Go-Carts and Bumper Cars

 My new friend, X, invited me to his birthday party at the go-cart track.

 I had a blast riding around on these things, and I survived with barely a scratch.

 I also tried out the bumper cars.  I was the only one there at the time, so it was a great way to figure out how to work the controls without getting whiplash every five seconds.

 Then it was back to the track for a few more spins before pizza and cake.

I think I'm ready for my driver's license.

Carnival/Cinco de Mayo Wrapup

 You know how you can go weeks without anything on the social calendar and then everything gets scheduled for the same date?  Well, that happened to me a couple of Fridays ago.  But with a little strategery and an accommodating driver I made it to multiple engagements.  Grace's school held its annual carnival, which I could not miss, especially since my mom is one of the chief planners of the event.  I got a shaved ice with every available flavor, so my day was made. The brown snow cone is the best!

 I spent quite a bit of time on the giant slide, as well.  Then I was off to the next event.

Hot-footing it back over to my school, I arrived in time for the annual Cinco de Mayo potluck, which always ends with a great pinata beat-down.  Since my friends and I are now the seniors, we waited patiently for the little ones to take their turns trying to hit the giant strawberry or chili pepper -- I don't know what that thing was supposed to be.

When it was my turn, I really whaled on that thing.

Hey, I wanted some candy! Don't judge me.

In the end, we all received our fair share of the candy.

This is definitely one of the best days of the year for me.

Spring Breakers

As spring break comes to an end, here are a few photos from our road trip up the 101 earlier in the week.

 I'll start with our family portrait.  I don't really like to have my picture taken, so I was throwing a bit of a fit for this one at Hearst Castle. 

Our first stop was a visit with our friends Isla and Shea.

 Grace, Shea, and Isla shot some hoops, while I explored the edges of their basketball court and tried to avoid getting bonked on the head by any errant shots.

 Surprising to no one, Grace is pretty good at making baskets.

 Then it was off to San Simeon to see Hearst Castle.  That's the castle in the distance.  It was a strange place, with huge rooms.  We weren't allowed to touch anything, and a docent gave me a dirty look when I accidentally stepped off the tour mat onto Mr. Hearst's original rug.  I'm sure I wasn't the first person to do that.

 Just up the road from San Simeon, we checked out the Elephant Seals, molting at this time of year.

 I'm just going to say there was a pretty bad smell in the air.  Use your imagination.

I found the seals to be pretty boring, so I occupied my time by playing in the dirt and picking up rocks.

 Heading down the coast, we stopped for a night in Morro Bay.  For this photo, Grace adopted one of her signature poses.

 Mom got silly for this one.

From our hotel we had a pretty good view of Morro Rock.

 Before leaving town the next day, we drove over to the Rock to get a closer look.  Grace did her pose several more times, but I'll just include this one.

Morro Rock is pretty big, as you can see.  It's a sacred place, so there's no climbing allowed.

 I made people nervous by getting close to this sign, but don't worry, I didn't get into any trouble here.

 The most amazing part of the trip was coming upon a real, live construction site.  It really made my trip.  I love excavators.  We spent a night in Solvang, too, but I forgot to take any photos there, so we'll have to go back sometime.

The Scientist

Grace took first place among first-graders for her science project, "Are My Eyes Playing Tricks on Me?," her entry in her school's weeks-long Science Mania!  I was there to support her this morning when the winners were announced.  My sister is the greatest!

Bedtime Stalling

 I've become kind of an expert at staying up as late as possible.  Usually, I just sing and hum, while perusing a stockpile of books.

 Tonight, I tried a new tactic.  I volunteered to help Grace sort her impressive collection of Pokemon cards.  She seems to have hundreds of them. 

Now I'm exhausted, and Grace is asleep.  But I got the job done!  I'm sure she'll thank me in the morning.

Little Edie and the Cat's Meow

We had a visit this afternoon from our Long Island cousin, Little Edie Beale.  She is an amazing creature, and she just brought out the little kitten in Grace.  If you're familiar with Edie, you know our time with her was a bit crazy.

 Everyone knows Edie is a real cheerleader.

She's also very sophisticated.  She knows the finer things and how to behave in polite society.

She taught Grace how to tend the "gardens" in her costume.

I just stood back and watched the show.  I really couldn't compete with those two oddballs.

L.A. Snow Day

A real blizzard hit my school on Wednesday morning. 

It wasn't exactly a traditional snowfall.  It came down about an inch per minute.

  My pals and I brought our cold weather clothes out of storage for the day.

The snow was so deep we couldn't use the swings for three days.