"Fun" (something that provides mirth or amusement) is personal... here are some things we do that we consider fun!
Come
and see the magic of Steve Mattan (877)
728-8826 or (877) S-MATTAN. An amazing evening of illusions that will
amaze you! "That can't be done... It's impossible!!!". We met Steve
when he was doing magic during the break at the Phoenix Club in Anaheim.
We
took a for day to Mexico with the girls Easter (2005) and had a ball! Los
Angeles to San Diego to Catalina
and finally Ensenada and return home with a lot of eating and fun! There's
a magical place in San Diego
where you can stretch out a hand to feed a gentle giraffe, rub noses with
an endangered rhino or look deep into the eyes of a California Condor.
Ensenada, known as Baja's "Love
Boat" port, is no longer a sleepy resort town
Going
to the yearly new car shows has become a mandatory event! - Off to the
car show. It is not exactly like the 1950s but close enough!
Grandma wants a Hummer H2 while Paul wants a Cadillac! We settled
for a Lexus look-alike!
Wine Tasting In Temecula - So we went
off to wine tasting with Michelle and Franklin. What a great afternoon.
We came home with several cases of wine the most interesting was a Champaign.
Located in southwestern Riverside County, Temecula is California's only
prominent American Viticulture Area south of Los Angeles. For the adventurous
wine lover, it's an ideal destination for a short day trip from Los Angeles,
Orange County, Palm Springs or San Diego.
NASCAR Driving - Father's Day (Mitch) and
Birthday (Dave) so it is OFF TO THE RACES! Join us for 10 laps in a real
NASCAR! They had fun driving and we had fun watching them racing around
in circles at 100 miles per hour!
Cruising
is a journey of discovery.
We have cruised all over the world and
are going to continue the adventures. Our latest was in
February 2006 on the new QM2 and then
from LA to the Panama Canal and back!
. We even took the entire and extended
family on a cruise a few years back! The next cruise? LA
to Australia and the Orient and back to LA, 50 days! Why? No
airplanes!
The Tall Ships come to Rainbow Harbor, Long Bach,
California and get to go sailing! Recent visitor is
The Californian. OK, let's
go on the 2004 presentation of the
Long Beach Tall Ships.
See a movie
(20 MB). In 2006 were left San Pedro on the Lady
Washington.
Dancing is one of our hobbies and in fact
we are members of the Starlighers Dance Club (formerly Tux' An Gowns). It
is a group that ball room dance and gets together every quarter, dress to
the 9's, and dances all night! Our dancing instructor... for almost
20 years is Carri Fox.
We dance all over including Disneyland
and Catalina. We are off to Catalina
for an evening of ballroom dancing in October 2005.
More dancing... every Thursday we go swing dancing at the
Phoenix Club in Anaheim (near the
Honda Center). During the breaks, we enjoy the
magic of Steve Mattan.
We even get out and dance! Catalina
is the best! We Danced The Night Away
in Avalon 2006! Dancing to the Armand
Blais Orchestra is great fun!
Apple Picking is a event we try and do
once a year. We go to the mountains and visit Riley's Farm... usually around
October. We make apple sauce from scratch.... nothing beats the smell of
fresh apple sauce all over the house!! Jonathan is now 18 years old so this
is a few years back!
We
enjoy the holidays with friends and family. We enjoy all of the holidays
and will be showing you some of the things we do as the holidays progress
throughout the year! As we get older and the kids get their own traditions,
we are making adjustments. What will they be??
July 4th,
Halloween, Thanksgiving,
Easter, Christmas.
Catalina -
Most October's, we go to Catalina (an island
26 miles off the coast of Los Angeles) and stay the weekend....
joining the big band dancing and costume ball in the world famous Catalina
Casino! We took Aunt Edith and Cat once... and it was an absolute ball!
This year it is October 30 & 31 and is called "Mardi Gras by the Sea". Sometimes
we juts go over for a visit like August
2000.
The Long Beach Aquarium of
the Pacific is one of the largest aquariums in the United States! Its 550
species fill 17 major living habitats, 30 smaller exhibits and takes visitors
on a journey throughout the Pacific Ocean's three regions: Southern California/Baja;
the Tropical Pacific and the Northern Pacific. The Aquarium is 156,735 square
feet - the size of more than three football fields.
We are season pass holders and go almost every week... always to dance
(Saturday nights), sometimes for breakfast, sometimes just for dinner!
Disneyland is mandatory for Christmas Eve. We sometimes eat at
Club 33 but Catal in Downtown Disney is the best!
Los Alamitos Race
Course - We go the Los Alamitos Race Course
which is only a few miles away... nice enjoyable afternoons! Vessels Club at Los Alamitos Race Course
is a place to enjoy a great day at the races. Our latest escapade was to
Del Mar with Mike & Margie and
Robin & Bob.
