Ladd Photos

We all kicked off the New Year with a rugged hike along Lake Hodges. The boys have fun trying out their new (to them) camera. On the way back, we saw a beautiful coyote.

The hike up to the top of our local mountain was nice and the views were breathtaking. You could even see the ocean in the distance.

The county preserve was much nicer than its name sounds. The hawk overhead didn’t think it was too bad either.

Enjoying the sun outdoors, first at Balboa Park and then on drive downtown and along the bay. We ended up at Harbor Island, looking at the city from across the water.

We had to spend another Easter at home, due to the pandemic. The boys still enjoyed their baseball themed baskets of treats and decorating eggs.

We spent our first afternoon in Joshua Tree learning about the geology and wildlife at the visitor center. Then we did a short hike to Barker Dam, getting some up close experience with joshua trees and meeting some friendly ground squirrels.

A cool desert iguana greeted us at the desert oasis we explored to kick off our second day of the trip. Then we headed further into the park, to hike amongst and climb around the boulders. Somehow, no bones were broken in the process.

We finished off the day at Keys View, admiring the dust storm and smog filling the Coachella Valley. Before Los Angeles had so many cars, I’m sure that the view was amazing.

We bid Joshua Tree farewell while visiting the Cottonwood Oasis in the south section of the park.

My little Bub is now a teenager. He spent his day among the animals at the Zoo, which we hadn’t visited since before the pandemic. Afterwards, we feasted on Gavin’s favorite Woodstock’s pizza.

Connor stepped up to double digits this year! After opening presents in the morning, he spent all day playing baseball or watching his brother play.

He got to try out his new catcher gear, and it must work because he made a big tag at home to prevent a run, allowing his team to win the game. Connor must have been good luck for his brother too, because Gavin hit a single for the walk-off win in his game, against the #1 ranked team.

Connor had a busy game, spending two innings catching and an inning pitching.

While I was out for a hike at Lake Hodges, I decided to take some shots of the wildflowers and a few of the birds.

After nearly two year wait, thanks to the pandemic, we were finally able to see a live baseball game. It felt great to be out, even with the stadium at limited capacity. Unfortunately, the Halos didn’t win, but it was a nice day nonetheless.

Because of the pandemic, the league didn’t get to have their normal opening ceremony. So, we did a closing celebration instead.

All the teams were announced and got to parade on the field. Gavin’s Dodgers team was announced as the champions, and later on he was announced as an Intermediate All-Star and given his hat.

Gavin is having a very memorable season. His team, the Dodgers, won the district championship. Then he made the All-Star team, and that team won the District’s Skills Championship!

All-Star Day started off with the teams getting announced, and all the players saying their name and something about themselves. Gavin said: They call me the Magic Man (the nickname his coach gave him). Then they competed against the other All-Star teams in a timed around-the-horn and relay race competitions, which they won.

One of the moms got some good shots of the boys after their win: