california dreaming

Since the end of July is nearly upon us...how about some tales of California travels from June?

I had a conference to attend in LA toward the end of last month, so we decided to take the whole family and call it vacation (we do this a lot, in case you haven't noticed a trend here). We had some good times in the southern part of California, mostly because we got to see family again. And there are some people who are into the whole beach thing (I am not one of them--odd for a seal, I know; but, there you are).

We had a chance to take the Pup sailing for the first time. For people who know me and the Papa Seal, I don't have to go into what a big deal this was for us.

And, also we got a chance to see Shamu at Seaworld; the Pup is, clearly, a fan.

And then of course there was the Mouse's House (um, his summer home?).

A place for both the young and the young at heart. Whatever, the hats were free.

I was able to see a friend from undergrad days, I hadn't seen J in 9 years so it was fun to get together; also, she owns rabbits--clearly this is what set the parameter for "fun" for the Pup.

And then I went solo to my conference which was sited at a hotel as well as The Getty (a great place to have a conference, by the way). It shall never be said that special collections librarians do not know how to rock (well, it'll probably be said; but not by anyone in "the know").

After three days of dialoging about rare books in the digital world, the boys picked me up and we explored LA. The Pup cheered on the Bruins--sure he does this at whatever college or university is local to our travels; but I thought this shot especially winning (anyone in the public affairs department at UCLA should feel free to contact me about marketing, heh).

We found a place for me to buy fiber related goods (the Pup also likes to peruse).

And then we said goodbye to California and came home. It was a good trip.

There are a ridiculous number of photographs in flickr of this whole excursion. You will probably care more about them if you are related to us or we saw you in California during this trip. But of course, there are some good shots of the Pup looking cute (none showing him throwing tantrums as these are moments best left uncaptured for the ages).

Next report...Colorado.

annapolis & philly, woot!

Some of you are probably wondering where the California pictures (and post are), they are coming. Honestly. But one (you) should find it humurous that my idea of a flurry has become akin to the speed of a trickle. In any case, since I seem to be a month behind on my posts, let's talk June. At the beginning of June (yes, that's last month for those keeping score) Papa Seal had a seminar to attend on a very scintillating topic concerning something related to some form of engineering--or possibly navigation in Annapolis, MD. The Pup and I let him go it alone for the first part of the week as we had things to do (um work and school). On the last day of his seminar, the Pup and I took the train down to Baltimore to meet up with the fatherly unit. It was the pups first train trip and he had a great time. All I am going to say is, six hours on a train with a 2 year old is a very long time (my lack of pictures is evidence of the fun he had, sigh).

Papa met us in Baltimore and we headed back to Annapolis, we ate dinner and then went to sleep to recharge for a flurry (a real one, this time) of activity the next day which involved the following:

a trip to the United States Naval Academy (um, go goats!?)

where Papa thought it would be fun to visit a "secured area" so the Pup could be entertained (those are my boys, risk takers);

and then we hopped in the car and drove to Philadelphia, home of liberty. Before doing anything historically related, I (obviously) had to get my fiber fix in. We went to the trendy and boutique-y yarn shop, loop;

and then found our way to Rosie's Yarn Cellar where the Seal Pup (aka Little Sir" was spotted by store staff. I consider it an honor that they let him play with the Koigu mill ends, which involved making a snake of Koigu (that would be luxury merino, people) on the floor.
Of course there was also a trip to the new Philly fabric store, Spool (a very sweet shop, I bought stuff);
And then there was dinner. We went to a place called the Melting Pot. It's a fondue place, apparently it's a romantic place...when you don't take a 2 year old (just saying). I think it's also just an unusual place to take kids, but our philosophy is, if you don't plan to serve kids, don't offer the option of high chair seating (not that we use it anymore, but there you are).
After a good night's sleep (and sleeping in)We found our way to the Liberty Bell at the Independence National Historic Park (this would be the real reason we ventured to Philly in the first place). Where we realized that the Pup's excitement about historica landmarks will only last so long when we saw the rows of bored teenage boys waiting for the rest of their families to view history. Oh, well.
More picture from the trip in flickr, as per our usual way of doing things. California pictures coming soon. Really.