The Orange County Fair!!! is another weakness for us! We always go to the Fair on opening day... which is Sue's birthday +/-
a day or so. Then we go over and over with members of the family. We
started years ago but thanks to digital cameras, you can share:
2003 |
2004 |
| 2005 |
| 2006 |
2007
The Circus
is always fun! We go every few years. Most recently we went to the
Honda Center in 2007.
The circus
is a great place to go and watch very talented people. Three rings
of continuous activity feasting our eyes on he bright uniforms and costumes.
We often go to Rogers in Irvine to see what type of new vegetables are available for
our garden. We grow
the typical but we often go for the atypical and Roger's has many
heirloom tomatoes to select from in April. Rogers had Green Zebras this past week... and several
others!
Christmas
At The Candlelight Theater
- Every Christmas we take our family to
Ben Bollinger's Candlelight
Dinner Theater.... almost 20 of us! For the last six years, when
Santa comes into the audience to pick a child to receive his gift, he always
has picked one of our grand children! Finally... we are running out
of grand children!!!
The annual
Seal Beach car show is held on
Main Street, Seal Beach adjacent to the pier. It is a place us old guys go and share stories
about the things that never really happened. Those
things that never happened were sure a lot of fun!
Golf new
sport which we have taken up! and are enjoying a whole bunch! We play at
the Navy Golf Course in Los Alamitos every weekend and practice two times
a week. We play at our country club about four days a week.
Cooking - We cook
and garden and enjoy the bounty.
Veggie
Burritos are my favorite so I thought I would share. Here is the
step by step. This is easy to do, tastes great, and has many uses!
Enjoy! When it is summertime, the
eggplant casseroles make a great evening. On rare occasions we even do
soft-shelled
crab!
San Diego County
Fair - We went to this fair to warm up to the Orange County Fair which
opens on the 8th of July this year (2005). We drove from Los Angeles and
it was only about a 100 minute drive. The angels were smiling, NO
traffic! We also find out way to the
Ventura County Fair.
Disneyland's
50th Birthday - I was there
on opening
day ... Eleven years old and I remember it like yesterday. What was
amazing is to return to the magic of Disneyland 50 years later and still
be fascinated by the magic. It is truly a different world!
The Hollywood Bowl is always a trip (in more ways than one!). We last saw the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra
under the leadership of John Mauceri with three different singers - Barbara Cook; Dianne Reeves; Deborah
Voigt
We ballroom
dance every time we get a chance and as a matter of fact, we select
our cruise ships by the availability of dancing and not necessarily where
it is going! We aren't great dancers but we do have fun! As our
instructor told us . . . "There
are no mistakes, just new steps!". We love dancing at the Catalina
Ballroom, Disneyland,
and the Queen Mary during the Art Deco Festival. See us at the Catalina Casino for the 2006
Avalon Ball. We also went to the
2005 Avalon Ball
We all went to Disneyland's
Club 33 for dinner once evening. Club 33 is
a private club located in the heart of the New Orleans Square section of
Disneyland. Officially maintained as a "secret" feature of the theme
park, the entrance of the club is located next to the Blue Bayou
Restaurant at "33 Royal Street" with the entrance recognizable by an
ornate address plate with the number 33 engraved on it. When riding
Pirates of the Caribbean, just as the ride departs, the Blue Bayou
restaurant is visible, but the balconies above it are actually a part of
Club 33.
The word Magic is derived from the Magi of ancient Iran. Performances we would recognize as conjuring have probably been practiced throughout history. The same ingenuity behind ancient deceptions such as the Trojan horse would have been used for entertainment, or at least for cheating in gambling games, since time immemorial. However, the respectable profession of the illusionist gained strength during the eighteenth century, and has enjoyed several popular vogues. Successful magicians have become some of the most famous celebrities in popular entertainment.
Cruising by boat is a lifestyle that involves living for extended time on a boat while traveling from place to place for pleasure. Cruising generally refers to trips of a few days or more, and can extend to round-the-world voyages. Cruising is done on both sail and power boats, or ocean liners. Many cruisers are "long term" and travel for many years, the most adventurous circling the globe over a period of three to ten years. Many others take a year or two off from work and school for short trips and the chance to experience the cruising lifestyle.
Wine tasting (often, in wine circles, simply tasting) is the sensory examination and evaluation of wine. While the practice of wine tasting is as ancient as its production, a more formalized methodology has slowly become established from the 14th century onwards. Modern, professional wine tasters (such as sommeliers or buyers for retailers) use a constantly-evolving formal terminology which is used to describe the range of perceived flavors, aromas and general characteristics of a wine. More informal, recreational tasting may use similar terminology, usually involving a much less analytical process for a more general, personal appreciation.
