Have to Show Off The Sign I Made

While the East Coast is having a Polar Vortex, California is unseasonably warm.  Perfect for  a backyard movie party.

I wanted a cool movie marquee but individual lighted letters are expensive at $100 each.  Spelling out MOVIE would've blown through my budget for the entire party.  So I set out to make my own out of foam core.  Got as far as the arrow, which took 80 mins (not including drying time in between each coat of paint)  Cutting out the shape was laborious but bearable. It was the holes for the bulbs that killed me.  So I scrapped the individual letter idea and went with a rectangle sign with MOVIE printed in red.  The end result turned out quite nice for the total time spent.  I hope the nice weather holds up through the weekend.  

Throw your own BackYard Movie Party by asking guests to bring a folding chair and blanket.  Rent a popcorn machine, put out hot dogs, nachos, candy and you're good to go!  We already had a projector but you can rent a complete Outdoor Movie  kit at any AV rental place.

VW Camper, more than just for camping

What to do with kids over Winter Break if you're not a skier.  When the days are short and the nights are l o n g.  There are only so many hours I can play Mario Kart.  And can I ask - when do you start to lose your ability to be good at video games as an adult? I could've sworn I was decent at Double Dash.  But now I can't beat a six year old to save my life.

If you want to take a break from video games, get in your van or SUV and find a drive in.  I prefer parking backwards and leaving the rear hatch open.

That's City Camper Boy's head peaking out of "Frosty." 

Mr. City Camper and I were toasty in our red sleeping bag.

The best part about a Drive In is you can bring all the snacks you want! A bucket of  chicken and biscuits from KFC and a bag of Pirate Booty and you're good to go. 

Happy New Year!

Last sunset of 2013

A few years ago my mother in law took the entire family to Kauai. We had brunch on New Year's Day at the St. Regis Princeville over looking the ocean. I want to say it was Hanalei Beach. Ever since then, I resolved to start the new year on the beach.  I have not been successful until this year. We went camping on Dec 31st. And woke up to this:

View from van window.