NASCAR at Infineon--June 21st

We sat in Turn 9, the best place to watch a road race at Sears Point with Mike, Dianna, Amy, Jason and Aurora. It was a great race and we definitely had a fun time.

June 13, restomods in Reno

Race and Dean couldn't make it, so Elizabeth headed to Reno alone for another rainy Restomods in Reno show. She had a great time with our friends and enjoyed the trip immensely.

June 6, Melinda's Graduation

Wow, what an exciting trip to see Melinda graduate from high school. She's off to the Air Force Academy in just a couple of weeks. Congratulations, Melinda. You're an amazing kid.

June 5, School Carnival

Pack 315 ran an Ice Cream and Water Balloon Toss Booth to raise money for the Pack. Talk about crazy!

Honor Roll

Race worked hard the last quarter and made the Honor Roll again.

Bass Pro Shop picture

Here's the picture that Bass Pro Shop took of Race last Sunday. I think it's pretty cool.

Weekend in the foothills

We made our way up to Pioneer Friday where we met friends Dave and Debbie Miller for a pizza dinner. We then followed them to their cabin where we had a nice walk in the woods and a good nights sleep. The next morning the five of us headed down the mountain to Columbia for a Mustang club trip. We met up with the rest of the Mustang club in Angels Camp and then on to Columbia for Diggin' Days. Diggin' Days is a celebration of the gold mining days around 1852. There is an authentic gold town tent camp set up on the edge of town and dozens of reenactors dressed in period costumes doing period tasks. We visited a gunsmith where we received the hard sell on a new Allen pocket pistol. Less money and more reliable than a Colt we were told. We visited a dry goods store in a tent, a Chinese herb shop, a Mexican restaurant under a canopy, the local US Infranty post, the doctor's office (shudder), the local water company office, visited with the miners hard at work at their sluice and rocker boxes, made rope with a rope vendor, visited the blacksmith shop and the local restaurant where they were serving homemade lemonade and fresh baked bread (baked inthe tent next door in an earthen oven)with hand churned butter and homemade jelly. They also served fresh turkey sausage rolled in pie crusts. Two teenage girls were selling them from a basket to the miners and guests jus tlike they would have in 1952. The miners stopped work only long enough to choke down their lunch and then back to work. They were universal in complaining about the water company. It seems that they needed water, Columbia is a dry town, so a local businessman formed a water company and hired all the miners to dig a ditch 5 miles to the river. He didn't have any money so they took their pay in stock shares. Water ws 2 dollars a day per miner and the miners weren't making enough off of their shares, so the businessman, in an act of charity bought the shares back for 10 dollars each. The next day water prices were raised to 6 dollars a day and the water company profits went through the roof. The iners were watching cclosely for the water company agent and his armed guards. they made it a habit to hhide when they came around to avoid paying for a couple of days. Race got to run the rocker box, make a length of rope for a belt, keep the tin cup from his lemonade, we tried all the food and the highlight of the day, Race got to work as the blacksmith's apprentice and make his own mini horse shoe. The day ended with the lowering of the flag by the local infrantry troop and we went back to town for a night in the Ciyt Hotel.

Sock Hop

Dean had to work, but Race stood in for him and took Elizabeth and Aurora to a Sock Hop at the St. Bonaventure Church with our friends Christa and Joe Fairfield. They had a great time and a great Pasta dinner. Race didn't dance much, but he did eat a lot.

Backyard Fire Pit

We've been using our new fire pit in the backyard in the evenings. So far we've cooked hotdogs and marshmallows. The Cub Scouts made S'Mores at a meeting. All in all, it's proving to be a neat addition to the backyard.

Pinewood Derby

Race came in 8th overall at the Pinewood Derby. The Blackwood 500 is the districts premier derby and packs from all over the district were in attendance. Here's Race's car ready to go in the near lane.

The Tiger Cub's hike Mt Diablo

This weeks meeting was an outdoor adventure led by Den Leader Elizabeth and Cubmaster John Jatoft. The boys hiked from the Mitchell Canyon trailhead to Mitchell Rock, 1430 feet above sea level and a 2.2 mile loop. The boys and adults were pretty tired at the end of the dya.

