recreation

i've finally decided what i want to be when i grow up! well, not exactly...but i know what i want to major in at least! after this summer, i have decided that i want to be a recreation major. i want to be an event coordinator of some sort! whether i'm doing it for a company, managing youth programs, or having my own business, i would love it! so, i'm going to do something i'm good at and love! now i just have to work on signing up for classes...

santa cruz!

last week i went camping in santa cruz for work! i had been there once before, but i had a lot of fun! we went to the mystery spot which was really weird/cool. i don't know if i completely buy it, but after being there, it's pretty hard to say that weird stuff isn't going on there. we also went to the boardwalk and had a blast on some rides and to this amazing ice cream shop! we saw the amazing chinese acrobats perform at the boardwalk, and i had falafel for the first time too! on the last day, we all had a surfing lesson. i love surfing now! it's hard work! but really fun. maybe i should have done more of that when i actually lived close to the beach...

at the boardwalk

anthropologie

this has got to be my all time favorite store. the new one just opened in blackhawk and i almost died when i walked in. they have so much cute stuff! it was melissa's first time in the store and she wanted to buy everything. i think she touched every item in the store at least once, many things twice. i got an anthro card, and it came in the cutest little pouch. if you haven't experienced the magic that is anthropolgie yet, you are serisouly missing out and need to get to the nearest one asap!

frisco!

i've had a few days off from work and have been having some fun! the fam drove across the bay bridge to show me the house my grandma lived in when she was a little girl! after that, we went to china town and ate at a japanese restaurant called the floating sushi boat restaurant. whoever thought of that name must be really creative. it was really good though. i def recommend it! we also went to a fortune cookie factory :)

the boats

the next week, me and my mom went to fisherman's wharf. we went to pier 39, and then ate at boudin. we got off bart at embarcadero and walked all the way! we kept trying to get on muni, but there was absolutely no room on any trams! by the time we were half way there, we gave up waiting for it. there was a guy making bread animals in the window at boudin! i wanted to get one, but didn't. we walked down the ghirardelli sqaure and back too, after seeing the sea lions we got on muni and headed home. there was a guy at the bart entrance handing out those new jamba juice juicies. they are really good in case you anyone was wondering.

at boudin. we had clam chowder in a bread bowl and diet black cherry soda. so good! we had to sit by the fire because it was so cold, and it was the middle of july!

let's run away...

...and join the circus!

with my summer camp this week we did some of the funnest things! i went to great america and six flags discovery kingdom for the first time ever! i rode a bunch of rides and got kinda dizzy--totally worth it! plus, i got paid! woohoo!

but, i also did something nowhere near anything i've ever done before! we went to this place called trapeze arts! i learned all these skills that circus people have! i jumped on a trampoline, climbed up a silk rope, spun in a swing thing, learned how to juggle, walked a tight rope and did the flying trapeze! the trapeze was so cool! my arms were so sore the next day. i would swing and then flip up and grab on with my knees and then let go with my hands and hang upside down! after doing that a few times, they said i was good enough to do a catch. i was kinda scared, but it was so much fun! i hanging from my knees and swinging and then grabbed onto someone else doing the same thing! i felt like a pro!

right before the catch!

everyday i write the book!

taylor, my mom, my dad and i all went to see Elvis Costello and The Police in concert! it was really fun, and i'm pretty sure i was the youngest person there (the the exception of the tiny baby whose parents put headphones on her head to block the noise). so, i was the youngest one who was still able to hear the concert. Elvis Costello opened and i loved him as usual! he sang all the songs i love including the one named after me! the fact that i was born after the song came out is irrelevant. sting came out to sing the chorus of before said, "alison," with elvis. i felt like they were singing to me!

dad, me, taylor

sting and elvis serenading me

then the police came out. overall, it was just a really good show. a few of the stand out songs were message in a bottle (which was very recognizable because of g-hero II), wrapped around your finger (loved the percussion!), roxanne (which reminded me of the episode of friends where phoebe sings, ross-can!), every breath you take (part of second encore), and fall out (dad and taylor's favorite).

sting!

angels in the outfield!

melissa and i went to the oakland a's play the anaheim angels at macafee stadium on saturday! it was quite the adventure. we drove to walnut creek and got on bart and then took it straight to the game. we bought the cheapest tickets we could, and then tried to sit in the best seats possible. we got kicked out of them and ended up going to sit in the outfield where our tickets told us to go. we ate hot dogs and cheered our angels on! there was a huge group in front of us and they were really entertainging to watch throughout the game. they were all wearing a's hats, because apparently that was the free giveaway. (we were late and didn't get any) but, one of the guys had turned his inside out (obviously an angel's fan!) about halfway through the game, he started flapping his arms like wings! after every good play the angels would do, he would do the classic angel's in the outfield movement! don't worry, we took pictures.

sporting our angels paraphernalia in the midst of a's fans!


his friends started to join in! melissa and i might have done it too...

summer of service

i worked at a different camp last week, and i had so much fun! it's called summer of service, and we did exactly that! we spent the whole week doing service! it was such a great week too! there were only seven kids at the camp. it was a small group, but we had a ton of fun! the first day, we stayed at the teen center and made blankets for the homeless. it was going to be a disaster because we only had two pairs of scissors (of course, i don't know if you can call them scissors if they don't actually cut anything) but then, we found two more and made a million blankets! over the next couple of days we went to the food bank of contra costa and sorted food, books for the barrios and packed boxes of books to send the the phillipines, and then finally to the don edwards wildlife refuge to pick up trash.

at books for the barrios! we packed so many boxes!


rico and conrad picking up trash!


the gang!