* Company picnic at Liberty Station. Got there early to grab some geocaches, then enjoyed some great food and games. Liberty Station is a very nice neighborhood, it has so much within a quick walk. We enjoyed the small museum at the NTC Command Center.
* Saw "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" - was decent, but quite different from the book.
* Dog hike at San Elijo Lagoon - too hot even for the lizards
* Quick trip to Cardiff Beach - nice way to beat the heat
* Harp and flute concert at La Costa Valley - wine and Subway subs!
* Installed a new reverse osmosis system - finally found one that fits our new sink cabinet, a Whirlpool model that has a smaller storage tank. The install went well consider I had to rebuild the drain system from the p-trap up.

* Spent half of Saturday biking.
* Attended our third consecutive Dogs Days of Summer festival in Cardiff. Sophie hates it more each year.
* Went to the Ruben Fleet Science Center with the kids. We checked out all the exhibits before taking in the IMAX Wild California film. I got sick watching the movie; no more IMAX for me :(
* Took Sophie to the Lagoon to chase lizards and rabbits to make up for Dog Days.

* Hikes with the dog.
* Staying out of the heat.

* Lots of walks with Sophie: San Elijo Lagoon, Swamis, Cottonwood Creek Park, Pipe Hike.
* Worked on the kitchen, again.
* Vacuumed the backyard. We have a gravel backyard and I have to use a landscape vacuum to pick all the leaves and pine needles.
* Did some biking, but the heat was brutal.

* After several years and hundreds (if not thousands) of attempts, Sophie finally succeeded in catching her elusive prey, a lizard. This trophy was caught in the San Elijo Lagoon, on the nature center hike.




* Checked out the Del Dios Gorge hike, northward from the trailhead. This is trail #12.





Bat houses

Sophie with her stuffed animal.

We mistakenly left a bowl of mixed nuts on the dining table yesterday afternoon and the dog promptly ate them. Unfortunately for Sophie, some of the included nuts were Macadamias. Apparently, Macadamia nuts are toxic to dogs. When we woke up this morning, Sophie was suffering the symptoms: wobbly walking, vomiting and depression (although I can't really give a definite diagnosis on this one). Sophie spent the day sleeping in her bed and was fine by the evening, just like a bad Macadamia nut hangover.

* Sophie dug a big hole in the garden.


* We went up to Palomar Mountain State Park to see the snow. I went a slightly different route up there that took us past Lake Wohlford, which I have never seen. At the park, the sun was out and the weather great.


The kids made snowmen...


threw snowballs and tried sledding without sleds...




The dog loved it as well, especially when a squirrel scampered across the snow.

* Took my parents to see Dr. Suess' How The Grinch Stole Christmas! as the Old Globe theater. The acting and music were great but the stage was the best part of the show. The scenery people outdid themselves on this one. The only negative was the heat in the theater, too hot for me.