The Battle of Appomattox

Sunday, we went Moorpark for the Battle of the Blue and the Grey. Civil War re-enactors wage the final Battle of Appomattox where the Confederate General Robert E. Lee's surrender to Union General Ulysses S. Grant on April 9, 1865, essentially ending the American Civil War.










General Lee


The dead and wounded.


Brandon and one of the cannons.


Emily in the cornfield.


The Suttler's (merchant tents)


President Lincoln and Major General G. Custer.



And the celebrity sighting of the day.... I was in line for my tri-tip sandwich and there was this guy in front of me in jeans and spiked up hair... I was thinking, wow, this guy is stuck in the 80's.... turns out he was Rod Stewart!

A Walking Tour of Downtown Los Angeles

Today we spent the day on a walking tour of Downtown LA. Totally not what I expected! Downtown LA is really, really cool! really! We met with other AFS'ers and families at Philipe's, a forever old French Dip Sandwich Shop.

They had a whole line of phone booths... here's Sarah in one of them.



Our walk began going around China Town and then through the center of LA that started it all, the Pueblos.




Olvera Street is awesome. I loved all the colors.

Here's Emily in a cute little Mexican dress that we bought in one of the shops on Olvera Street.


Then we went down by City Hall, courthouse, and the Sister Cities sign.










Here's Sarah with some dango (Japanese dumplings)


More downtown from the ground...


The LA Times building.


The famous Bradbury building. It is used a lot in movies... They were filming today, so we couldn't go inside... maybe next time.


Matt did get a shot inside the building from the front door.



We walked by the Museum of Contemporary Art.


Then we went to the Walt Disney Concert Hall


and the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels... We went down to the mausoleum.... I asked if anyone famous was interred there...


We walked by the Biltmore Hotel...


Then we went to the Los Angeles Library


and then took the Metro (subway) back to Union Station to Philipes for lunch. It was a long day, but the kids had fun and we got to see Los Angeles! We've only been living here for 15 years....


Here's the US Post Office by Union Station.


Here's Angel's Flight... a really, really short tram ride... only to avoid the stairs.

Halloween Adventures

This year's Halloween was a wild and crazy one!

First Emily and Brandon went to the pumpkin patch. They went through the hay maze, held some chicks and baby ducks, took a tractor ride around the farm... and searched for the perfect pumpkin.







Later, the kids had a party at school, we went to the Disney studio for their lunchtime Halloween party, carved pumplins with AFS and at home, and all the kids went trick or treating.

Here's Noriyasu with his pumpkin at the AFS event.

and Sarah...


Carving pumpkins at home...


Kids ready for school on Halloween party day...


Matt and Noriyasu at the studio.


Matt's co-workers at Disney.


Getting ready to trick-or-treat!


Our house decorated for Halloween night.

Noriyasu's Birthday!

We celebrated Noriyasu's 16th birthday at Chuck E Cheese for lunch. The kids had a great time. And then we followed up with a party of friends at the house.