September In So. Cal

Here in Southern California where I live, September doesn't mean the arrival of Fall.  It means triple digits, wind, fires and about 4 more weeks of BLEH!!!  Here is a bit of what we have been up to.
Some after school swimming with the cousins.

The little ones started Fall soccer.  It was a triple digit day, with high humidity.  Gennifer had a conflict, with both of the girls having their first game at the same time at different locations.  So we took Hannah to her game.  You can see by her smiling red face, that she was HOT!

I got to go to Grandparents day with the two youngest kiddos.  First with Noah.

Then with Claire.

While out on the playground with Claire, a fire began to burn South of us in the Santiago Canyon.

As if the triple digits weren't enough, now we had smoke to go along with it.  No one even wanted to step outside their door!!!  That evening, Eri hosted the family over to celebrate Greg's birthday.  We all stayed in the nice air conditioned house, and had a good time!

We got home about 9:00 and discovered that our AC had been shut off.  We had signed up for an energy savings program with Edison, whereby, we agree to allow them to shut off our AC in the event of extremely high use.  For doing so, we received a nice big credit to our summer bill.  But oh my, when it is 90 at 9:00 at night, you really want your AC!!!!
We got up Saturday and did some chores around the house, and then headed on up to the lake.  We packed up the pups, and away we went, to escape this awful heat.  It was 111 at the base of the mountain, and a beautiful 83 degrees when we arrived at about 2 that afternoon.  We went straight to the lake!!!

Since it was just Greg and I this time, we took the dogs along with us on the boat.  It was Dusty's first time.  He loved it!!  We were a little bit afraid he might jump into the water, as he loves to swim.  But he didn't, luckily.  Greg had me drive the boat while he got the rods all set up for fishing.  He had lines in the water within minutes....trolling for his "Walter."

After about 15 minutes, I said, 

"HEY, is that why you wanted me to come, to drive the boat while you fish?"  He laughed and said, "YES...this is great!!!!!"  But once he was set up, I got to climb back to my favorite spot on the boat, and enjoy the sights and sounds of the lake.

Dusty was a little bit unsure at first, but it didn't take him long to relax.

Isn't he handsome?  I love my Marley like, Chocolate Lab.  Ducey has been on the boat several times before, and he made himself right at home.

We stayed on the lake until the sun began to set.  We got some rain, but it didn't last, and no thunder or lightening to scare us off the water.

We drove through El Pollo Loco and ate our burritos at the cabin, took a shower, and promptly fell asleep watching a movie.  Sunday morning, Greg went fishing with our friend Mike.  I got up early, and it was so delightfully chilly, I zipped myself up into my sweatshirt, and snuggled up with my blanket and coffee on the sofa.

When Greg got back, he made us some breakfast, while the dogs waited patiently for him to drop a piece or two.

Then we packed ups some drinks and snacks, and headed back out onto the lake for the day.

There were more clouds on Sunday, and it was a bit cooler.  SO, SO beautiful!  The clouds blew past, making silly shapes in the sky against the cerulean mountain sky.  The fishing was good too, which is always a bright spot for my husband!

Ducey was quite the First Mate.

Ever so helpful in keeping a keen eye on the catch.
We enjoyed a simple lunch of apples with peanut butter, crackers, almonds, and cheezits, while working the crossword puzzle to the The Grizzly Newspaper.

I worked on my growing stack of dish cloths.

We got a little bit of rain again.  Just a light mountain rain.  Enough to make you need to pull something up over your legs, but then it passed.
We went to the Dam and hooked on to one of the buoys, and watched the world go by.  We saw the Pirate Ship.....and the Big Bear Queen swish past.

Our friend Mike found us on the lake, we side tied awhile to visit.  I always get such a kick out of watching these two talk about fishing!  They trade lures and hooks, bobbers and bait, secret fishing holes and lies about how big their fish were, like little boys trade baseball cards.  Here they are, making a deal.

We sat and visited for quite awhile.  The rain began to fall again, and it got chilly.  Mike said goodbye, and we continued to bob along out there on the lake, with only a couple of boats left.  Suddenly something very beautiful began to happen.  The sky was scattered with clouds.  Some were fluffy and white, and some were black and threatening.  There was a large black cloud directly over us, and then all of a sudden, like a spotlight from the heavens, there was a beacon of light that hung directly over the rocks in front of us.  It was just beautiful.  We were mesmerized, and watched it for the longest time.

Those two above were taken looking towards the dam, and then to the East, the beacon of light shone on jumping rock, like a thespian taking her final bow.

Each minute that went by, revealed a different awe inspiring moment to try to capture on film.

The wind began to come up, just enough to create these beautiful sparkling ripples on the water, only adding to the beauty.

Mother Nature put on quite a show, and we stayed for the final curtain call.  We unclipped and I drove back, while Greg pulled the bimini top down, and got his gear all put away and stowed.  But alas....one last catch, and it looked like it was a big one!  "Walter" perhaps?

We heard that Pzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz of the line, as the fish peeled off with it.  The rod was BENDO, as my husband calls it.  It did seem like a big one!  He reeled, and called out directions to me on which way to steer to avoid hitting the line he was reeling in, and the other one that was still out.
Finally he got it to the boat, and with eager anticipation, the fish broke the surface, and we saw it.  It was not Walter.  No, not this time.  But instead a big fat carp.  Oh darn!!!!

Greg carefully removed his lure from the dorsal fin, and plopped him back into the water.  Oh well, maybe next time we will get Walter.
I continued in towards our dock, while Greg got the boat ready to be battened up.

Greg took over to dock her, and I snapped a few more photos.  Good night Big Bear Lake.

The sun slipped down behind the mountain, out of view, casting a majestic purple hue over the water and mountain side.  It was truly a breathtakingly, beautiful day to be on the lake!  We were thrilled to have gotten to enjoy every minute of it!!!
We stopped by the cabin to pick up our gear, close her down, and then piled the doggins, and ourselves into the car and headed down the mountain.  It was 8:30, and 63 degrees.
I snapped this at about Running Springs.  It is blurry, but it was oh so pretty looking down onto the city lights.

Just as we had watched the temperature fall on our way up the hill, we watched as the temperature rose, coming down the hill.
We reached the flatlands, and it was 97 degrees!   At 9:00 PM!!!  GAH!!!!!!
We had a wonderful time.  Sort of bittersweet.  Mom has sold the cabin.  I am glad for her, as she just wasn't getting to use it like she had hoped.  But sad for us, as we love it so much there.  We will have to figure something else out, because Big Bear holds a very special place in our hearts.  We plan to retire there, but that is a ways away yet.  We have a few more weeks.  And the boat will stay til the end of October. So we will still go every weekend til then.
I forgot my camera this weekend.  First time ever!  All of these shots were taken with my trusty iphone 4S.
Stay cool out there!!!!
I will be back soon with the beginnings of my Fall decor.  It is still way too hot to drag out my Fall boxes from the rafters of our garage.  But I have begun to change out some pillows and put some quilts out to try to
hasten the cooler days of Fall to our area.
Til then.....Be Sweet!
Kris