Flake Family

Happy New Year 2012

2012-01-01T00:05:00.001-08:00

We hope everyone has a great New Year and are able to accomplish all that is attempted. We went out on the hill where we live to watch the fireworks over the city and it was pretty cool. No commercial firework shows, just everyone doing their own fireworks and when it is viewed from a distance it looks like the city is part of the entire show. Posted a video HERE.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Hohenzollern Castle - 28 December 2011

2011-12-28T09:04:00.000-08:00

We had enough of sitting around the house and went for a quick drive down the road to the Burg-Hohenzollern castle. Since we were there mid-week, they did not offer English guided tours so we went on a German guided tour so that we could see the inside of the castle. Unfortunately there was no photography allowed inside. There was no heat either so we stayed bundled up as we passed through the Prussian royal castle. From the ancestral hall to the armory, we got to see a lot of interesting things today. One castle visit down as a family and I am sure there will be many more to go. Unless of course there are a lot of stairs or hill climbing like there was with this one.http://www.burg-hohenzollern.com/startpage.html

http://www.burg-hohenzollern.com/startpage.html

More snow than most people can handle.

2011-01-01T06:06:00.000-08:00

Snowboarder Rescue!

2010-12-26T06:31:00.000-08:00

Julia and Cousin Nick out in the snow. Nick was showing Julia how to snowboard and immediately fell upside down so Julia had to rescue him. Thank goodness his cousin was there to save the day or he may have been coyote food.

Senior Enlisted Academy Graduation

2010-11-12T20:10:00.000-08:00

A quick family photo at Lance's Graduation ceremony in Newport, Rhode Island. Lance was nominated for Honor Graduate and the Physical Fitness Excellence Award. Although he did not win, it was an honor for him to be nominated.

Home Video with Uncle Bryce

2010-10-16T17:41:00.000-07:00

Julia and Elena helping Bryce to button his shirt. Was watching some home movies because I missed my girls and thought this was funny.

USS CONSTITUTION

2010-09-25T15:07:00.000-07:00

A quick photo while we were on the USS CONSTITUTION. Currently over in Rhode Island going to school and we took a trip up to get a tour of the USS CONSTITUTION. Wish it was all together for some better photos. It is in the final stages of a 3 year overhaul and all the yard arms have been removed. Either way, it was neat to see parts of the ship that the public doesn't get to see.

Boat Show

2010-09-25T15:03:00.001-07:00

One of the photos from the Newport International Boat Show. Found several boats that I would buy if I win the lottery. I think the best part of the boat show was the Brokerage Boat Show that was next door. Basically it was a bunch of open houses on boats that are for sale. The people in this area have way too many boats. It took almost 6 hours to wander around and see all of them.

Still more photos

2010-07-31T09:33:00.000-07:00

Always helps to have a big cousin helping out.

Another successful trip out to check the crab pots.

Vacation Photos

2010-07-31T09:27:00.001-07:00

Jason and Makenzie right before her first dive.

Elena enjoying the pool at Uncle Jason's house.

Just one sample of souvenirs available at the Tillamook Cheese Factory in Tillamook, Oregon.

A quick family photo with sea stacks in the background in Oregon.

Enjoying the free hot chocolate at the nightly ranger program in the Redwood park campground.

Fourth of July 2010

2010-07-30T18:57:00.000-07:00

This year's 4th f July was great. Got to spend it with family in Bellingham. There is nothing like painted flowers, good food ad great family to spend any holiday with. Thanks everyone for making it a great trip.

TEAM POPSICLE!!

2010-07-01T10:24:00.000-07:00

Last night, the little Flake girls got to SCUBA dive with Jason.

Team Popsicle thawing out after the long dive.

SCALLOPS A PLENTY!

2010-06-29T19:53:00.000-07:00

Great diving trip today with my brother Jason and his friends Matthew and Jake. Alot of firsts for me today. First time in cold water. First time in a dry suit. First time harvesting scallops. First time getting rock scallops. First time I had my photo taken underwater. Best of all, first time diving with my brother.

"My baby brother!"

The Pirate.

and. . .

His Booty! AAARRRGGGG!!!

Thanks to Jason, Matthew and Jacob for a great day of diving. Even though I have a circle on my chest from the dry suit valve.

New Photos

2010-06-27T17:21:00.000-07:00

UPDATED

2010-06-27T16:36:00.001-07:00

This is now updated.

FAMILY BIKE RIDE

2009-11-03T16:20:00.000-08:00

Sunday was a great day to go for a nice 11.5 mile bike ride. Julia, Elena and Wend all have new bikes and I guess you could say that this was the shake-down ride for them. This photo was taken in the first two miles, I should have taken another one after we finished or when we had a midway ice cream at Cold Stone. Lance

COMING HOME!!

2009-10-01T06:46:00.000-07:00

Sunrise looking across the Euphrates River.

Last sandstorm before we left.

Enjoying a couple of days in Germany before heading home.

GETTING WARM OVER HERE

2009-07-11T18:25:00.000-07:00

The day this photo was taken it was around 115 degrees outside.

Froberg visit

2009-03-13T17:45:00.001-07:00

Doug, Doneva, Brent and Bryce came down for a great visit to Coronado. Sleeping arrangements were a little tight, but we managed. Make sure you ask Elena about letting Doneva sleep in her bed. Goes like this - Elena and Julia were headed to bed and Elena told Doneva that she could sleep in her bed. Elena then made herself a bed on the floor and layed down. By the time Doneva and Wendy were done talking, it was a couple of hours later and when Doneva went to go to bed, Eena had decided that she had had enough of the floor and was sound asleep in her own bed. We all got a great laugh out of that.

We had a great time at the ocean, in the ocean, getting sunburned and just plain good old fashioned company.

Coronado Body Surfing ? ?

2009-03-05T07:37:00.000-08:00

Brent, Bryce and Doug enjoying the waves in Coronado, CA. This is the first day on the beach and they were having a great time while Elena, Julia, Wendy and Lance watched them. Brent, Bryce, Doug and Lance went out yesterday and the waves were 2 to three times larger than the ones in this video. Needless to say, their sinuses were cleaned out and their bodies were exfoliated from the churning water and sand.

Disneyland 2009

2009-03-02T21:46:00.001-08:00

So far our Disney trip is great. Rained a little bit today so Elena talked Wendy onto the Splash Mountain ride. I think that was Elena's third time. We got to see several different characters besides ourselves over the last two days. Tomorrow is the big day where we get to meet Tinkerbell. Should e fun.

Goofy took off with Elena and Julia. We were almost home free until e returned them with smiles ear to ear.

Pluto was so excited to see the girls again that he couldn't stop squeezing them so tight.

As always, Mickey was there waiting for us. He was so excited to see both girls.

Carlsbad, CA retreat

2009-02-24T06:10:00.001-08:00

While Lance was away at some training, Wendy and the girls were treated to a retreat put on by the Special Warfare Community. They stayed at the Sheraton in Carlsbad, CA and got to enjoy everything that went along with it. Hot tub, pool, dinner, breakfast and each other.

Shortly (less than an hour) after their return to Coronado, we decided to make a quick trip up to Tahoe to enjoy the snow along family and friends. This trip to Tahoe was fun. Quick and easy was the trip up. The trip back ended up with 6 hours of 35 mph snow conditions. We still made it in under 11 hours. Can't say where we made up the time we lost but we managed ok.

Skype is great!

2009-02-24T06:06:00.000-08:00

So far so fun in sunny Coronado. Wendy has learned how to use Skype and enjoys seeing everyone on a daily basis. She even got to sing Happy Birthday to her niece Brandi.

Holiday Visitors

2009-01-05T06:15:00.000-08:00

Wendy's mom Karen and niece and nephew Nicholas and Adrienne came down for a quick visit just after Christmas this ear and had a great time on the beach. Hard to believe Christmas and New Years without freezing temperatures, but we managed.

Holiday Festival at Hotel Del Coronado

2008-12-03T22:08:00.001-08:00

This photo of Elena and Julia was taken in the lobby of Hotel Del Coronado after Elena performed in the Holiday Festival. This was truly a honor because only one class from each school in Coronado was chosen to perform. Elena's class performed several songs which wrapped up the performance part of the festival. After the singing was completed, there were games to be played and fireworks to watch. We stopped by the lobby on the way home to snap a quick photo of the girls. Wendy's sister Chrissy, her husband Eric and two little girls are headed down here right now so that will be an experience with 4 adults and 4 children in a 900 square foot apartment. Another way to put it is 5 girls, 1 baby and 2 men to share one bathroom.

Turkey Day

2008-12-03T22:03:00.001-08:00

Had a great time visiting with everyone at Steve and Lee's house for Thanksgiving. Was great to finally meet Brandon and is family. The food was great ad so was the company. Max and Shelley also made it out from Vegas for a rainy day in San Diego. Sorry it was soggy for you. Probably having flashbacks of the Northwest.

Knott's Berry Farm

2008-12-03T21:39:00.000-08:00

It all started out with a quick trip up to Knott's Berry Farm. Only an hour and a half away it was a quick trip. We had a great time. The first ride scared Julia a little bit and the last ride scared Elena a lot. When you see her, you will have to ask her about Ghost Rider and how scary it was with all those turns and us and downs. On our way out, we stopped by the rock shop that was in the park and Julia and Elena each picked out an uncut Geode and they cut it in half right then and there. Was kind of a neat souvenir for our first visit to Knott's Berry Farm.

San Diego Skyline

2008-11-15T21:23:00.000-08:00

Probably the best place to shoot San Diego skyline photos is just a block away from our apartment on the beach. Click on the photo to go to a gallery of my other night shots.

We have been to the beach a couple of times collecting sand dollars. Too many to count right now but there will be photos posted later.

My Smugmug gallery

Private Beach

2008-11-08T18:19:00.000-08:00

We spent a couple of hours at the beach today and found a lot of sand dollars. It is like we have our own private beach on the Navy Base. Awesome beach with sand dollars and shells everywhere. The girls had a great time running in the surf and collecting everything they could find.

Friendly Neighbors!!

2008-11-06T18:40:00.001-08:00

You will never guess who I have for neighbors. It just so happens that Coronado Brewing Company is right behind our tiny little apartment. And what to my surprise when I came home today Wendy had bought a growler (64 oz jug) from the Brewing Company that during happy hour only costs $7.00 to fill. What a deal!

New Photos

2008-11-02T19:29:00.001-08:00

New Coronado Residents

2008-10-27T19:27:00.000-07:00

We made it! We are now officially new residents of Coronado, CA. Even though we had to put more than half of our stuff in storage, we managed to find a tiny (900 sq ft) 2 bedroom 1 bath apartment a couple of blocks from the girl's school and a couple of miles from Lance's work. Both the girls love their new school and the weather is awesome. Sweatshirt weather as we call it. (Sweatshirts in the morning and evening). With only being 1 block away from the beach and a great view of the San Diego skyline, we have sacrificed large living spaces for great location. Photos to follow soon. Thanks to Lance's Grandma Shirley for putting up with us while we located a place to live. Was a lot of fun for both Elena and Julia because they got spoiled with swimming and junk food every day.