Indoor Fire

Yesterday we planned to have a fire on the beach with the Raadgeps. We had everything loaded in our cars and we were all excited to roast hot dogs and marshmallows... We drove to 2 beaches and the bay to try and find an open fire pit (you wouldn't believe how many people have that same idea on 4th of July weekend!) After driving around for awhile and walking the beaches to look for a pit that wasn't already being used... We all decided that pan roasted hot dogs and electric burner s'mores sounded just as good, because by that time it was 9 pm and we were really hungry! We always have fun with Sam and Mike even if our plans don't always work exactly how we plan! Here are some pictures of our night...

Mike, Sean and Samantha eating s'mores

Happy America!

We went to the pier in Ocean Beach to watch the fireworks tonight. There was supposedly going to be 50 thousand people on the on beach in that area to watch... and I think every single one of them was there! It was crazy how many people there were!! The show was great (we didn't get very good pictures because we left the better camera at home!) When the finale ended everybody brought out bags of marshmallows and started throwing them at everyone everywhere! We didn't know about this little tradition so we were caught off guard in the middle of a crazy full blown war... it was insane and really funny! There were like 20 at a time coming at us constantly, and those things kinda hurt when they fly at you fast! These Californians are weird :)

HAPPY 4th OF JULY EVERYONE!!   

Oh Leaves

Yesterday, Sean went down stairs to work on his bike... a few minutes later he asked me to throw down one of our melted spatulas. I went down to see how he was going to use that to reposition the brakes on his bike. This is what I found...

Leaves are always falling on our balcony from the tree above it. We are constantly having to sweep them up in to piles and put them in bags to get them off because the balcony is completely closed in, or so we thought... Sean found an opening along the bottom of the balcony but it was packed full of leaves and other junk and since we don't have neighbors below us right now he figured it was a good time to clean it out. 

This is all the junk that came out of there. Hopefully they aren't planning on putting these blinds back into the apartment when they are done upgrading it. Sean's arm was really dirty after he was done!

Bird's Custard Disaster

A couple weeks ago we made a trip up north to Temecula to look at some couches (that's a whole other story) and we stopped in Old Town to look at the shops. Sean found a store that sold international foods and bought a few treats from England/Australia. Skip to the present. Melissa wanted some pudding tonight so Sean offered to make Bird's custard (kinda like pudding). The stuff he bought was instant, just add boiling water and mix. Thinking he could simplify the mixing process, Sean poured the powder and boiling water into one of those plastic salad dressing shakers, despite the counsel of his wife...that's where his innovation ended. The steam expanded, blowing the lid off the container and sending half mixed custard and boiling water everywhere!!! On the microwave, over the counter, and down the side of the stove to name a few places. While Melissa attempted to salvage what was left, Sean rearranged the kitchen to clean up the now thickening goo. In the frenzy of the moment we forgot to get pictures of the disaster. The end result was runny yellow stuff and a cleaner kitchen. Listening to the wife might pay off in the future, but it's doubtful he learned his lesson...

And, just for the record... She still wants pudding!!

Baseball and Garlic fries...

Sean got free tickets to a Padres game from someone at work so we got to go to watch them play the Twins yesterday. It was really fun, even though we sat in the cheap seats. The Twins killed San Diego 9-3! Someone had recommended to try the garlic fries, so we got some... 6 bucks later and a few clogged arteries... not even kidding, they were pretty much gross! The idea is a good one, but there was honestly more grease than there was fries. Long story short... they were left unfinished and we were left with some stomach issues. We still do love America's favorite pass time though!!

Walking into the park

sad that we have to go farther up

it was pretty cold up there

This is a picture of what NOT to eat...

"If ye are prepared, ye shall not fear."

We have been working on getting our 72 hour kits together. They aren't really that close to being ready yet, but at least we are working on them right? I think the only thing in mine right now is a pocket knife yay! But Sean's is almost done, he pretty much had one already so we just updated it. Sean was taste testing 4 year old food to see if it was still ok to eat! I wasn't. We are excited about our survival kits though. It's good knowing that we are prepared, just in case.

Sean has been teaching me how to tie knots. I get tested on the knot, and which one to use in certain types of situations... He says things like... "so you are at the bottom of a cliff, and need to tie a rope around yourself so I can pull you up. Which knot do you tie?" Then I have to show him by tying the knot as if I were in the scenario. I usually only remember how to tie the ones that have stories like 'the bunny comes up the hole, around the tree' kind of stories, but I try hard. :)

Up, Up, And Away!!

Sean finally got to ride in a helicopter, the saltiest thing he's done in the Navy (salty - military related).  The higher-ups at his clinic were able to arrange for a number of the junior enlisted to go for a training flight on a CH-46 Chinook, a Vietnam era bird still used by the Marine Corps for cargo and troop transport. Unfortunately there was no door mounted .50 cal machine gun to play with--surely the fine citizens of San Diego would not have appreciated that.  All in all it was an 'uplifting' experience.  

Giving the universally understood 'Good to go' sign...check out the head gear called a 'cranium'...doesn't it do wonders for his ears?!

The ol' work horse of the USMC, CH-46 Chinook...check out how those blades bend!

Dining room furniture 7 months late...

In March when Sean's dad came to visit, he brought our table down for us (Sean's uncle built it for us). And now two months later, we actually get to use it... we finally got our barstools! It was hard finding chairs that would look good with the table. These aren't exactly what we had in mind but barstools aren't exactly cheap either. We are hopefully going to get to re-cover them eventually, if we find a color/fabric that we like. The metal part is actually a brown-ish color, you can't really tell in the picture. It's great not having to hold our plates on our laps anymore!