My entire summer summed up in one big blog and 58 pictures

Ok, so I've gone kind of MIA in the blogging world lately. There's a few reasons for that. First, my computer was down and I was waiting until I have money to take it into Apple to get it checked out. And I barely ever use my family computer... what a bother. And secondly, because I'm going on all these darn vacations and spending all my money! Now that I'm home, I have money to... wait no, I don't have money, I just spent $300 of it on fixing my computer. I know, might as well rip my heart out. But it is fixed! (It's like having one of my limbs back, I swear. Living without it has been a horrid experience...) However, apart from the fact that I am currently broke, my vacations have definitely been fun! Here's some pictures of me adventures this summer.

First we went to Catalina Island with family and friends... I brought Meghan along with me. :)




It was a blast to take our own car. :) Taking the ferry over to the island was fun because if you stand in the right place, the wind will knock you over... We went kyaking Took a tour of the island on a boat in the fog. I kept waiting for the Black Pearl to come out of the fog, it was very creepy, and very cool. We did get to see flying fish though! It really does fly, just glides in the air for 40 ft then gets back in the water. It was so cool to see. Snorkeling... Then I did see a shark. (I was the only one to see it) It was big too, must have been about 4 feet long. This mostly what we saw though. And we went Parasailing. Then here's some other pictures from that vacation that I think are worth putting up here. ...forgive me in my inmodesty in all my sleevelessness. I was trying to get rid of my farmer's tan, but all I ended up accomplishing was one of the worst sunburns of my life. As you can see... Catalina was great. :)

Florida
A week after that, me and Melanie went to visit our cousins Ben and Sicili in Florida and their kids Ellana and Tyton. (Daaahrling little things. Mmhmm.)

MGM studios:




Bag on the front, child on top, and baby in the back. That's how us Hale's roll. Ha.

A home bought $10,000 fireworks display!


The fireworks crew: The Roberts. And a Hale. :)




Sedona
And then I took a weekend to go camping (which we didn't actually go camping) in Sedona. About 30 min out of town the 17 turned into a parking lot for 2 hours so by the time we got to Sedona, all the camping sights were full, so we got a cheap room for the night, and Meghan set up the tent in the hotel room. :) what a goof. It was a fun weekend though!





And I just got back from a family reunion in Idaho. Fun fun! Best picture of Brady ever: To see more pictures and hear more about the vacation, click here, I'm tired of doing it....

And while I was in Idaho, I bought and finished the new, Breaking Dawn. This is my review. I really really liked it, until the end. Because, at the end of Bella's section, I was totally caught off guard, and then at the end of Jacob's section I was completely caught off guard. Both turn of events just came way out of left field. Well, for me at least. I thought I was going to have an anxiety attack. A couple times I just had to put the book down because I was getting too worked up over it... But, I was disappointed in the ending. Not that the ending is a good one, and it's a happy ending and everything. I was just disappointed in the lack of action. Oh well. Edward Cullen is still the man of my dreams. *sigh* Too bad there are no real vampires who have the same suave-ness and cordiality from the turn of the century walking around these days. Aha, listen to me, I'm all but ready to marry the pages he's written on. Ah well.

Cd's I have listened to this summer include Menomena's Friend and Foe. I love it. My favorite part is how they use a Baritone Sax for the bass instead of a bass guitar. Makes for quite and awesome effect. Favorite track: Evil Bee.

Then Vampire Weekend's self titled album. Very good. Has a lovely spanish flavor to it. But also very much an indie sound.
Devotchka's How It Ends. Full fledged spanish music without the spanish language. And I'm not talking about that mariachi crap either. My favorite track is 'Enemy Guns.' It has very much an old western sound. Can't help but think of a cowboy riding across the desert when listening to that song. Ha.
The Ting Tings We Started Nothing. Splendid dance music. And then the soundtracks to both Atonement and Sweeney Todd.









(I got both movies edited. Don't recommend getting Sweeney Todd edited, its still super bloody, but Atonement is great!) I love 'Briony' from Atonement. It incorporates a typewriter into the main theme of the movie. Amazing stuff. And then the 8th track, 'The Half Killed' is the kind of song that gives me goosebumps. And then, Sweeney Todd... who knew Johnny Depp could sing? And well? My favorite track is 'My Friends.' The harmony between Sweeney and Mrs. Lovett is the best.

Then last week me and Katie O went to the Linkin Park concert over at Cricket Pavilion. I haven't liked Linkin Park since 8th grade with their Hybrid Theory album. But then they came out with Minutes to Midnight last year and after hearing everyone say how good it was I finally got around to getting it. Holy crap that is a good cd. And the concert was one of the best concerts I've ever been to. Didn't think I'd like it nearly that much. They can definitely put on a show! Something else I seemed to be able to accomplish this summer... couple weeks ago, for the first time, I played all the way to the end of the 50 page first movement of the Bartok Sonata. It is really slow in parts, and only one hand in others, but I did do it. Go me. :)

Good graciousness, I did a lot this summer. Smashing.