Debbie's second home, or is it her first?

This is Gilmore (the blue Golf TDI) in front of Home Depot, a place where Debbie spends a lot of time.  Gilmore is at the point where he can drive himself there, and all the employees recognize Debbie as a very frequent customer.... such is the life of someone living in a 1930s home... but it's all worth it!

Debbie and Michael bond with animals at the marina

While staring at sailboats that they can't afford, Debbie and Michael make new friends.

Yet another tree that is taller than Michael.

"I don't get it; this tree is WAY bigger than me - I can't even see the top!"

A Visit to Torrey Pines

Michael likes to roll up his pants - maybe I should buy him some capris!

Debbie pretends she is running out of the water like they do in Baywatch.


Debbie hides in a cave and contemplates life as a cave person.


We spent an afternoon hiking in the Torrey Pines State Reserve in La Jolla. The trails take you up high for beautiful views of the ocean and then right down onto the sandy beaches. It's a wonderful serene place only ten minutes from San Diego.

Michael meets a friendly Moose at the Natural History Museum

They are fast friends!  See how they are both smiling.

A Furry Halloween

Mr. Bear tries his best to look scary in his wizard costume!

Stanley looks a little too comfortable in his devil costume.

It looks like this costume is here to stay - Stanley doesn't want to give it up!

Thanks to their Aunt Susan, Mr. Bear and Stanley have cool Halloween costumes so they can go trick-or-treating on Friday... but the question is whether the neighbors will be ready for them. Will they be armed with honey (Mr. Bear's favorite) and trash (Stanley's preferred treat) or will they have to endure a bear-raccoon trick?

Poor Mr. Bear

Mr. Bear is very sad because Facebook disabled his account and now he has lost contact with most of his other bear friends from all over the world.  He says GRRRRRRRR to Facebook!

A water conservation garden.

Debbie went to a gardening festival on Saturday held at a local community college that has a 5 acre conservation garden. This garden shows that you can have beautiful landscaping and use little or no water. Just say NO to lawns in hot dry climates!

An innocent looking tree

This is the shed that took us a few days to put together.... when the directions say to start with a level surface, heed those directions!!  Next to the shed is a young little tree named Oscar.  Sure Oscar looks small and cute now, but he is an Italian Cyprus tree that can eventually grow to over 40 feet high!  We take our privacy seriously!:)

Rocky goes for a ride!

Rocky goes for a ride on Michael's helicopter, but Stanley has the controls.  Luckily for Rocky, his sticky paws from eating honey helped him hold on tight!

Today a helicopter was working on the antenna behind my hotel

Kayaking at La Jolla

This is Michael doing his best seal impression.

Michael is eager to get going!

Debbie has the unfortunate luck of almost being in the path of a seal doing his business.
Michael just couldn't quite stay in his kayak - those things flip awfully easily, well, not really, but somehow Michael managed to get out of his!

We had lots of fun kayaking in La Jolla. We went with a Meetup group and met lots of nice people and got to see La Jolla from another angle.

At a San Diego Padres game.

We went to a Padres game and had pretty good seats, courtesy of our realtor. The weather was good, however, the game got a little boring. I can't remember who won, but it was not close.

This was the guy in front of us who kindly blocked my view a little with his large head:)


This is a view from our seats. The stadium is tucked nicely into downtown SD .

Debbie and Michael go to the San Diego Zoo.

Michael is being watched over by a large bushy elephant.

Debbie tries to smile like the big hippo hanging out behind her.

Michael hopes to be as cool as the silver bear next to him. Did he succeed?

A daytrip to Dana Point.

These are the cool rock formations that people have made. The rocks balance on each other with only the tiniest contact point.
We went to Dana Point to see all the amazing sail boats and other boats that are kept there. Too bad we couldn't ride on any of them, some of them looked like they would be a lot of fun!

The water looked really pretty - I saw some paddleboarders for the first time. For the uninitiated, those are long boards like surfboards that people stand on and use paddles to propel themselves forward.
Michael is tall, but not as tall as this tree. The tree thinks that is pretty funny!

Debbie tries her best to blend in with her surroundings.

Michael skydiving

Kayaking in the Bay

We borrowed some kayaks and went out with some friends on a beautiful sunny Saturday morning.

The world's most popular fence

This was the fence that used to be in our yard.  When we took it down (b/c it was ugly!!!!!), we were shocked by the feelings of loss and sadness experienced by everyone from our neighbors to the UPS man.  They all really loved that fence!

Stanley and Mr. Bear have a weakness for chocolate-chip cookies.

Michael posing as an undercover operative.

Michael's photoshoot

Stanley - the Gardening Raccoon

Michael and debbie

Debbie at the beach.