Seattle. Both singled out the Space Needle and Seattle Center as their favorite spot. Nice that we live so close to the Center. It should be quite a year down there too, since 2012 marks the Space Needle's 50th birthday!

EYE DOCTOR: This morning I was wondering how in the world to single handedly get Kirby's eye drops administered and decided I couldn't do it. It was impossible to hold Kirby's head and body still while squeezing the tiny tube. So, I enlisted CJ to be the squeezer. :) He did a yeoman's job - once he was reminded the medicine was supposed to go IN the dog's eye rather than around it.

As you can see, Kirby appears no worse for the wear. In fact, as I look at this photo, I wonder how I ever noticed her eye was red to begin with.

THE RIDE STUFF: One of my New Year's resolutions is to have the MPA kids do more writing. To that end, today's writing assignment was to come up with at least six sentences about the kids' favorite ride at Belmont Park in San Diego. Before he put pen to paper, I wanted to help rather reluctant writer CJ generate some ideas and, therefore some confidence, which would help help him generate content faster. We reviewed how covering the who-what-when-where-and why is almost always a go-to approach in a report. And then I suggested to him he could also use his senses to help paint a picture. That suggestion was met with a blank stare. So, to clarify, I said, "You know, your senses. Name one of your senses!"

"My sense of humor?" he replies, 110 percent seriously. ROFL.

Naturally, our exchange led to a review of human senses. Afterward, CJ came up (and quickly, might I note) with a nice review: "My favorite ride at Belmont Park on our vacation in San Diego is the Giant Dipper. The ride looked and felt very scarey. On the ride, I heard people screaming. One of the reasons it was my favorite ride is because of the turns. Another reason it was my favorite ride is because it looks pritty at night. One more reason is because of the front seat!"

I told CJ I especially liked his first sentence. He packed a lot of info into it!

Annabelle wrote: "My favorite at Belmont Park, San Diego is the Giant Dipper! I like it because of that first dip. Yo go woooooooosh! And then SWISH!!!!! It's over soon, but super fun!

BACK TO THE BRICKS AND MORTAR: Winter break from the kids' northern school is over. Both CJ and Annabelle were excited to get back to class today, which I found encouraging. In fact, on the way to art class Annabelle said, "In normal schools, kids look forward to winter and spring break. We look forward to going back after break!" That was gratifying to hear and reinforces my feeling that our non-traditional path is helping make the kids happy, eager learners. (And yes, I do put big value on HAPPY. You can't measure it with a standardized test, but I think having a high rating on the happiness index beats the hell out of being miserable.)

I have to think the classrooms that CeeJ and Bee sent letters to might not believe them in regards to their description of where they go to school, what with its always accessible popcorn machine, pizza parties, and classes you get to pick and choose - everything from art to LEGO robotics. Sounds too good to be true, in a way. :)

COINCIDENCE: We spent some of the time between Annabelle's a.m. art class and their p.m. science class in the library using computers. I was poking around the "for educators" part of NASA's site, looking for some ideas for experiments or lesson plans having to do with air, since that's what the kids are studying in science. I found a neat-o experiment called "Air Engines" that uses an inflated (but not tied) balloon attached to a straw to whoosh along a string.

Imagine my surprise when, during science class, that was exactly what we did! Such fun, and we brought home supplies to replicate the fun at home.

Rosy

SWAG AND SWAGGER: Our first order of business this morning was picking Christian up at Sea-Tac. He was winging his way home after enjoying a first in 95 years Oregon Ducks' victory in the Rose Bowl.

Christian brought home t-shirts for himself and the kids. Oddly, he didn't bring me home a shirt emblazoned with the Ducks' logo. Now why do you suppose that is? Hmmm.

ROCKET REWIND: This afternoon a Facebook friend of mine from the #MSL #NASATweetup posted another Tweetup attendee's video of the event. The video was made by a man who is a news videographer in New York. It's well done - very professional and really captures the excitement surrounding the event. Here's a link to "MSL Tweetup Launch Day" if you're so inclined. (http://vimeo.com/34519970)

KNOW WHEN TO FOLD 'EM: Eyeing two huge IKEA bags full of laundry to be sorted, folded and put away, I decided it was time for a life skills lesson. "As long as you're alive, you're going to be wearing clothes and getting them dirty. You need to know how to fold them and put them away," I reminded the kids.

