The Catalina Crew

So what do the boys do when mom goes overtown to hang with her girlfriends?…… Its time to build a SuperFort!

So our little champ went “Back to School” today! It was the first day back for Jacob to pre-school after the summer break, and he couldn’t be more excited! Every night for the past month when Jacob was tucked into bed, he would ask: “Do I get to go to school tomorrow?” And no matter how many times we showed him the calendar, he would ask again the next night. Well, the waiting time is over and all decked out in his handsome new duds (and his favorite old ‘crocs’) Jacob is off to school again.

Jacob goes to two Pre-schools right now. Part of the week he spends at “P.L.A.Y.” which is a half-day co-op preschool up in Avalon Canyon and the other days of the week he still goes to Kid-Ventures. Both schools are great and have excellent staff, good facilites, and lots of friends to play with. PLAY has a more structured curriculum though and parent involvement is a big part of the school. Sue is on the board of directors this year as Vice-President. Jared lucked-out and just gets to be a “Supportive Dad!”

OUCH! Jacob woke up one morning the week before last with a humongous outbreak of hives all over his ENTIRE body! What could have caused it? Nobody knows. Perhaps it was the dead sea lion skull he was playing with the previous day! Aint it fun to have boys!?! (Look at this… A smelly rotting sea creature… Maybe I should pick it up!)

Needless to say, Mom and Dad freaked out a bit as we had never seen anything like it before (The pic above is very mild compared to what his back looked like.) A quick trip to the clinic and we were told that it seemed rather benign and we were sent home with a prescription for some benadryl and anti-histamines. After a few days the hives calmed and went away with a couple of tiny flare-ups. It was really bizarre to watch the patches of rash shift around and come and go. Now, 98% of the rash is gone and life is pretty much back to normal. The worst part for Jacob was that he had to miss a play date with his best friend Cory that night.

So, Jared and Jacob’s hair is getting a little bit long and Tristan already has a stylin’ doo… The natural solution of course is to trim Dad & Jacob to match the little guy! Bring out the kitchen chair and a set of hair clippers and we can get down to business. Dad trims Jacob’s head, Jacob trims Dad’s head (with mom’s help), and Tristan just sits there and looks cute!

Punxsutawney has Phil the Groundhog, Yarmouth has Steamy the Clam, Quingdao has Chin the Beer Pig, and Avalon has Gill the Flying Fish! Gill is the mascot of the Catalina Flying Fish Festival, a four day non-stop barrel of fun and games, culminating in a Flying Fish Parade down front street and discounted evening trips out to view the flying fish themselves.

Gill, the Amazing Flying Fish

Well, OK. Maybe it wasn’t all that exciting, but it was a good excuse for some festivities. The festival began on Friday with the “Taste around Avalon” where local restaurants and bars opened up to compete with each other for best drink and entree, continued through Saturday with a merchant street fair and then Sunday’s Flying Fish Parade. Mixed in between were sandcastle scuptures, fishing tournaments, nature displays, bands & performers, and so on. Jacob’s pre-school had the honor of heading up the parade. Jacob was in top form, riding astride Dad’s shoulders waving like a champion parade veteran!

No, Really… He WAS excited, I promise! We just didn’t take a picture at the right moment!