All kinds of ideas

This post comes from Amanda of http://www.amandasfavs.blogspot.com/.

She's a mom to three beauties and has given us some really great ideas!

Here they are...

1. Have a picnic-it can be on your living room floor, in your backyard, at a park or anywhere! The kids have fun helping you pick out the food and then enjoying it in a different place than normal. Bring a board game for extra fun on your blanket.

2. Buy small canvases from Michael's (around $5 for 2 canvases) and let your kids make real artwork for your walls at home. Designate a wall to hang them on.

3. Use the summer to get things done like potty training, sleep training, or whatever you have been putting off.

4. Pick a different park once a week. It keeps it new for everyone. We found a blog that talked about different parks throughout OC and decided to give some a try.

5. If I remember correctly, I had an old neighbor that let her kids play with shaving cream and they had a blast....do it in the backyard and put them in their bathing suits. All you need is the hose to clean up.

6. Restock your artbox throughout the summer. Put in new markers, chalk, stickers, water colors, etc. They will love experimenting with new things and it will hopefully keep them busy a little longer.

Thanks for your ideas Amanda!

We'll be giving some of those a try for sure!!

Leo Carillo Ranch

This fantastical idea comes from my good friend Fawn.

She's a mom of two and has two amazing blogs that you MUST check out...
http://www.sequinsandcandy.blogspot.com/
http://www.cleanuponaislefour.blogspot.com/

"let the adventures begin!
i can't wait to hear what everyone brings to the table!
so.
for my tiny part..
here is a tid bit..

i am so excited to share with everyone one of my favorite spots..
leo carrillo ranch!
it is a california historical landmark..
it is sooo beautiful..
27 acres of beautiful stone arches, colored doors, barns, peacocks galore, a swimming pool, windmills and all the nooks and crannies that even "alice" would love to explore.
it is FREE and a great place to pack a picnic, stomp the grounds and of course snap some great pictures!"

*Leo Carillo Ranch also known as Rancho de los Qiotes is located in Carlsbad, CA.

Thanks Fawny!!
Can't wait to check it out!

Books Books and More Books...

The bookstore is a kind of sanctuary for me.
I love books.
And I love coffee.
The bookstore has books.
The bookstore has a CHILDRENS section filled with books.
The bookstore also has a Starbucks attached to it.
Therefore, the bookstore is one of my closest friends.
I frequent the bookstore, particularly Barnes and Noble.
But alas, I don't know how much the bookstore employees like me!
Why you ask?
Because I take my two little men to the bookstore,
we tornado through to the childrens section,
they proceed to pick every book off the shelf and pile it onto the teeny tiny little table and chairs,
and we read.
And read.
And read.
It's a great time for us all
(well, like I said, maybe not for the employees)
but the kids loooove it and we get to peruse all the latest and greatest in the literary world.
And then,
we top it off with a little snack from Starbeezy and a delicious and well deserved coffee for me!

That's definitely one of my favorite things to do on a day where we need to get out, but don't have lots of money to spend.

Okay...
Now it's YOUR turn!!

It's ON!

Summer is HERE!! Woohooo...
But I'm not gonna lie...
this isn't necessarily always cause for celebration.
To be honest, I know that the thought of summer can send chills straight through the bodies of most stay at home moms and dads.
The thought of being your child's very own personal jester and trying to entertain and excite them every second of every day isn't a particularly pleasant thought.
So along with this glorious time of year comes the stress for stay at home moms and dads to pull out every trick in our handbags (or man purses) to keep our precious little monsters occupied.... 24/7!
That's a lot of freakin' hours man. And not to mention energy.
No coffee I've been drinking has prepared me for that amount of entertainment.
And kiddie entertainment at that!
ugh...
I personally have two little boys, 4 and 2.
(energy you ask? Nooooo, two boys who are 21 months apart don't have much energy at all...)
Riiiiiiight...
Anyway,
Since moving from LA area to San Diego in March before my 4 year old's preschool year fully ended, I have been facing this very dilemma.
Two kids,...
no, no,.. let me clarify..
Two BOYS,
At Home
ALL. THE. TIME.
Believe me, you start to pull sh*t out of your ass to keep these kids satisfied all day long but I am hanging up my imagination fedora for now because I'm preeeetttty sure I've exhausted the crap out of it. I don't think my boys can endure any more bubbles in the backyard or peeling garlic for my endless stints in the kitchen or coloring coloring coloring.
Or the park.
If I take them to that same park one more time, I might lose my mind.
I know it's hard to think of things that don't involve monetary means, but summer is 3 long months and I personally can't afford to drop money everytime I want to take them places.
I figure since times have been tough lately, that lots of us could benefit from fun summer tips as well, whether there is a price involved or not.
So my goal is to educate, occupy, and blow their minds this summer with the level of fun I am going to throw at them...
HA!
(ok,..well, I will pray for that outcome.. I'd be happy with just a 'Thanks mom!' ;) ).

So here is my plea..
I am asking all my friends, moms, dads, non parents and parents to be, for some help.
Send me any and all of your ideas that you have done, will do, or plan on doing with your kids this summer. Craft ideas, outing ideas, any ideas!
And tell EVERYONE you know about this so they too can add to the plethora of ideas that we are all going to share! The more the merrier!
I started this for my stay at home homies (and let's face it, really for myself!) to not get discouraged and keep the pace with these youngins that have more energy than that obnoxious pink bunny with the drum on TV!
Please email me at lara.millertime@gmail.com and you can do your part to help save a parent from the seemingly endless summer days! Think of it as a new charity program.
Save the parents!
Let's share our thoughts and ideas about what works.
I will post all the comments and your names for all to see.

So, here it goes...
I'll start....

End of the Campaigning Season

Summer's here, and with it crowds and flat seas, so I'm temporarily off the road and out of the water.

Since I started in Tiree in September, I've surfed a grand total of 60 waves in Scotland and England, mostly in geographical order. (That's 60 different beaches/breaks, not 60 actual waves - I think I caught 60 waves just in Sennen.)

Wales is next, probably in September. And I'm hoping to catch a handful of well-known breaks I missed first time round because of time, ignorance or lack of waves (Sandwood Bay, Lynmouth, Croyde, Sthhhhh - the least secret secret spot in Yorkshire - among others)

Before that, I'm heading to Orkney in August, and hoping to find the odd wave there.

I'm planning to write up the trip, so if anyone knows any agents or publishers with a passing interest in surfing, I would be very grateful.

In the meantime, thanks for reading, thanks for your comments and thanks for all your support.



Eighty Waves

Victory Video

Simon created a short video of our victory at Ebisu. Enjoy!

First Blood! Victory at Ebisu!

Fantastic news! We won our first Endurance race since we set up the team hardly one year ago. We ran in the normal class at Ebisu East Circuit in the 6 hour endurance race over the weekend.



Here is a shot of us on the podium celebrating the victory. We should have some more photos etc coming as well as some in-car footage so please hang in there.

We ran a 3 driver strategy for this race - each driver doing a 2 hour stint. I qualified on a drying track, Simon started the race and ran our first 2 hours. I followed this up with another 2 hour stint and then Mike brought us home 6 hours later, first in class and seventh overall. 18 cars ran altogether and we gridded in 13 place so we did well to move up 6 spots by the end of the race.

Personally speaking it was a relatively straight forward race this time round. In every race so far we've destroyed the tires each time in little over an hour. This race, we made some key changes which helped us run the full 6 hours and more on the 1 set of tires. We went from 205/50R16s to 235/40R17s up front and 215/45R17s on the rear. We also added negative camber on the front and the three of us made a pact that'd we'd drive fast and furious but we would be kind to our tires!

The toughest part of the 2 hour stint was when my tube stopped dripping water after my 500ml had run out and my mouth started to go dry. I was sweating alot and not putting anything back in and I could literally feel myself dehydrating. I drove pretty much without error though for the whole stint and kept really good concentration throughout. I was really proud when I finally climbed out of the car and saw there was lots of thread left and only 2 hours remaining.

We couldn't have done it without the help of a great pit crew. Sumi-san gave up his weekend to be with us and did a fantastic job organizing the pit and making sure the work got done. Thanks to both John and Alex for being the extra pit talent needed to make it really work. Thanks also to everyone who has been a part of the team so far. All of you have helped us learn what it took to win this race. I hope there will be many more!

New Citroen C5

Longer and wider than the model it replaces, the new Citroën C5 has real on-the-road presence, with an aerodynamic profile that alludes to the car's dynamic qualities and accomplished road handling. Measuring 4.78m long (the estate is 5cm longer), 1.86m wide and 1.45m tall, the new Citroën C5 imposes itself at the top end of the large family car segment.

The interior of the new Citroën C5 offers occupants an environment that exudes refinement, comfort and style. The same taut, flowing lines seen on the exterior are replicated inside in the detailing around the doors and dashboard, echoing the pursuit of quality throughout the car.

