Our Annual Family Beach Party

Each year, Mom and Dad Zinn organize a beach party for the family. Yesterday evening we gathered at Natural Bridges. The cold breeze made the 72 degrees feel more like 65 degrees. This just meant that we needed to keep moving to stay warm.

Mom Zinn, James, David, & Steven BBQ hot dogs.
Kirsten, Emily, Owen, and Stacy eating.)

(Dave-o and his Grandpa Zinn. Michael and Owen)

(I love this picture of Dave-o and Owen. Don't they look like partners in crime?)

There were so many cool trees to explore and climb.

(Justin perched himself on a tree. And Owen tried getting up, but didn't get far. He's a smart boy.)

We played football, catch with the baseball, and watched the sunset (while freezing our buns off). It's been such a long time since I've seen a sunset on the beach.

Wishes

(Kirsten, age 5, blowing a dandelion at the Zinn Ranch)

If only I were small enough to fly on a dandelion filled with dreams and wishes, the white cotton ball floating as far as my wish takes me. I would soar to a tree near the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC joining thousands of other people for Glenn Beck's "Restoring Honor" rally.

Note: Read this article, Glenn Beck 8/28 rally: It's a matter of honor", written by Dr. Alveda King (the niece of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr).

Fifthteen Months

(Photo by my sister, Deborah D)

Dave-o is 15 months old.
He still has only 4 teeth (2 on the top and 2 on the bottom).
His hair is FINALLY starting to grow in and it is blond.
He wakes up around 6:30am and goes down for the night at 7pm. He takes 2 naps a day-at 9am and again at 2pm. Before laying Dave-o down, I give him his blankie and sing "I am a Child of God" while rocking him. Once the song is over, I lay him down on his stomach and we are both content.
I am close to weening Dave-o. He nurses only once a day, which is in the morning. He eats everything we do, but here are some of his favorite food: steamed carrots, blueberries, chicken, muffins, rice, mandarin oranges, and peas.

Dave-o is very active. His awake time is spent playing with balls, looking at Kirsten's goldfish, chasing after us with swords, and basically doing whatever we're doing. He loves being outside and now that he is walking, he can enjoy it even more. During the middle of the afternoon, the cement was too hot for him to crawl on, but now he can walk on it with shoes and not get burned. Dave-o understands the word "hot" very well. When he sees me cooking on the stove, pulling something out of the oven, or touching the noon-day ground, he shakes his little hands and repeats, "haw, haw, haw" in a high pitched voice.
Dave-o can throw pretty far now although not always in the direction he or we want.
James and Kirsten love tickling him. He is ticklish practically everywhere.

Dave-o brushes his teeth with me and cracks up when I spit in the sink.
He looks forward to bath days but is still wary of the pool.
He doesn't want to hold our fingers when walking as much. He seems to enjoy his new found independence.
Dave-o tries to say everything we teach him. He is constantly learning and growing. It is so much fun to see him get so excited over something new.

Thank you for contacting me

I recently wrote a letter to Congressman Michael Honda with regards to the recent ruling on Proposition 8. Here is his response:

Dear Mrs. Zinn:

Thank you for taking the time to express your thoughts on the recent ruling on Proposition 8 and same-sex marriage. I appreciate hearing your thoughts, and welcome the opportunity to respond to your comments.

As you know, a federal judge in California recently ruled that Proposition 8, the voter approved ballot measure that banned same-sex unions, "violated the federal constitutional rights of gays and lesbians to marry the partners of their choice." I understand that this issue is a sensitive and highly controversial one for many people. Very passionate arguments have been raised on both sides of the debate.

I believe that a couple's decision to join their lives together is a special, private, and joyous choice and fully support the ruling of the court. Homosexual couples should not be denied the right to shoulder the responsibilities and duties afforded automatically to heterosexual couples by the civil benefits of marriage – for example, the right to visit a sick or injured partner in the hospital, domestic violence protection, bereavement leave, or inheritance rights.

It is important to recognize that allowing the government to marry two individuals in a civil ceremony does not require that any religious denomination or institution perform wedding ceremonies, nor will it infringe in any way on the rights of heterosexual couples to marry. While we disagree on this issue, rest assured that I am aware of your support for Proposition 8, and I appreciate hearing your opinions.