Certainly they've helped with laundry before, but today's task was a mountain rather than a molehill.

I decided to really put CJ to the test and asked him to help put sheets on my king sized bed. I put my side's two corners on first and left the hard ones for him. He managed to wrestle corners three and four on, which was good. Then it was time for the pillowcases. Annabelle had hers on in no time, saying, "It's just like dressing a baby!" Not that she's had any experience in that, but she made short work of it. And then there was CeeJ. He shoved, pulled, fought gravity, and worked up a sweat. He was struggling so mightily, you would think I'd asked him to rotate the tires on the Space Shuttle, not case a pillow.

After a few minutes, Bee gave him some pointers. He finally managed to finish the task. He'll probably have to go to bed early tonight, what with all the effort he expended.

SHAMPOO SUBMARINE: At some point today, Annabelle presented me with a bejeweled/bedazzled former shampoo bottle that had been transformed into a tricked out submarine. Love her upcycling. :)

SILLY SENTENCES: Tonight we FINALLY used a game that's been riding around in my car for weeks/months since checking it out at the library. Based on the popular Mad Libs board game, this was a card game, where players used cards to craft silly sentences. We played before and after dinner (at the Pyramid Alehouse) tonight.

The game was a lot of fun. We all came up with some humdingers, and the game was a great way to reinforce the parts of speech (nouns, verbs, adverbs, adjectives). We won't wait months before playing it again.

GONE MAINSTREAM: If you read the blog regularly, you'll see from time to time photos of the kids holding a small poster with a Space Shuttle and a bunch of names/signatures (including theirs) on it pop up.

For instance, they held it when they visited Santa Claus and met Apollo astronaut Al Worden. Thanks to other poster signers, the placard has been on the top of Kilimanjaro, it's visited Stonehenge, been to the South Pole, and it has even flown on the ISS. Until now, the poster has mostly been an insider thing, known only to people who have signed it. But today, a story about it appeared in Technology Alabama, and it sounds like at least a couple of other outlets are going to run it.

Tim Taylor, the launch engineer at the apex of all of this, submitted the article and his email address was included along with the story (which includes quotes from a couple people you might know). Tim reports he's already received several positive emails from strangers about the story. Nice!

Happy New Year

BUSY SUNDAY: We got back to our home in Seattle about 6:30 on Saturday evening. Kirby was happy to see us.

We did a little unpacking, had dinner, gave Kirby lots of attention, and went to bed about two hours before the fireworks were shot off the top of the Space Needle. The noise did wake me up, though.

New Year's Day dawned with blue skies, so we took Kirby to a neighborhood park and she and the kids romped around for a good hour.

MOON WATCH: Sunday afternoon, about 1:30, we started monitoring the progress of GRAIL B, a craft launched on Sept. 10 with its twin, GRAIL A, for the moon. Together, solar-powered GRAIL A and B will fly in tandem orbits, measuring the moon's gravity field in more detail than ever before. It's expected the data
will answer questions about the moon and give scientists a better understanding of how Earth and other rocky planets in the solar system formed.

Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Unfortunately, NASA TV wasn't covering the arrival-to-orbit event live. However, a Tweet from @NASA_Eyes let me know we could watch it go down via the Eyes on the Solar System interface that I had the pleasure of seeing demoed at the Mars Science Laboratory Tweetup last November. Boy, are we glad for that Tweet. It was a remarkable way to watch!

We had a myriad of choices of vantage points, and put two different views on our monitors. "We're like Mission Control!" Annabelle declared. 

After a few minutes, we discovered we could view the event in 3D! So, I dug out the 3D glasses we were given at the Tweetup, and when Annabelle put them on, her jaw dropped.

"I can hold the moon!" she exclaimed.

We watched GRAIL B creep closer toward the moon and a bit after 2 p.m., it achieved its lunar orbit. Per NASA's press release on the milestone,

"During GRAIL's science mission, the two spacecraft will transmit radio signals precisely defining the distance between them. As they fly over areas of greater and lesser gravity caused by visible features such as mountains and craters, and masses hidden beneath the lunar surface, the distance between the two spacecraft will change slightly.

Scientists will translate this information into a high-resolution map of the moon's gravitational field. The data will allow scientists to understand what goes on below the lunar surface. This information will increase knowledge of how Earth and its rocky neighbors in the inner solar system developed into the diverse worlds we see today."

Sweet!