Special Kids Day

Race and Elizabeth helped out at the Concord Lions Club booth at Special Kids Day. Click the link for more information on Special Kids Day. Well, actually, Elizabeth worked the booth painting faces and putting temporary tattoos by the hundreds on kids of all ages. Race bravely struck out on his own and did all the cool things. He came home covered with temporary tattoos, sat in a helicopter, played on a fire truck, shot water rockets with the Boy Scouts, went pretend fishing, checked out the race cars, got a snow cone, had 2 hot dogs, potato chips, drank water, got face painting on his arm, helped set up the booth and applied some tattoos on other kids and a great time.

Mother's Day Show at Kings Valley Christian School

Race and his classmates put on a Mother's Day Show. They sang a number of songs like "Ain't no mountain high enough" and the "The Love Song." Each kid told the crowd why they loved their Mom. Race said, "because she helps me do my homework and she taught me how to ride my bike on two wheels."

Music at the Park

The Tiger Cubs had their meeting at Todos Santos Park for the opening night of Music and Market. Race and the boys got to sit in an ex-Dale Earnhardt NASCAR racer. The boys had a scavenger hunt, ice cream and had a wonderful time. A reporter for the local paper, The Concordian was in attendance and took a picture of the boys that made the paper cover. Check out the link for the paper. The Concordian Jun 6, 2009

May Show and Shine

Race was the only family member to take home a prize at our club car show this year. He took the Young Stang award for the best Mustang belonging to someone under 18 years old. Here's Race receiving his award for his 1967 Mustang Jr.

East Contra Costa Historical Society

Race and Elizabeth hosted a DVMA trip to the East Contra Costa Historical Society's opening day. they took Grandpa Don along. Race had a great time and made a few new friends. The museum is rather free form, but it does feature an incredible collection of relics and curios from East County's rural past.

Race's birthday party

Oh my, I just realized that I didn't put up any pictures of Race's birthday party. Can you believe he's already 7? I certainly can't.

Race had a Star Wars themed party this year. He's a huge Star Wars fan now. Uncle Jason loaned him all the movies and he's been watching them over and over in his spare time. He chose to have his birthday party at QZAR. It's in downtown Concord and consists of an arcade and a huge, dimly lit, obstacle filled laser tag battle area. Everyone puts on a laser target vest and gets a laser. The workers divide you into teams and then the mayhem begins. Imagine the previously described battle area teaming with 6 and 7 year olds with a few adults mixed in. Race's Cubmaster and I teamed up in the first round and took over the center of the room. I ended up with high score. The second round, Race and I teamed up and managed to make it to the other team's headquarters to rack up some big points. Let me tell you, 15 minutes of battle and we had worked up a sweat. After the second 15 minute session the kids had worked up a hearty appetite for pizza and cake. We retired to the party area to tell tall tales of our combat skills and experiences, eat, drink and Race got to open presents.

No foolin', it's April Fool's Day

First the joke. Race decided to play an April Fool's Day prank on us. He took all of the bags of cereal out of their boxes and put them back in the wrong box. I went to poor a bowl of Cheerios this morning, but... I ended up having Chocolate flavored Chex Mix instead. Race nearly fell over laughing at his own joke.

Elizabeth and I managed to both make it to Race's School Chapel this morning and we're really glad we did. After 3 quarters of hard work Race finally made Honor Roll. He made it all 4 quarters in Kindergarten, but he's been struggling in 1st grade. Join us in congratulating him on his success. He's really proud of himself.

Black Diamond Mines

Elizabeth had been watching ads for the opening of a new mine shaft at Black Diamond Mines and we were able to find time to attend. The newly opened sand mine was worked by the Hazel Atlas Glass Company from the 20's until the mid 40's and the sand was used for glassmaking. We have a couple of old Hazel Atlas canning jars in our antique collection. Race was a little nervous at first but he quickly got over it and had a great time in the shaft. The mine was opened for self guided tours on this special occasion. Normally only guided tours are available and only by appointment. After visiting the mines we walked around and looked into the other mines even though they weren't open and took a mile long journey up the mountain to visit Rose Hill Cemetery. Most of the graves date form the 1870's when the coal mines were going strong. Many of the miners were born in South Wales. It was enlightening, sometimes we forget how easy modern life is, to see how many of the graves included unnamed infant children, toddlers, kids and teenagers.