Sincerely,
Michael M. Honda
Member of Congress

I believe that Mike Honda has forgotten that he was elected by the public to REPRESENT the people of CA. This response to my letter clearly tells me that he intends on representing HIS agenda. We the people voted YES for Prop 8 and as our congressman he should be fighting to uphold our will. I don't care about what he believes. He should be thrown out of office! I am so upset right now...

School is Now in Session

(Kirsten, Steven, and James holding a very unhappy Dave-o. He did NOT appreciate this photo session. We were taking him away from exploring outside. As a result, this is the best picture I got.)

School has begun. Justin left at 6:45am in order to get to 0 period, which starts at 7am. I wanted to get a picture of him before he left, but I was denied. I probably would have reacted the same way if I were a teenager having to get up early with my mom pointing a lens in my face.

Keeping with tradition, I had James, Steven, and Kirsten draw a self portrait. I think they turned out great! It will be fun for them to look back on as they get older. James is happier with this year's portrait than last year's. Kirsten wanted to draw herself looking older and Steven was like "whatever".

Loco

This has been a busy weekend (like usual). First of all, I have to say that I am REALLY missing my camera. I was able to cope thus far because of James' generous offer to let me use his. Sigh...But now his is gone. We filed a "lost and found" report with BART and were told that it could take up to 3 weeks to hear anything back. Right now, all I have at my disposal is my cell phone camera, which takes horrible pictures. Kirsten has a camera that I may have to confiscate, I mean "borrow" for a while.

On Friday, James and Steven started up with their NXT Robot class after a 3 week break. They are working on writing "missions" for this year's new track. After a quick bite to eat, we attended our first Grange activity. "The Grange is a place for children, teenagers, and young adults to grow. Families meet together weekly to support each other in providing a relaxed atmosphere that is focused on social interaction, building relationships, and enhancing self esteem while learning..." (or so the brochure says). This particular activity had a low turnout. James and Steven were very bored because there weren't any peers their age. The only fun part of the afternoon was being able to tie dye a shirt.

We got home at 3, just in time for Steven and James' friends to come over to swim and hang out. Justin came home from football practice with his official game day jersey. To his pleasure and my disappointment he was issued the number 85, which is Chad Ocho Cinco's (a.k.a Chad Johnson's) number who plays for the Cincinnati Bengals. Justin thinks that Chad's antics on the field are funny and entertaining. I find the guy arrogant. Anyone who legally changes his surname to his uniform number (eighty five in Spanish) has to be egotistical. Right? Back to our day; Justin quickly showered and changed and off he went to a teacher's quorum activity. By this time, Steven's friends were leaving, but James' stayed till 11pm. Justin brought a couple of his friends home from the activity and they all night swam and played video games to 11 as well.

David and the boys spent Saturday cleaning out the garage, which has been neglected for the past year. They quickly discovered that rats had taken advantage of our neglect. GROSS! David has an idea in his head that he's going to turn the garage into a game room. He told the kids that if they helped clean it up they could have a say into deciding what to buy for this game room. So far, they seem to be leaning toward getting a ping pong table. A couple of hours into the project, James came in the house yelling, "Dad found my iPod!" I was so happy for him. David found it among our camping gear. What a relief!

David's brother, Michael stopped by for a little bit with his kids (Emily and Owen). Michael started a Nerf gun war much to everyone's delight. It's funny to see 2 grown brothers act like little kids when they get together.

At 3pm, James and Justin carpooled with the other youth in our ward to attend a stake beach party. They had a great time. I took Kirsten to Goodwill and bought her a new fish bowl along with some more candlesticks to feed my obsession. After laying Dave-o down for the night, Steven babysat while David and I grabbed some dinner, ran a few errands, and then collapsed out of sheer exhaustion.

