Turleys Everywhere

When Ally was little she called turtles, turleys.  We have called them turleys ever since...

Turley Reef opened at Sea World recently.  Ally had to work, Amy had school, and Chris was sleeping, so I went to Sea World by myself.  Yeah, that's right -- got to go and see whatever I wanted to see -- nice!  It was a member's only preview.  Not too crowded and had a lot of fun.  The exhibit is where the manatees were on exhibit long ago.  Honestly, I expected more after all the hype.  I thought it would be like the shark exhibit where you walk through and they swim over your head and so forth.  It was pretty much just a big aquarium and a ride.  I think there is also some interactive stuff for the kids, but I didn't check that out.  The turtles were cool to look that though... here's some pics.

Much more exciting is this fabulous Italian place that just opened in Santee.  Have eaten there twice, and also met the owner.  This is the first one to open in San Diego... originally from back east, they have some in Los Angeles area, too.  The pasta is great!  The salad was delish -- mine had endive, raspberry vinaigrette, walnuts, goat cheese, and pears.  And the garlic bread was to die for... the only down side is everything is a la carte... but Chris and I shared everything, so it's all good.  Then we took Ally back later, and she loved it, too.  Planning on taking some out of town friends there this weekend as well.

Looking forward to a new Beth Moore series in the fall.  I will be leading this one on Sunday mornings.  Can't wait!

Race to the Fair

That's the theme for this year's San Diego County Fair.  All four of us were able to go at the same time this year.  I could have used a little more time to see exhibits and animals... but we ate (my favorite, Australian Battered Potatoes), rode rides, shopped, and had a great time.

Chris was "angry"...

Ally was "angry" ...

The kids were "high" ... (I did NOT go on this)

and I was very calm throughout the entire time... (Ally's hair was not).

Big Bear!

Chris surprised me and took me away for a few days to Big Bear, which is a mountain, a lake, a resort, AND a town about three hours north of us.  We had a cabin with a jacuzzi in it.  Very nice!  That's the first time in 27 years I haven't known where I was going.  It's very hard to surprise me... so I helped a little by not looking in the bank account and not looking at the driving directions someone left printed out!  It was a lot of fun.  Chris wanted to go horseback riding, so we did.  My idea of a getaway is a five star hotel with room service, a massage, eating out, shopping... yeah, I'm spoiled.  Chris's idea is staying in a cabin, in the mountains, riding horses, and so on.  I still had a lot of fun, and it was great to get away from all the stress for a few days.

Ally got hired as a lifeguard at Knott's Soak City for the summer.  No one tried harder than her to pass the requirements.  She had to take the weekend class (20 hours!) two times (she passed the second time).  The first time she didn't pass, she was told she was a bit timid and seemed flustered at times.  We told her to speak up and act like she knew what she was doing.  There were written tests, CPR, and all kinds of rescue tests, etc.  Of course, she passed the written tests with flying colors... third in the class.  She was glad to finally make it through.  There were 60 people in her first class and only half passed.  She really wanted her first job to be as a lifeguard.  No pics yet at her work... coming soon!

She got a speeding ticket on her first day going to work (Soak City is 30 miles from our house), so she can use her newfound wages to pay that ticket, which will probably be around $300 along with a day of traffic school.

Ally also received an award at school this week for a 3.75 GPA.

I finally got the van back from the body shop after 30 days!  I love my Odyssey -- I didn't realize what a stress it was driving around the rental -- was glad to return it.

I got flowers delivered at work for the first time ever!  I did go above and beyond for this customer, and they were glad of it.  So nice to be appreciated!