16 .. sixteen ... 6 teen

Today we celebrated our anniversary at the beach.

Sand, surf, and love.

We were having a lovely time...

until I saw this-

15! If there is a lifeguard tower 15, there's got to be a lifeguard tower 16!!

I ran over to ask the nice lifeguard.

He said "No. At Newport Beach, there is no lifeguard tower 16."

Snap.

"16" has got to be somewhere...

and we were feisty enough to find it.

We love 16!

Here's to 16+16+16 more!

(photo compliments of Ally)

I want to be cool...

Blog Land.

I really do love it.

I love the ideas, and the pictures, and the...everything.

There are so many creative people out there...mega-creative.

And sometimes,

they even post recipes.

I think that's cool.

And...truth be told...I want to be cool.

So, I'm going to pretend, that I'm cool.

Here goes:

I love summertime. Okay. That's not really the truth. I like gardening in the summertime. Or should I say, I like what you get out of your garden in the summertime. Actually, I love the tomatoes. This year we planted five different varieties. I can't tell you what their names are, because I mostly pick the plants based on how clever the name is. I'm pretty sure that one of the varieties was named "The Sauce Boss".

So after we harvested the little pretties,

we went to the old stand by for pasta sauce.

Page 36...Tagliatelle al Pomodoro e Basilico

(translated "Tomato and Basil sauce for really cool bloggers)

Heat 2T. of olive oil in pan and gently cook 2 cloves of garlic.

Add your tomatoes, stirring to coat.

Turn on medium-high heat, squashing with fork as they soften.

(Use caution, as these little tasties are capable of catapulting hot juice

across the kitchen when heated.)

Cook rapidly for 5-10 minutes so that the tomatoes retain their color.

Add 8 whole basil leaves and salt and pepper to taste.

Now, that's Italian.

And now I'm cool.

Blame it on the sugar.

Tradition.

Each year, on the girls' birthdays, they get doughnuts for breakfast.

Why?

Tradition.

(and because they would eat them every day of their cotton pickin' life if they could, so knowing how amazingly bad they are for one's health, the very smart mother begins the, yes, you know what's coming....)

Tradition.

And to add to the above-mentioned tradition,

each year we use doughnuts to make the birthday 'number'.

(it's a 9.)

But something happened this year.

Something that wasn't part of the Tradition.

Instead of just trying on her new birthday clothes...

she had to try on a new persona.

I blame it on the sugar.

But not the Tradition.

This day.

This day we celebrated our sweet Ally.

9 candles on top of the cake.

9.

We celebrated with sweet little friends, sweet and silly fun,

and some very sweet (okay...too sweet) treats.

But nothing is as sweet as our Ally.

Full of laughter.

Loves silly jokes.

Wants everything to look pretty.

Would eat sprinkles on everything if she could.

Has a very tender heart.

Amazingly loyal.

Won't ever turn down a garage sale/thrift store date with her mom.

Practical.

Artistic.

Just plain wonderful.

And this day, she's all ours.

This day.

So I can't count

We started off our week at the Vineyard Christian School of Kampala, Uganda.

Dirt floors, little benches, small chalkboards, papered walls.

But no school is a school without the children.

The school children loved playing with the girls...but perhaps not as much as the girls loved playing with the school children.

The school grounds were filled with so many children...children running, laughing, playing.

But there were always children from the slums watching from the gate.

At the end of each day that we spent at the school,

we were sent off with a sweet goodbye from children.

Sweet, sweet Uganda.

5 A Day...

I've heard for years that "5 a day" is good for your health.

I've also heard that "5 pictures a day" is not only good for your health,

but it helps you sing better.

Here we go.

Our first flight from LAX to Dubai.

Landed in Entebbe. Such a ginormous plane...

Motorcycle taxis called boda-bodas.

The most amazing bananas I've EVER tasted.

(Too bad I'm a vegetarian....)

Digest slowly...and I'll see you tomorrow.

Who Said Life Was Fair?

Not me.

I just say Orange County Fair.

No trip to the fair is complete without seeing the piglets.

And the produce.

And buying honey sticks. Oh, how I adore you, honey sticks.

The girls were being attacked by the giant corn dog,

but Jennifer jumped in to save them.

Katie and Jennifer chose the adventurous route...Evolution...

while Ally and I chose the less terrifying route.

Root Beer Floats. Ice Cream Cones. Funnel Cake. Oh My!

Ahhh, yes. Life is fair.