Today we got to listen to the young men talk about Zion's camp. Justin was one of the speakers. I have to admit that I was nervous and a bit afraid. He wrote his talk the night before at 11pm and I had no idea what he planned on saying. In the end, Justin did a GREAT job. In my opinion it was his best talk. I was especially touched to learn that his favorite part of Zion's camp was when he was given a letter written by "Nephi" to read in a private area of the woods. He, along with the other boys, were told to pray about what they read. Justin shared in his talk that he did pray and as a result his testimony grew.

Tomorrow...
School begins!

"Gear"ing Up

Justin has started back up with football practice. While he is away, Dave-o works on his own "special plays". It's so funny to see him walking around with the football. Unfortunately he easily gets distracted when he hears a "do-gie" bark or a "Br" chirp.

Today, Justin returned home anxious to show off his pads and practice pants which were donated by the San Francisco 49ers.
*******
Right now, David is at an Oakland A's game with Justin, James, Steven, and Kirsten. The A's organization invited the Boy Scouts to participate in a program to celebrate the 100 year scouting anniversary. I was hoping they'd come home with pictures to post, but David just sent me this text:
"James left his camera on the train."
Poor James; he seems to loose everything. Hopefully BART has a lost and found.

Oh My!

It has BEGUN...TANTRUMS
You know the kind...One minute your child's happy; the next they're ballistic-flailing and thrashing on the floor.
First thing this morning, Dave-o wanted to go outside in the front yard. I on the other hand, was not ready to meet my adoring public in pjs and bed hair. The "battle of the wills" began with Dave-o throwing himself on the floor kicking and screaming and me calmly sitting on the kitchen chair waiting out the storm.
The ear piercing screams began to attract a larger audience. The kids ran down the stairs wondering what was going on. James was the first victim. He bent down to Dave-o speaking calming words to him. But Dave-o saw him as a matador and charged; head butting James in the stomach.

Oh yes! The fun has begun. I'm too old to go through this again!

*******

This evening, we spent the evening water sliding and miniature golfing at Golfland as a ward activity. Dave-o quickly became a handful (big SIGH), so I took him home.
As a result, I only have one picture of this event.

(James ,who's on the right, and his friends playing miniature golf)

Before putting Dave-o to bed...

he played in our neighbor's sprinklers and

pretended he was a Jedi (sound effects and all-"Shoo Shoo Shoo")
(Deborah, do you recognize the light saber? Dave-o says thanks for leaving it here. Don't worry; I'll get around to mailing it your way.)

Bone Age Study

A couple of months ago James had a physical and was told that he was short.

Weight: 73 lb 14 oz (2%)
Height: 4'9.5" (5%)

Of course this is not "news" to him or us. Our doctor explained to us that his size may have something to do with genetics and there is only a small window of opportunity to correct this, if we chose to do so.

On the way home from the doctor's, James and I discussed his options. He immediately said that he is "fine" with his size. I made it clear to him that in a year from now if he still hasn't had his growth spurt, this option won't be available anymore. Then he told me that he doesn't want any needles poking him. I assured him that he would only need an x-ray taken for the bone age study. James let out a sigh of relief and happily agreed to the test.

Today, I drove James to the radiologist. As we sat in the waiting room, I asked him if he was nervous (he's never had an x-ray) and he said yes. Then a lady emerged from the "radiographic room" wearing a hospital gown. Once she was beyond earshot, James said, "If I have to wear THAT, I'm not going in there." I of course laughed, which made him even more adamant in his clothing choice. After a couple of more minutes passed, the radiologist appeared and called for "James Zinn". Two more minutes passed and James walked out of the "radiographic room" wearing a smile and his own clothes (NOT a gown).

Now we'll wait to see what the endocrinologist has to say...

Weekend Blues and Highs

Our house seems so quiet now.
We had to say our goodbyes to Deborah and her family on the morning of Friday the 13th. This ominous day began just as the name of the day predicted. It had been a fun 2 weeks; a time we will never forget.
Kirsten was not able to finish her diving class because of an inner ear infection, AGAIN. She enjoyed the days that she was able to participate and learn with Coach Thomas and her friend, Dana.

By afternoon, it quickly changed for the better. I received a call from OGCS (Ocean Grove Charter School) informing me that I had been assigned an ES (Education Specialist). Her name is Wendy Doty. We had a great phone conversation and set up a meeting for next week. Wendy will be my primary connection to the school and my first source of information. She will meet with the kids and I at least once every 20 day to see what they've been working on previous to the visit.