A
tall ship is a large traditionally rigged sailing vessel. Popular modern
tall ship rigs include topsail schooners, brigantines, brigs and barques.
Traditional rigging may include square rigs and gaff rigs, with separate
topmasts and topsails. It is generally more complex than modern rigging,
which utilizes newer materials such as aluminum and steel to construct
taller, lightweight masts with fewer, more versatile sails.
The term tall ship has come into widespread use in the mid-20th century
with the advent of The Tall Ships' Races.
While Sail Training International (STI) has extended the definition of
tall ship for the purpose of its races to embrace any sailing vessel
with more than 30 ft. (9.14 m) waterline length and on which at least
half the people on board are aged 15 to 25, this definition can include
many modern sailing yachts, so for the purposes of this article, tall
ship will refer to those vessels rated as class "B" or above (Fore and
aft rigged vessels between 100 to 160 feet in length, and all square
rigged vessels).
Santa Catalina Island, often called Catalina Island, or just Catalina,
is a rocky island off the coast of the U.S. State of California. The
island is 22 miles (35 km) long and 8 miles (13 km) across at its
greatest width. The island is located about 22 miles (35 km)
south-southwest of San Pedro, Los Angeles, California. The highest point
on the island is Mt. Orizaba (648 m), at [show location on an
interactive map] 33°22′29.7″N, 118°25′11.6″W.
Part of the Channel Islands of California archipelago, Catalina falls
under the jurisdiction of Los Angeles County. Most of the island is
owned by the Catalina Island Conservancy.
The total population as of the 2000 census was 3,696 persons, with
almost 85 percent living in its only city of Avalon (pop. 3,127, with
another 195 south of the city outside of the city limits). The second
center of population is the unincorporated town of Two Harbors, in the
north, with a population of 298. Development occurs also at the smaller
settlements Rancho Escondido and Middle Ranch. The remaining population
is scattered over the island between the two population centers.
An aquarium (plural aquariums or aquaria) is a vivarium consisting of at
least one transparent side in which water-dwelling plants or animals are
kept. Aquaria are primarily used for fish keeping, although
invertebrates, amphibians, marine mammals, and aquatic plants are also
housed in aquaria. The term combines the Latin root aqua, meaning water,
with the suffix -arium, meaning "a place for relating to".
The aquarium has a long history and maintaining an aquarium has become
immensely popular worldwide; a person who owns or maintains an aquarium
is known as an aquarist. Aquaria can come in a variety of materials,
shapes, and sizes. They are typically constructed of glass or
high-strength plastic. Cuboid aquaria are also known as fish tanks or
simply tanks, while bowl-shaped aquaria are also known as fish bowls.
Size can range from a small glass bowl to immense public aquaria. A
number of components are used to maintain appropriate water quality and
characteristics suitable for the aquarium's residents. There are many
types of aquaria, classified by the organisms maintained or the type of
environment that is mimicked.
Horse racing is an equestrian sport which has been practiced over the centuries; the chariot races of Roman times are an early example, as is the contest of the steeds of the god Odin and the giant Hrungnir in Norse mythology. It is often inextricably associated with gambling. The common nickname for horse racing is The Sport of Kings.
Ballroom dance, refers collectively to a set of partner dances, which
originated in the Western world and are now enjoyed both socially and
competitively around the globe. Its performance and entertainment
aspects are also widely enjoyed on stage, in film, and on television. It
is for young and old.
While historically ballroom dance may refer to any form of formal social
dancing as recreation, with the eminence of dance sport in modern times
the term has became much narrower in scope, usually referring
specifically to the International Standard and International Latin style
dances (see dance groupings below). In the United States, two additional
variations—"American Smooth" and "American Rhythm"—have also been
popularized and are commonly recognized as styles of "ballroom dance".
Golf is a sport in which individual players or teams of players strike a
ball into a hole using several types of clubs. Golf is one of the few
ball games that does not use a fixed, standardized playing field or
area; defined in the Rules of Golf as "playing a ball with a club from
the teeing ground into the hole by a stroke or successive strokes in
accordance with the Rules."
The first game of golf for which records survive was played at
Bruntsfield Links, in Edinburgh, Scotland, in A.D. 1456, recorded in the
archives of the Edinburgh Burgess Golfing Society, now The Royal Burgess
Golfing Society.
The
Hollywood Bowl is a modern
amphitheatre at 2301 North
Highland Avenue in
Hollywood,
California,
USA, that is used primarily for music
performances. The "bowl" in this context is the natural cavity in
the earth into which the amphitheater is built, rather than the shape of
the band shell. It officially opened on
July 11,
1922 on the
site of a natural amphitheater formerly known as the Daisy Dell, and has
been the summer home of the
Los Angeles Philharmonic since then.