Tidepool Adventure

A week ago we went to the mountains close by and played in the snow and light drizzle. The next weekend, this most recent weekend, we went over to the tide pools two towns over in San Pedro.

We walked around, saw hundreds of hermit crabs, dozens of anemones, a family of regular crabs, snails and shells of all sorts, and even a starfish.

Cass's pal Ari and his mom joined us, and the boys had a time running around and pointing out things. Camille was escorted around by her sucker of a dad.

It was great. Afterwards we went to get food and beverages, and here are Cass and Ari drinking Japanese sodas:

Sometimes I'm not sure if the boys let Camille play, or if she forced her presence by sheer will, or if Cass is just regularly chill with his little sister being around:

Most of the time at the house he's just, eh, regularly chill with Camille, which warms the heart.

Part of Corrie's advanced plans for this year have us getting out and about on the weekends, which is awesome. Love the tide pools!

Finding the Snow! Finally!

Last weekend we drove for an hour up 605 to 210 to Baseline, the Mt. Baldy staging area. We were headed to Icehouse Canyon park and hike zone. Now that the scene from SNL's "The Californian's" sketch is over, we can move on.

We invited our friend Lauren and her two dogs, and all of us made the drive on just a single car. 

The weather was rainy, cold and windy, but mostly at the parking area, where you're not protected by trees and being surrounded by a canyon.

Snow showed up quickly across the creek that the path followed up, and while very little was on our side, there was enough to play in. Or around, anyway.

In Winter Break back in December in 2021, Cass and I went hiking in the rain at this same location, so I knew what to expect. This time there was actually snow. Check out behind Corrie and Camille below:

Lauren wanted a picture of her holding her yearling puppy, and Cass showed up and got himself into the photo:

He surely seemed to enjoy horsing around in the snow:

Here's a nice establishing shot I took on the way out, with the creek and the snow beyond. This day was WAY more crowded than that December walk Cass and I took, even if this picture is devoid of other folks:

There were light sprinkles here and there along the walk, but none of it really mattered, since the tree cover protected us as we hiked.

I remembered the selfie the first time with Cass wearing the Jameson skully, and took another one, fifteen months later:

We drove for seventy minutes and played in snow! What a marvel of the area, that we could play at the beach then drive for an hour-plus and play in the snow. With all the storms that have been rocking our zone, we'll be able to find snow deep into April in different quite close environs. How awesome!

For some perspective, to quote a Chicago friend of ours, "That's such a Californian thing to say," in reference to being excited to go find snow.

Er, that's us...?

Something Weird for the Simpsons Fans

It started with a random clip I noticed (and watched the first forty seconds of). It was titled "Steamed Hams but it's French New-Wave". I said to myself, Steamed Hams? Like that tiny scene between Skinner and Chalmers in that "22 Stories" episode? It opens in black and white to accordion music and fancy camera work from other episodes, and settles in, in French, and progresses from there.

Then, a few weeks later I saw another random video titled "Steamed Hams but directed by Tarantino." Again I was like, Really? And again, I watched the first thirty seconds or so, where there's an extended Skinner-the-Cowboy intro scene.

Along the sidebar of Youtube, where they put other videos that are either like the video you're watching or videos you've watched in the past, one was titled "Steamed Hams but every scene is a different animation style."

Is there a cottage industry of Steamed Hams alterations? And why Steamed Hams, of all things? I know it's great and all, but...eh, okay?

So, here's a screen capture of my own search engine in Youtube for "steamed hams but," check it out:

There's too much to see here. It's worth some of your time, if you appreciate the Simpsons like I do.