THIS AND THAT: We cracked open the dusty math books today. The kids completed a rather longish assignment with 100 percent accuracy, which was great. We also FINALLY got around to putting together a great triceratops 3d puzzle the kids were given months ago. Annabelle was very pleased with how it turned out.

We also took on a baking project today - home made Cheez-Its(R). CJ's favorite food in the world might be Cheez-It(s) and so when someone posted a recipe on Facebook last night, I felt compelled to try it. It couldn't have been much simpler - just five ingredients (grated sharp cheddar cheese, salt, cayenne, butter, flour).

CJ was an eager participant in cutting the pseudo-Cheez-Its out.

While Rick, Annabelle and I found them delicious, CJ was non plussed. Apparently he'll accept no substitutes when it comes to Cheez-Its.

FURRY PATIENT: Yesterday morning I noticed Kirby's right eye was red and inflamed. Assuming it wasn't from her partying to heartily on New Year's Eve, I kept an eye on it. When it was still red this morning, I called the vet and we took her in to be checked out.

Visiting the office gave the kids a chance to learn about all sorts of stuff, like dog and cat anatomy and parasites.

I am happy to report Kirby was a Model Citizen at the vet's. She was very polite and quiet and compliant and the vet and technician loved her for it.

JUMPIN' JUPITER: Last night astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson Tweeted, "This night & next: Seeking Jupiter and want to find it soon? It's a fist's width away from the half-full moon." Upon reading this, we three ran outside, spotted the moon to our south, held our fists in the air, and just as he promised, Jupiter was glowing brightly to the moon's east - a fist's width away. Talk about an easy way to stargaze!

AUTHORS: Last night, the kids were combing a Wiki about Minecraft and came across a dead end. There was no info about leggings - a kind of armor - in the game. When CJ discovered that he/they could actually author an entry, he got really excited. They jumped at the chance. They took turns typing. When Annabelle was keyboarding away, she reminded CJ, "You need to make sure I get my punctuation right, make sure I get full sentences or not, make sure I'm talking about leggings!"

They worked on it for about a half hour and did a nice job, listing the different types of leggings, how you craft them and why you'd want them. They even uploaded a screen shot of leather leggings. With great pride, they published it and CJ was happy to get some kind of badge or points for his efforts.

This morning, they went back to view their Wiki and ... it was gone! In its place was a re-direct to the category 'armor,' and there was a completely crappy, one sentence 'wiki' about armor, with multiple spelling and grammar mistakes. The kids were pretty upset. Oh, the agony and the ecstasy of wikis. I told them that's just the nature of a document anyone can contribute to or edit. It's great when competent people contribute, and it's awful when some MORON goes in and wrecks it. But it is what it is. I was glad I'd taken a photo of their work last night. :)

Califriday

This is an out-of-order make up post for the day I missed (Friday, Dec. 30) during our vacation

BAD BOYS, BAD BOYS: The morning started out routinely enough. We were all up and about, going through the breakfast motions and talking about our day's agenda. I was standing in the kitchen, facing our bungalow's sliding glass/back door and I saw a man walking on the pedestrian walkway separating our place from very nearby neighboring places, just to the north.

Since it's a public walkway and a straight shot to the beach from the main north-south auto arterial in the area, dozens, if not hundreds, of people walk that sidewalk daily. However, this man wasn't forward-focused. I could see he was looking at each place he walked by - into windows and he glanced down into the mail box on our bungalow's back fence. To me, he appeared to be casing joints.

So, I kept an eye on him and sure enough, just two doors down and across the sidewalk he entered the neighbor's (minuscule) front yard and went right to the duplex's mailboxes. At first he started picking through the mail right there in the boxes. At this point I opened the back door on our unit and went out onto the patio and pretended to be looking for the kids' shoes. I purposely made a fair amount of noise in the process, hoping to scare the would be thief off. But, he was too addled or stupid or whatever. Instead, he picked the whole wad of mail up, tucked it under his armpit and went and sat down in the neighbor's front yard. Pretty brazen. At this, I told Christian, whose first reaction was to go say something to the guy. I quickly put a kibosh on that and told him to call 911 instead. Christian phoned in with our address, the address of where the mail marauder was, and a description of the perp.

The (alleged) mail thief eventually stood up, and then I saw him walking around the side of the bungalow where he'd messed with the mail, before coming back to walkway and heading east, away from the beach and back the direction he came.

