California

We got to Kim's place in the afternoon and walked to the beach. The beach was crowded but there weren't many people in the water (except the surfers), the Pacific Ocean is colder than the Atlantic.



The next day we toured the beach towns south of Newport Beach. We stopped for lunch in San Clemente where Rex had his first of 4 or 5 bowls of clam chowder. He decided to try a bowl whenever he could to see where it was the best. A restaurant in Monterey was the winner.



This picture was taken on the way inland to a vineyard.



Rex planned a trip up Highway 1, the Pacific Coast Highway. Our first stop was the Hearst Castle.



Here's the Neptune pool, my favorite part of the estate.



Here's the main residence.



Rex was trying to remember where he had taken the pictures for his album cover several years ago on his first trip out here. The sky was cloudier than ideal but the scenery was still breathtaking.



We took a side road in Big Sur and found this hidden cove right before it got dark.



We took a couple of days to roam around the Sequoia National Forest. It was gorgeous and one of my favorite parts of the trip.



We hit LA during rush hour traffic on our way back to Kim's. Here's how Millie entertained herself.




I took this picture of Millie at one of the coffee shops we tried in Newport Beach.

The Contests

A big part of this fiddler's convention are the contests. Most of the adults enter to play either guitar, fiddle, banjo, or in a band (but not me...maybe next year). You get your ticket money back if you compete in one of those.

Lucas is the only kid in our posse that got on stage this year.



Every one gets a ribbon too.



Here's Rex considering what it would be like to enter the contest as a one armed banjo player.

Funny Faces

More pictures...this time with a theme.

Here's one where I told Laila and Sylvia that they would get absolutely no treats at the festival.



Here's where I told them they'd get 50,000 treats.



Here's Sylvia and Gus actually getting a treat. They had that same desert last year and Gus thought he had died and gone to heaven. I guess it might become a tradition.



Here's my nephew's funny face.



Uncle Gary's...



And I can't believe I'm posting this...

The Fiddler's Convention

If their's one thing that gets a bunch of Rex's extended family together, it's a good fiddler's convention. That's where we spent a few days recently. Here's some random pictures.

This is Sylvia and her uncle.



Here's Millie in Rex's new hat.



Here we are hanging out at the Tot Pool located right next to the festival grounds. Gus got in a lot of practice jumping into the big pool. I got Sylvia to blow bubbles in the big pool too. Millie was practically jumping out of my hands to try and keep up with Sylvia in the baby pool. But she kept getting water in her mouth.

A Blast From the Past

This picture was taken nearly two years ago at a Fiddler's Convention. It looks like Sylvia is giving Gus a lesson on what's inside a hot dog. Gus looks a little taken aback.

First Impressions

It's been over a year since we've had a beach vacation. Sylvia has been several times before and ever since she could talk, she's complained about the loudness of the ocean. In fact, loud noises have really bothered her in the past and it wasn't unusual to see her covering her ears at the beach, in a busy gym, or by the roadside. But this picture confirms what I've been noticing over the past couple of months. She's growing out of it.



Here's Millie's maiden voyage into the water. She found it a little shocking.



When Gus got his first close up glimpse of the water he immediately turned around and without a sound bolted back up the stairs and down the beach access. He was almost to the street before my sister caught up with him. But she brought him back and it was only a minute before he stood bravely facing the surf, shorts pulled up, waiting for the water to touch his toes. And then he ran away again, but this time I think it was more for laughs.