Name This Tree

I'm seeing these trees everywhere in Southern California. The bark is very pale and smooth looking. Someone said they are Banyan Trees. I'd like to know for sure.

2008-2009 School Year: Ready or Not...Here it Comes...

I'm finally getting a little excited about the new school year. I enrolled my oldest in Hewitt Homeschool so that he could still school at home, pick out what he wanted to study and get grades from someone other than mom. He decided to work through: Beautiful Feet Books: US and World History for history. He will be working through the 2nd portion of this 2 year program, focusing on the 20th century. Some of the books he will be reading with this program are To Kill a Mockingbird, Anne Frank, the Diary of a YOung Girl, and The Hiding Place, just to name a few. For Literature he decided to go with Literature Lessons from Lord of the Rings. He will not only read through the Lord of the Rings series, but also two works of Shakespeare; The Tempest and Macbeth, as well as Beowulf, an old English epic. Hewitt is going to expect a lot of writing, essays and reports and projects from all of the above. Thankfully we will be using IEW, which is working wonderfully for him. And of course algebra and science and computers programming and health and all the rest. The books are going to be great, but it is going to be a long hard year. And that is just with the oldest. My 2nd grader is going to be much, much easier. Now to go figure out what my 7th grader will be reading for the year. I better hurry, school starts the day after Labor Day!