Ladd Photos

My sister-in-law celebrated turning 40 at La Bella’s Pizza with lots of friends and family.

We spent Memorial Day having a peaceful walk around the Japanese Friendship Garden. Connor and I brought our cameras to practice taking some shots.

It was a beautiful day out to go visit the animals. We saw the new baby François’ langur, which start off bright orange before turning black as they grow up.

After spending the morning on the Queen Mary, visiting the bridge and learning about her “Gray Ghost” years during WWII, we headed to the USS Iowa.

Our time aboard the battleship started with the Presidential Tour, where we learned the history of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s time on the ship, as well as getting to see some areas not accessible on the self tour. Then we explored all over the ship, learning about its weapons systems and how the sailors lived aboard.

We spent the night on the Queen Mary, which is docked permanently in Long Beach. It was fun to explore the ship and learn its history. The boys were on the hunt for ghosts, and swore they felt some.

I can hardly believe that my little Dokie is now a teenager! He was busy all day with school and baseball practice, but in the evening he had fun opening his presents and eating a giant cookie for dessert.

Another season of high school baseball has come to an end. The team finished with a record of 20 wins, 6 losses, and 1 tie.

Gavin was a huge part of the team’s amazing season. He dominated on the mound, hit over 0.300, and played great at 3rd base when he wasn’t pitching.

I’m an assistant coach for Connor’s Little League team, but I took the day off from my duties to snap some pictures. It has been a great season so far. My only complaint is that we are the Padres and not the Dodgers.

After spending the day in school, Gavin got to spend the rest of his day doing the thing he loves, which is pitching.

He threw 4 and 2/3rds innings while giving up no runs, no walks, and a single hit, against one of the best teams in the league. They have a strict pitch count limit, or else he would have dominated the rest of the game. The relief pitching got their job done, and the Nighthawks won the game.

We celebrated with his favorite meal, which is pizza, and then some brownies for dessert. It was quite a memorable birthday.

We had a wonderful tour of the gardens at the Getty Center, learning about the artist’s vision when he created the beautiful landscapes. Then we went into the museum buildings to view the non-living artwork.

The boys opened their baskets and then made questionable choices in headwear. Later on in the day, we headed down south to their Tia’s house so they could hunt for eggs with their cousins.

Connor got his first job, working as an umpire for 4S Little League. Don’t argue his calls because he is looking for an excuse to throw someone out of the game.

We visited the nice visitor center at the park, learning about the local plants, animals, and native people.

After spending the night in the “Garlic Capital of the World” we had to try the local garlic ice cream. It wasn’t horrible.

Then we continued south to the central coast of California, stopping for a while at Moonstone Beach. We had dinner in Morro Bay before finishing the long drive to San Diego.

The total road trip was 3206 miles, which took 60 hours and 49 minutes to drive.

After a nice drive through the redwoods in Northern California, we paid the Golden Gate Bridge a visit. Then we headed into downtown San Francisco to explore on foot. We had a nice dinner in Chinatown and dessert at Ghirardelli.