I immediately went on Ocean Groves website to look up the educational vendors from whom I may choose curriculum, supplies, and classes. I signed James and Steven up for 3 classes: Public Speaking (Informative Speech), Academic Writing (Journalism), and Physics. Kirsten will be taking Broadway Dance, Theater, Set and Costume Design, and Final Stage Production. We are very excited for this coming school year. Now I need to work on getting our school room organized.

In the evening, James went to his friend Josh's house for an end of summer party. They went to Sky High and then back to Josh's to hang out. They were supposed to watch a movie, but I was later told by Josh's mom that they all just wanted to sit and chat.

Matthew showed up on our doorstep that evening. This is his last weekend with us as he will be returning to BYU later on in the week. Saturday evening, David, Matthew and I drove Justin and 2 of his friends to Menlo Park for a dance. The ride up was hilarious. Matthew was telling the boys the do's and don'ts when communicating with girls. While the boys were at the dance, we hung out in the area and bowled a couple of games. David won the first game and Matt the second. I came in last both times. Then we found this little diner and ordered chocolate malts and all you can eat french fries. I was in heaven. I love dipping fries in malts or shakes. At 10:30 pm we loaded up the sweaty, stinky boys and headed home with Matt sitting in the back cursing our broken rear windows for failing to roll down. The smell was FABULOUS! NOT! We learned that only 2 slow songs were played (thus labeling the dance bad).

We said our goodbyes to Matthew on Sunday evening. Now it really feels like the end of summer. This is our last week of vacation. So SAD!

Balloons, Slurpies, and Swimming

First thing this morning the kids went outside to play with rocket balloons.

(James, Aaron, and Sean working as a team to pump the balloon.)

(It was slow going for Kirsten. Dave-o liked snapping the balloon...OUCH!)

(Sean and Kamea)

(Justin was their "retriever" when it landed on the roof.)

After lunch, some of us walked, some rode scooters, and others rode ripsticks to 7-11 for some slurpies.

Then it was pool time.
Deborah went in and coaxed Aaron out of the spa and into the pool. Deborah doesn't think she's very fun in the pool, but the look on her kids' faces says otherwise.


Sean is hanging on for dear life.)

(Steven and Kamea laughing about ???)
This is the D-15's last day with us. The thought of saying good-bye tomorrow makes me sad.

Taking a Chance

Sometimes in life you just have to take a chance.
Even if that means being scared or embarrassed.

Today Sean overcame his fear of jumping off the diving board.
His first jump was a cannonball. Before long he was diving after beach balls.

And Deborah embarrassingly lost an arm wrestle rematch with Justin.
In both cases, there were smiles all around.

The Tale of Two Cities

I love living in an area that has many microclimates. For example, today we traveled from 80 degree weather to 55 degrees. The cities being only 45 minutes apart. My sister, Deborah and I were able to retrace some of our childhood memories beginning in Pacifica and ending in S.F.

(Photo of the house we grew up in taken by Deborah D.)

(Me and Steven at the promenade in Pacifica ...Photo by Deborah D.)

(Kamea and Kirsten taking cover from the bombers overhead.)

The seaguls, and other feathery friends, were not shy about snatching up the kids' lunch, which was willingly given away.
Justin had fun swinging seaweed around like a whip.

After freezing our buns off, we drove a little farther north to explore the playground in Golden Gate Park.

Poor Deborah spent much of her time taking little ones to the bathroom and changing even littler one's diapers.

We of course came with our own cardboard for the cement slides.

By 3pm, we headed home to avoid traffic and to rest our weary bodies.

Before calling it a day, Deborah and I spent the last hour before closing time in the Ann Taylor Loft store.

Ahhhhh!

The colors...The fabric...The patterns...The RUFFLES...

THE PRICETAGS

But we succombed to the flattering image that was portrayed in the dressing room mirror and purchased a couple of items. I have so much fun shopping with my sister.

(Strike the pose!)
Now we can check #2, 3, and 6 off the list.