About 30 minutes later, Christian, CeeJ, Bee and I were about to head out when an San Diego police officer showed up at our back door. At her request, we recapped what we saw and she said they'd picked someone up based on Christian's report/description and that they wanted Christian to go ID the guy. After talking a bit more and the officer finding out I was the one who actually saw him messing with the mail, she decided I was the one who should make the ID.

And so, I hopped in her big squad SUV and we rode about four blocks south to where the man was being detained. They had him in handcuffs, in an alley next to a very busy restaurant. A bit of a crowd was gathered, gawking. From across the street in the squad car, I was 99.999999 certain it was him, and when we flipped a u-turn and parked right next to him, there was absolutely no doubt about it.

I never even had to get out of the car, and the officer was careful to try to keep the detainee from seeing me, which I appreciated. The officer got out of the car to check in with her fellow officers and so I sat there for a few minutes. During that time, I read Christian's phoned in description of the guy, as it was up on her screen. He sure did a great job - it was spot on. Male Caucasian, medium build, mid 20s, dark green jacket with orange shirt underneath, green hat with orange bandanna underneath. By the time I was taken to ID him, his hat and bandanna had been removed, but it was obviously him by his height, age, face, complexion (Caucasian with lots of sun exposure) and hair color (orange).

It might sound weird, but as the young man was standing there, cuffed, unkempt and looking like the embodiment of miserable, I couldn't help but feel a bit sorry for him. It surprised me that I felt that way, given his behavior I'd witnessed earlier in the morning.

PARKx3: On our final full day, we went to Belmont (amusement) Park not once, not twice, but THREE times. Our first stop was in the a.m. right after the police action. Annabelle happened to be wearing her fierce new motorcycle style boots and it occurred to me the heels on them might come in quite handy.

Sure 'nuff, when she stood next to the height requirement sign next to the Giant Dipper roller coaster, magically she WAS tall enough (the answer had been 'sorry, but no' just two days prior). Yee haw!!!!

In this second photo, CJ is in the front car, stage right. Bee and Christian are in the second car.

The Giant Dipper originally opened on July 4, 1925. According to the Belmont Park Web site, it's one of two original oceanfront roller coasters still operating on the West Coast. Its steepest drop is 73 feet. Overall, it's 2,600 feet of track and takes 1 minute and 45 seconds to ride. Here's a photo of it courtesy of the National Register of Historic Places.

Bee, CeeJ and Christian rode the 'coaster morning, afternoon and night, multiple times on each of Friday's three trips to the park.

There were plenty of return trips to the other rides, too. Bee took a few more rounds on the carousel (CJ never did hop on board that), and there was more bashing in bumper cars.

My favorite ride to watch was this wild, swinging thing called "Beach Blaster." Per Belmont Park's Web site, it swings passengers 60 feet in the air to 120 degrees in both directions. Annabelle was too scared to ride it the first day we went to the park. On Friday, however, she was a fool for it. Here, the three of them are facing the camera.

After the morning amusement, we met the rest of our party (G&G and Rick & Kennedy) for lunch at tiny waterfront cafe on Mission Bay. There were only four tables in the place, and our party of 8 took up half of them. We got off cheap, too, because we'd brought a couple of Restaurant.com certificates with us, knocking $50 off our bill for just $2. That's right, we roll with coupons, even on vacation.

SHELTERED: After lunch, we caravaned to the south, destination Shelter Island. There, we met up with Christian's former brother in law who is captain of the 115-foot yacht Ocean Pearl. He gave us a tour of the lovely, large boat, which had three spacious bedrooms, each with a posh bathroom. There's a large, well appointed living and dining area, and lots of spaces for outdoor entertaining.

We visited the bridge, where CJ was enthralled by all the buttons and monitors.

We also got a tour of the engine room, and learned the yacht's seven gas tanks (totaling 9,600 gallons in capacity) hold about $40,000 worth of diesel. Yikes.

Moored nearby the Ocean Pearl were seven beautiful boats, all handmade in New Zealand to traditional Maori custom. Called waka or vaka, the catamarans are ocean going vessels steered and sometimes powered by hand. They were funded largely by the Okeanos Foundation, Germany, which is producing a feature-length documentary on the fleet's voyage around the world called "Blue Canoe."

There's an entire Web site dedicated to the project: Pacific Voyagers.

While on Shelter Island, we saw some pelicans, and enjoyed the view.