Is it Fall or Winter?

Winter on the Island

Crazy weather over here this winter so far. Or is it still FALL? It is getting colder and colder- doesnt this make you want to come and visit us! Come on- You know you want to!

Fire Sky

Thankfully, all of our family in the LA/SD area escaped all the fires this past month! Look at the sky in Avalon- 20 miles from the Orange County area- and we still got a lot of smoke and a crazy looking sun. Also, the Santa Ana winds swept through a few weeks ago and completely demolished our floating dock! Crazy weather out here sometimes! Come on, you know you want to visit!

Paella (Pie-A-Ya) Celebration!

pa·el·la

–noun
a Spanish dish prepared by simmering together seafood, rice, vegetables, and saffron and other seasonings.

Yesterday, we had a Paelle Celebration hosted by Annie & Fran! We gathered around to celebrate all fot he hard work of the staff for the fall and all of the amazing things everyone has done this fall. Paelle can be made many different ways. Francisoco's Paella consisted of a base of salt water right out of the ocean, rice, fresh caught California Spiney Lobster, salmon, ahi tune, corn, red peppers and olives (and much more). We had the yummmmmy paelle along with some fresh made Sangria and it was a perfect Sunday afternoon!

Feels Like Heaven

Annie, my boss, took me to this place last week on our way to Arizona. It is called Glen Ivy Hot Springs and it is a spa that contains many different mineral pools, hot spas, natural clay mud club (yes, where you put mus all over you) and natural hot springs. It was so amazing- and pretty affordable. Anytime you are traveling around the I-15 area in LA, you have to check it out! It is like heaven!

A Family Affair

Joe and Evelyn got to come out this past weekend and visit and it was amazing!!!! It was so beautiful. Dad fished all weekend and mom and I walked 20 or so miles to prepare for our walk. It was so much fun!

Black Jack Pine Cone

This weekend, a few of us from the staff went out to Black Jack Mountain to camp amoung the tall pine trees. It was so beautiful to be so high up on the mountain, see the bright stars, smell the pine trees- AND SEE THESE HU-MONG-US PINE CONES! Look at that thing!

Linus the Sea Lion

Last Tuesday a baby sea lion pup was dropped off by its mother on our beach. I named him Linus, in my head, and he stayed at the camp until the next morning. Here he is climbing from one kayak to another. He was so cute! We think he was about 2 weeks old.

Joe, The Lobster Hunter

Saturday Night kicked off Lobster season, here on the Island. Joe, Kevin and Rob went out and got 6 California Spinney Lobster and they were delicious!

Airport In The Sky

This past Saturday, a bunch of us on the MSA staff went through the interior of the Island to learn more about this big piece of land. This is us at the Catalina Island Airport, called Airport in the Sky- because its runway is on top of a mountain, and known to be one of the most dangerous airports in our country! Have fun if you ever want to fly in there. Here you see Kevin, Me, Rob, Brooke, Samantha, Joey and Santos- having a blast!

Gettin' In the Swing of Things!

This group of crazy people are the people we get to work with everyday! Pretty fun huh? Well, camp is officially starting its 2nd week tomorrow, and the staff is so amazing so fun to be around! Here we all are, including our bosses Annie and Fran (Francisco) posing with our staff beanies on that we brought over for them last week! They loved them and it makes us all A TEAM!

Week 1 of camp went well- and Joe and I both learned a lot. Now this week we will have 2 schools out, possibly 3 and will learn even more. We are both Lifeguard licensed and have learned to teach most of the classes that our instructors teach to the kids everyday!

Thanks for all the emails, the cards, and the mail you have sent to let us know you are behind us! We really appreciate it all!

We Made It!

It has been a week since we arrived and we are definitely getting into the Island way of life. There has been a lot of training, praying, and preparing for this season, and we know it is going to be amazing. Just in a week, we have gotten to enjoy so many amazing things- and many more things are to come! We can wait to see you all here sometime!

A-MAY-ZING

One of the most amazing things yet...and we havent even started. (Two jumping dolphins of approximately 75+ swimming near our boat!)

Catalina Bound

We just got back from our Summer Camp stint on the Island and we had an amazing time. We got to know our staff and got to meet 7 of the coolest kids ever. Those kids and being able to spend some time with Kevin made the week one of the most eventful and memorable times ever! Kayaking, snorkeling, swimming, cliff jumping, swimming in caves, dolphin searching...its hard work, but someones gotta do it!

Its a Small World...After All

Yes...that's right- That is Will Forte (from SNL) with us in Two Harbors. We met him at the cafe and he had to be the coolest "celebrity" in the world! Much success to Will and thanks for all those righteous dance moves and yummy Buffalo Milks!