The attractive styling is exemplified by the instrument panel design, where annular needles run around each of the dials, allowing an electronic display unit to be integrated in the centre of each dial. Additionally, a screen on the overhead console displays an illustration on start-up, symbolising the car, its five seats and the seatbelt warnings.

The new Citroën C5 introduces a second-generation fixed-centred controls steering wheel, with membrane-covered controls, providing easy access to key functions such as the cruise control, radio or telephone. The model can also be specified with Citroën's new-generation NaviDrive system, featuring a 7-inch central display screen and voice activation of the built-in GSM telephone, audio system and satellite navigation.

 interior

 

Large Citroëns are well known for providing the highest standards of occupant comfort, and the new Citroën C5 is no different, with special attention having been paid to the acoustics, suspension and seating.

sexy paddock- grid- and umbrella-girls

It's been a while so as a way to make up for that, we have been searching the web for the hottest Grid-girls, paddock-girls and umbrella-girls.

We will keep searching in the following weeks and will blog them regularly. So check back soon. You don't need to search for the hottest babes, we will do that for you.

As promised we make a movie compilation from the girls from the previous week!!

Chapel Porth

One of the nicest beaches in North Cornwall is Chapel Porth, in the so-called Badlands near St Agnes. I caught it one wind-blown morning a few weeks ago, when it was heaving and heavy, with fat waves and too much froth. So I returned last week to try it in better conditions. This time there was a light off-shore blowing the tops off the fun, waist-high waves that were pouring into the narrow cove. Suddenly enthused and energised, I had a fabulous session, catching loads of waves in quick succession.
Afterwards, I was talking to another surfer in a van, John from West Sussex. He had been up on the hillside taking photos, and happened to catch these photos of me. Actually surfing.
Though I was rather dismayed to find photographic confirmation that I spend far too long on all-fours before I get to my feet.Anyway, thanks for the photos, John!

Heading North

Finally made it round the toe of Britain. Lots of it is lovely. Land's End itself is a reeking sock, with expensive parking, a bizarre display of 'artfully-placed' faux standing stones mixed in with a miniature village, and a '4D' Doctor Who experience. That's 2D on a screen, 1D in the time you waste, and 1D of the bit of your soul that you'll leave there forever. In the past, we used woad and aggression to deter invaders from the south. Nowadays, we rely on an 'Experience'. The Land's End Experience should not be experienced, and whoever is responsible should be dangled over the edge of the cliff until they see the error of their ways. In 4D.

But everything else was lovely.

Especially Cape Cornwall, which curiously looks like Scotland:
And Saint Michael's Mount, which looks like France:
And most of all Gwithian, next to Sennen Cove, which looks like - and probably is - Paradise:
I looked up a photographer friend, Tup, whom I met in Thurso waaaay back in October. We went surfing one day and shark-hunting two days later. Shark-hunting is a bit like wave-hunting, except a bit less anxious (these were Basking Sharks, which eat plankton, not Great White Sharks, which eat surfers). Tup claimed he had seen several the day before, from the safety of a small plane, a claim that gained more validity the following day, when two of his photographs appeared in The Sun. So Tup is basically a Shark Paparazzo. Or Sharkarrazzo.

I also nipped over to Falmouth for a charming drink with fellow writer James Henry and a night on Falmouth quayside. A night on Falmouth quayside is less exciting than one might imagine. Apart from the seagulls, which used the roof of my van as a landing strip. Or as a target.

Since then, I've been working my way up the coast, with some fabulous waves and some not so fabulous waves, in fabulous weather and some not so fabulous weather.
Karen, who is not a Sharkarrazzo, managed this fantastic shot of me on a wave at Duckpool.
Her career as a Surferazzo is still in its infancy. But after my camera battery died, she did see me on a wave that she described as "really impressive" (entirely without prompt or payment), and which was indeed the highlight of the past ten days - a long, peeling, overhead left that I at last managed to surf with balance and poise, if not actual grace.

Then a couple of days en famille with los Barkers and los Gibsons in Puttsborough, where the waves were again fabulous, the company was fabulous and the weather was mostly fabulous. And my surfing was far from fabulous.

Now I'm back in Saint Agnes, after fun sessions at Perranporth and Chapel Porth in small, clean, easy waves (unlike the filthy monsters at Putts), waiting for Skippy to finish repairing my board. Then off up to Newquay, where I scored a great afternoon of head-high waves a week ago, which slightly redeems Newquay from 'Somewhere to avoid like the plague' to 'Somewhere to avoid like a sore throat'.
Nice waves, but you wouldn't want to hang out there if you're over 19. And I am indeed over 19, despite repeated attempts to demonstrate otherwise, both in and out of the water.