Happy 4th! We are having small animal for dinner. Just like the original Americans probably had for the first anniversary of the country.

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Holden's A Capella Group

Holden started an a capella group at his school. They performed at Fanning Elementary's Night of Music - a mostly painful 150 minute long stream of kids who want to perform but lack much talent. Holden's group worked hard, rehearsed and performed without a crutches like iTunes, Youtube, sheet music, etc. For several weeks I would get a text at work that Holden was going to rehearse at someone's house after school. Holden said they figured out this song and all the harmonies all by themselves. Pretty sweet!

Updates on DJ, Riley and Holden

I haven't posted in a while, so it's time to update everyone on DJ, Riley and Holden.

We just got back from a trip to San Francisco for Spring Break. Riley, Holden and I drove in the Prius. We stayed in The Good Hotel, a hotel on 7th and Mission in the South of Market district. It's an eco-friendly hotel that lets hybrids park for free saving us $50 a night. They try to save water too, so they put sinks on top of the toilets so that you can wash your hands (or have a drink) while the toilet fills up. Here's a funny video that Holden made to show you how it works:

There wasn't enough room in either bed for two people, so Holden set up a place in between the beds for sleeping. Before bed, though, Riley and Holden played around a lot. They got along great during the trip, by the way.

The main purpose of the trip to San Francisco was to see the San Francisco Conservatory of Music which is a music college that Riley might want to attend when she graduates OCSA. We saw two recitals and a dress rehearsal for Don Giovanni. Riley audited a few classes and had a lesson with the principal trombone player in the San Francisco Symphony, Tim Higgins.

One night, we drove to a beer, wine and coffee bar to hear a quartet play chamber music.

While Riley was auditing classes or getting an expert trombone lesson, Holden and I walked around San Francisco and stopped for a snack. 

While we were away, DJ started in job as a Starbucks barista. His last day at Blaze Pizza was the night before. He sent me a pic of his Starbucks materials and his store which is in the Brea Mall.

On the way back from SF, we stopped in Mountain View to see Uncle Paul, Aunt Shu and Cousin Sage. The kids' grandparents were visiting, too, so we got to eat breakfast with them before the six hour drive back to Orange County.

Before the trip, Holden had an acting recital where he did a monologue from the Sixth Sense.

Ocotillo Wells Bonfire

We just returned from Ocotillo Wells, a California state part designated for off-road vehicles and dry camping. This is our third trip there. This time it was just Holden and me. Huong, Riley, DJ and Aiden all had other obligations for that weekend.

There is a tradition that on the weekend before MLK Day, everyone brings their dry Christmas trees and puts them in the middle of circle of RVs to be burned on Saturday night. Some of the guys built an A-frame over the Christmas trees and loaded combustibles above the pyramid. When the sun went down, Roman candles were handed to all the kids to shoot at the trees and watch them quickly go up in flames. It was safe and fun, as far as I can tell.

While we were waiting for the big bonfire, we lit Chinese candles which gently floated up in the air to about 2000 feet and then floated down. The next day, we used quads, motorcycles and feet to retrieve the spent candles.

Riley Honor Band

 

Riley made the Honor Band and it was announced in this newsletter that highlights all the accomplishments of present and former OCSA students.

 

Boswellll Photography

That looks like a typo but if you want to see DJ's photographs you have to visit his website at boswellll.tumbler.com.

Trip to McArthur and Burney

Google put together this little slideshow of our trip to McArthur to visit Terry and Carolyn Lease.

It was  Huong's second time in the snow. We had a white Thanksgiving. There were supposed to be more people but because of the weather, the Lease's relatives could not make it. So it was just Holden, Huong, Terry, Carolyn and me. The Leases also have two yellow labs.

On the way up to McArthur we stayed in Redding and visited the Mt Shasta Caverns. On the way back from McArthur we stayed in old Sacramento.

When we got back from our trip, I took the boys shooting in Lytle Creek and Riley had an audition for Honor Band. That's what you see in the slide show above.