day 181

I received a letter today from one of my former students. Sometimes, when I'm focused on how difficult it is to be an adult, I forget how hard it was to be a kid. That last sentence just breaks my heart.

day 180

Sometimes parents mess up.

I drugged Hershey and took her to the vet today to have a tick removed from her paw. I've been trying to get it out on my own for a couple of weeks and haven't had any luck. Arijana and I even tried to scare it out with a hot match. Well... it turns out that it's not actually a tick - just a little mass, like a wart. I felt so bad for her. Even now, several hours later, she's passed out on the floor and looks so pathetic. Poor girl.

day 179

This afternoon I attended Taste of Adams Avenue with Jody and Dan. For $25, you can sample foods and beverages from a bunch of restaurants on and near Adams Avenue, through Kensington and Normal Heights. We had great food at all of the places we tried but my favorite, by far, was this Tarte Chaude au Reblochon at Bleu Boheme. Jody and I will absolutely return for more of that in the near future!

Sadly, my stomach started to revolt a bit so I missed out on some of the foods at the end but overall, it was a really good time. Thanks for a lovely day you guys! :)

day 178

Arijana and I took the dogs down to Fiesta Island for a walk. The Browns and Johnson did a lot of swimming but Buba stayed dry on the shore, watching them.

day 177

I went to the Del Mar Fair with Arijana and Dan today for the San Diego International Beer Festival.

We got there a few hours before the Festival started so we walked around the fair for a bit, checking out the animals, sampling the fried foods and looking at some of the exhibits. I was a bit disappointed that there was only one little piglet in the barns but I did get to scratch his belly so that made up for it. :)

At the Festival, they had over 300 different beers and we received a small glass at check-in so that we could get a 1-ounce sample of as many of them as we wanted. Lots of the servers gave a very generous pour so I don't think we tried even a third of them. They had beer on tap, in bottles of all types, beer that's made like wine and champagne and even home brewed beer in a big huge jug. We tried all kinds of flavors and I was actually pretty surprised that I liked so many of them. Arijana and I liked the raspberry and cherry beers the best. See more photos of the day here.

Thank you for the great idea Dan! I can't wait to do it all over again next year!

day 176

I took the dogs with me this morning as I ran some errands. It started to heat up so when we got to Petco, I didn't feel right about leaving them in the car. They were so excited to be there and went crazy sniffing around at all the toys and bones and bags of food. Charlie was especially drawn to these rawhide bones so we brought a couple home. I tried to get some shots of him in the store but he was moving so quickly, I couldn't get a clear shot with my phone. Hershey helped me out with this shot once we got home.

day 175

Dan and I went down to PB to take a walk on the boardwalk this evening. Just before sunset, we went to Lahaina's for a beer and then moved on to dinner at Nick's. I miss a lot of things about living out at the beach so it was great to spend some time out there. Thanks for the great time tonight Dan!

day 174

I hung out with Robyn and her kids today at their neighborhood pool. It was so relaxing and just fun to be with them. Holden came running up to me with a flower when I arrived and then blew me a kiss as I left - I totally dig on the little man love, as Robyn put it. I had a nice long girl chat with Hannah and snapped shot after shot of her playing in the pool. She has the greatest little kid butt which Robyn and I couldn't help admiring - oh, how I miss having a butt like that! She really wanted to be my photo of the day so here it is Hannah... you got it cutie pie! :)

Thank you so much for the great day you guys! I really enjoyed it.

day 173

day 172

Arijana sent me a "what are you doing?" text this afternoon. Next thing I know, we're lying on the beach in Coronado, soaking in the sun. When the wind picked up, we packed it in and headed to Tartine for some dinner. After we had our fill of wine and cheese, we took a walk along the water and came across a whole bunch of ducks and eight little ducklings. I took a bunch of photos of it all. Thanks for the wonderful afternoon Arijana!