SIXTY!

I reached a significant milestone on Saturday - I turned 60!  Les spoiled me with a trip to San Diego and it was just what I needed. I found a condo in Mission Bay on VRBO.  It was the same price as a hotel room, but had a full kitchen, living room and secure parking.  I didn't take any pictures of the condo, but you can check it out here.  (There are also only a couple pictures of me from the entire weekend, so I'm using pictures in this post of me before I turned 60!)

 

We arrived in San Diego Thursday afternoon.  After settling in for a bit, we walked to Miss B's Coconut Club for dinner.   I had the Jerk Chicken Wrap and Les tried El Cubano.  These were both served with very tasty fries.

We headed a little bit inland to Road Runner Sports.  I have been buying my running shoes from them since way back in the 90s when they were a mail order company!  San Diego is home to their warehouse and a store.  After checking in, my name showed up on the board as a VIP member for 24 years.  It was my birthday so I got a new pair of running shoes and Les got TWO new pairs!

 

We left Road Runner and headed to a nearby Walmart.  Les forgot to pack a sweatshirt and the weather was a bit cool.  We both wore our sweatshirts all day on Friday which was spent at the San Diego Zoo.  The zoo will get a full post of its own!

 

Friday night we both wanted Mexican food.  Very close to the zoo we found Barrio Star and it was a winner!  Our server recommended the tacos - the tortillas are made fresh in the restaurant.  We split a mixed plate and enjoyed every bite!  The steak tacos on the fresh corn tortillas were amazing.  (I'm drooling just thinking about them!)  He also recommended Extraordinary Desserts which was just down the street.  This was our least favorite place of the trip, but we did walk away with some chocolate.

Saturday, my actual birthday, was super mellow.  We walked along the beach path for a while and ended up at Belmont Park.  If I was turning 16 instead of 60, I would have jumped at the chance to hop on some of the rides, but I kept my feet firmly on the ground the entire time.

We went to Corvette Diner for my birthday dinner.  We have been going to Corvette's for 30 years and love the playful 50s atmosphere.  Their burgers and fries are great!  Of course Les let them know it was my birthday, so I got to wear a hat and be sung to.  We finished the night off with a peppermint malt that was delicious!

 

Sunday morning we went for a bike ride around Mission Bay.  A little over 16 miles of fun in the sun!

 

 

Once we checked out of the condo, we headed to Old Town San Diego. Our final meal was at Encuentro Cafe.  I decided to try something different and ordered the El Vainero - Sweet corn pancakes with Fresh Venezuelan Mano Cheese, Black Beans, Shredded Beef and Fried Plantains.  I had fresh squeezed mango juice and Les had passion fruit.  This was amazing!

We wandered around Old Town for a while.  We picked up some fudge at Cousin's Candy Shop and we also got a variety of root beers from Old Town Jerky and Root Beer.  And now I'm a contented 60 year old, loving life and looking forward to more adventures!

Friday Photo Dump

Aloha!  We are back on Oahu for a couple of weeks.  We arrived on Sunday and headed to Cinnamon’s.  Lilikoi pancakes were the special for the week and they were amazing!

We were awake before the chickens on Monday morning.  I had a great run around Diamond Head.

Tuesday morning sunrise walk:

On Wednesday I wandered through Waikiki to the Honolulu Zoo.  It was pretty sad, many of the enclosures were empty. I’ve been visiting the zoo since 2013 and the change was significant.  I did enjoy the animals that were there, such as Rusty and Violet the orangutans:

Violet

Rusty

Tortoises

Asian elephants 

Giraffes and zebra

Black rhinoceros 

A few more shots of the beauty around us:

Where Did August Go?

It's a good thing that blogging isn't my job, I'd be fired!  Let's play catch up, shall we?

 

We flew to Indianapolis on August 2nd for the wedding of Claire and Alex.  The days leading up to the wedding were filled with family and decorating.  Les and I did sneak off on Friday to spend the day at the Indy Zoo.

We were fascinated watching one of the orangutans.  He climbed up and was outside the enclosure - approximately 80 feet above ground.  This is a planned part of the exhibit called the Hutan Trail.

 

Saturday, August 7th was the big day!  Les' entire family was there.  Sadly, I didn't get any pictures of all of us.  The wedding photographer did, so hopefully someday we'll have them.  We had a perfect seat as Lance walked Claire down the aisle:

The ceremony was beautiful.  Mr. and Mrs. Alex Perry:

Claire's sister, Hannah, was maid of honor.  She gave a beautiful speech during the reception and I somehow managed to get Hannah, Claire, Lance and Dolly all in one shot:

After a bunch of hugs, the newlyweds were off:

Our night was far from over!  Clean up from a beautiful wedding is work and we were happy to help Lance and Monica get it done.  Sometime late into the night I enjoyed a chat with the wedding coordinator, Sis. Stephanie Gallion.  Sis. Gallion's parents (the Marshalls) were missionaries to the Philippines in the 1980s and they were there when a group of young people from California invaded!  It was such a neat connection to make.  Here we are after several hours of cleanup:

I did not dress like that for the wedding!  I brought work clothes for the after party!

Les and I were scheduled to fly home early afternoon on Sunday, so we didn't make it to church.  We were in the hotel lobby when Les' parents got back from church looking quite snazzy: 

We spent the rest of August here at home.  Les has been hard at work, both on the job and with a major sound equipment project for our church.  We celebrated his 58th birthday on August 19th with a wonderful date at Duke's in Malibu.  Free Hula Pie for the win!

We have been having incredible church this summer!  More than a dozen have been baptized in recent weeks.  Sunday morning a young couple was baptized and Sunday night an entire family (mom, dad, and two sons) were all baptized!  It's an exciting time in God's kingdom.  I finished the month off teaching in the Youth Sunday School class.  God is doing great things in our youth group and I'm so happy to be a part of their lives.

We've already zoomed through the first third of September.  Our annual Youth Alive conference is this week and it kicks off the time of year that just flies - the holidays!

I Lied

My last post said, "Next post will come from Indy!"  Sorry, I really didn't mean to lie.  We were having too much fun and I decided not to be a blogging Martha (fretting over blogging instead of being present with the family.)  We had a fantastic time in Indianapolis with the Lance McElhaney family.  On Friday, Les and Lance rode bikes while we ladies went to the Indianapolis Zoo.

Hannah's hand with an orangutan's

New Orangutan exhibit

Baby African Elephant

Hannah trying to get a butterfly to land on her finger

On Saturday, Lance had a Junior Bible Quizzing Tournament.  Les tagged along and sent updates as Lance's team went undefeated in round one.  They ended up taking second overall, which qualified them for the national tournament, and Lance was Coach of the Year.

Hannah and I went for a short run (she's FAST!) then we ladies headed out for some shopping and ice cream at Mrs. Curl's.

On Sunday, Les had to get to work.  One of the reasons we were in Indy was for the IASA Conference.  I joined him at the Marriott until Tuesday morning.  While Les was listening to former president Bill Clinton speak, Monica and the girls picked me up.  We went to the Indiana Museum for a while before heading back to the house.

I didn't get a single picture of Monica!  She is such a wonderful hostess and amazing cook.  No pictures, but I did bring home four new recipes!  I'm sure they'll show up on Friday Foodie in the near future.

I'm going to continue my non-Martha blogging ways next week.  Pacific Coast Camp starts on Monday so I know there won't be much blogging going on.  I'll try to check in, but no promises!