Memorial Weekend 2011: Barbecue and Beach!

Saturday May 28

The Martin and Robinson clans gathered at the Rachel & Austin's UCLA married student apartment for a wonderful BBQ picnic to celebrate Rachel's graduation from Cal State Long Beach: Master's Degree in Structural Engineering! Go, Rachel!

Austin, The Host with the Most
(Sorry, I didn't get a good picture of Rachel!)

Waiting for the burgers to cook....

Katie and Grandma Robyn feeding Bennett

Two of Four generations present from the Robinson side

Serving the lip-lickin' pies brought by Susan & Brian Martin & Family

Susan Martin has the touch with Bennett.
Dylan is running around someplace. The other toddles in the park followed him around, up and down the jungle gym.

Monday, May 30
Greg and Jillair and Nathan invited us to join them at Trails 6--a beach at San Onofre State Park.

Our spot at the bottom of the chocolate mudstone cliffs.

Jillair and Greg

Yours Truly

"The Girls" had a lot to talk about.....

Nathan and Ryan on the beach

Nathan and Ryan coming in

Eric getting ready to surf

Jeff and Robyn, all smiles

Fathers & Sons Campout May 2011

Christian and Dylan invited me along on the 2011 Father/Son Campout--at O'Neill Regional Park.

Catching frogs at night in Trabuco Creek
The young campers found 18+ frogs, all returned to their habitat in the morning

Dylan snacks on popcorn before bed

Group photo: Dylan and his Larsen-side cousins:
Jaden, Ryan & Tray Webber; Jeff, Dylan and Christian
exploring Trabuco Creek in the daylight

Dylan and Tray enjoyed throwing rocks into the creek,
when they weren't playing with sticks or searching for frogs.

Ryan Back From BYU and a Busy Week

Last two weeks were busy. We took a 48 hour whirlwind trip to Provo, picked Ryan up at BYU, did pre-mission shopping, and returned in time for an Easter/Family birthday celebration.

Jeff & Robyn at the family gathering

Welcome back Ryan, from freshman year at BYU.
Ryan is showing Dylan where he will be serving his mission, San Antonio, TX.
He and his dorm-mates marked each of their missions on map.

Gathering to sing Happy Birthday to Dylan and Austin

Austin and Dylan blow out the candles on the cake.

Dylan scores big on his in-door Easter egg hunt.
He had no competition, since baby Bennie was only watching.

Celebrating Heather's graduation with Heather and Scott and family in Provo, on the 22nd.
Thanks to Grandpa Steve and Grandma Marion for arranging this.

Honor, praise, love and best wishes to Aunt Elaine
on her 90th birthday celebration, in Carson City, NV.
Grandma Marion and Grandpa Steve drove from Provo to Carson City for the Celebration.
All her children, and their spouses, plus her surviving siblings are present in this photo!

A Little Hike to Celebrate Austin Finishing Finals & 2nd Yr. Med School

Austin finished his last final, and his second year of medical school! He and Rachel celebrated by joining us for a half-day hike through Whiting Ranch.

We started at the weather-vane statute by Ralph's Parking lot,
at the entrance to Whiting Ranch.

Today's happy hikers: Rachel, Austin, Dylan and Christian

The December 2010 rains caused severe mudslides in the park.
The gate and fence were buried about 3-4 feet deep, requiring a detour.

Christian and Dylan on the trail.
Dylan is a great hiker.
Dylan kept a close watch for the animals in the park.
"Where are the animals?" he kept saying...

Parts of the trail looked like the beach, with all the sand washed down from the hillside slopes.
You can see the threatened homes and yards in the background, with plastic placed to forestall further erosion.

It was hot and Dylan was thirsty. Here's where Dylan and Christian turned back, and Jeff, Rachel and Austin pushed onward up to the top of "4 Corners,"
then down the "Dreaded Hill" trail.

At 4 Corners, close to the top of the park.

View from the top of the Dreaded Hill Trail.
This is the memorial park bench, dedicated to the memory
of a mountain biker who was killed nearby by a mountain lion.

Great hike and Great Company!

Back Yard Reconstruction Completed

We finished our backyard reconstruction last week. We have five new trees in a new planter around the outside of the yard: Clementine, improved Meyer Lemon, Washington Navel Orange, Little Cado Avocado, and Babcock Peach. All are dwarf varieties, so they don't overtake the yard (we hope).

New lawn!

Princess surveys her domain.
Not seen: new sprinkler layout, plus at least 7 new drains to deal with any excess water in the yard.

View from the southwest end of the yard.
Plastic covers the HOA slopes, awaiting their mudslide reconstruction.

We put shade-loving plants in the southwest corner of the yard, leading to the side yard.

April Visit from Shawn, Jill & Family

We had a wonderful weekend visit from Shawn & Jill and family--in town this week for a Spring Break. In between sessions of General Conference, we had a fun get-together, with Austin/Rachel and Christian/Katie/Kids coming by for hot dogs and hamburgers.

Grandma Robyn, with Baby Bennett on her lap.

Jeff and Audrey, Robyn and Bennett, on the front porch

Since Olivia and Audrey are in town for a Cheer Competition, we were treated to a demonstration on the front lawn.
(It had to the front lawn, since the back yard is still under reconstruction.)

The Serenity Sisters, Jill and Robyn
Serene amongst all the action and energy of the younger ones.

Audrey and Olivia mugging for a photo
Back yard still dug up, but not for long.
A few minutes before, Audrey spotted a coyote trotting behind the fence, carrying its lunch (a squirrel)--very exciting

Rachel, Bennett and Katie

It didn't take long for the boys to find the rocks, mud and sticks in the back yard!
Adam and Dylan got along famously.

Wyatt and Austin

Christian & Shawn

Robyn's Baltimore Trip--To Present Research "Poster" at National Conference

Robyn recently returned from her trip to Baltimore, Maryland. She presented a poster at a national Pediatric Nurse Practitioner Conference summarizing the preliminary results of her ongoing research project.

Robyn designed and wrote this poster.
It displays the results of her "feeding team" at CHOC-- a multidisciplinary medical team that successfully replaces abdominal feeding tubes used by medically fragile children with ordinary feeding by mouth, blessing lives of their patients and families.

GREAT JOB, ROBYN!