Fun Times with Auntie Eden...

When Seacamp was over, Ashlynn was dropped off at the airport and she headed back to Northern California for almost two weeks. She spent a lot of time with Grandma and Grandpa and with Kiley, a 13-year-old girl who lives across the street. Following tradition, she spent a night at Auntie Leigh and Uncle Mike’s. Luckily Auntie Eden was able to come over for a sleepover.

 First some serious photos were taken...

...and then some goofy ones. They had a great time together!

More Camp Activities...

Each day, there was some kind of outing. One day they went sea kayaking in Mission Bay...

...and, another day, they went boogie boarding at La Jolla Shores.

On their last full day, they went to Sea World. Ashlynn felt bad that they have orcas in captivity, but had a great time there with her new friends.

Whale Watching...

In the 13 years that I lived in San Diego, I never went whale watching. How cool that Ashlynn got to go seeing not only whales, but hundreds of dolphins. They saw four pods of dolphins, each with 100s of dolphins surrounding the boat and playing in the wake.

 Thar she blows!

They saw about a dozen blue whales, the largest animal to ever roam the planet.

Ashlynn said, “It was amazing!”

Snorkeling in La Jolla Cove...

It was so cool that Ashlynn got to go to the beach at La Jolla Shores and snorkeling at La Jolla Cove. I’ve never gone snorkeling there, but Jimmy went with his brothers a few days before our wedding. 

Ashlynn had a lot of fun snorkeling. She especially loved seeing sea lions swimming just two feet away and leopard sharks mere inches away.

That’s Ashlynn in the blue next to the girl with an abalone. Unfortunately, there’s no photo of when she licked a sea slug for good luck.

Their wetsuits were so buoyant that they could just float effortlessly after they finished snorkeling.

Ashlynn Goes to Camp...

Dan, Nancy and Julius dropped off Ashlynn on Fiesta Island at the campus of Seacamp. Nancy reported to us that she was very impressed with the facilities, which was great to hear especially since Ashlynn wasn’t allowed to contact us at all during the five days.

Ashlynn quickly made friends with a group of older girls from all over the country. She thought all the boys were total nerds, so no camp romances.

She really loved the five-night marine science camp. Each evening there were lab sessions with lectures and hands-on activities.

Here is Ashlynn dissecting a squid; they later drew with the squid ink. They also dissected a mackerel, in which they found a partially digested baby fish.

I was happy to hear that this camp made Ashlynn more interested in general marine biology; for instance, she’s gained some interest in plankton and fish
instead of just marine mammals.

Off to San Diego...

After just one night with Grandma and Grandpa, Ashlynn caught a flight to San Diego, where she’d be going to summer camp for the first time. She was picked up at the airport by Dan, Nancy and Julius, who she’d be spending the night with. They enjoyed showing off their beautiful city including this stop at Cabrillo Monument.

They had dinner in the Gaslamp District, which has been completely rejuvenated since we moved away in 1996. There were huge crowds because Comic Con was that weekend.

The next morning they got up early to go do an intense group workout and eight-mile cross country run at Mission Bay. Ashlynn loved it!

Off to California...

On July 23, I dropped off Ashlynn at Schiphol for her first solo flight. Since she’s still under 15, she had to fly unaccompanied minor. Once the plane pushed back from the terminal, I hopped on a train for Brussels. Little did I know that her plane had a mechanical problem and went back to the gate. Poor little Ashlynn was stuck alone in a room for over three hours without any food while the rest of the passengers were given food vouchers.

She was a good sport about it and couldn’t wait to see her grandparents.