Travelling Friends and Birthday Fun

My childhood best friend Adam, seen above with me in high school (don't ask), got into the Army ROTC in college and is currently in the Army National Guard. He serves our country in D.C. but he and his wife Michelle, who coincidentally also went to high school with us, live in Woodbridge, VA. I wish they didn't live so far away but since they do time with them is precious. Both their families live here in California so they were kind enough to pay us a visit on their way up to the bay area from LA.

A little flashback to the past, Adam and I in 1999 on our senior trip to Hawaii

Adam spent a year at Santa Barbara City College while I was at Cal Poly. This was one of our frequent hook-ups for a meal.

Ad and I at my bachelor party. No comment.

And back to the present. Maybe Adam and Nick are kindred spirits as they kept trading off with closing their eyes for pictures.

Adam again.

Nick again.

And Nick halfway, probably the best shot out of 20.

Michelle, Adam, and Nick if you can find him.

It just so happened to be Michelle's birthday on Wednesday so Katy made her a cake. Happy birthday Michelle!

The big 2-8!

Almost There

Nick is super close to walking. Because of this fact, we wanted to make sure we caught as close to the actual moment on video as we could. Unfortunately, our video camera we bought three years ago crapped out. So, in a spontaneous moment, we purchased a new one, much smaller, but just enough to get the job done. To christen the purchase, here's a video clip of our son laughing. Make sure you watch the whole thing, the end is the best part...trust me. As my buddy Noah put it, try not to smile while watching and listening to this!

Dinneylan!

If you follow Katy or I on Facebook, you were probably well aware that last week we took Nick to Disneyland, or as my dad likes to call it, "Dinneylan!" My folks did come with us which was a huge blessing in that it allowed us to go on rides together while they watched Nick and vice versa. With two families there it brought a lot of pictures, so I'll try and just include some highlights. First let me say, living in So Cal has its drawbacks, namely all LA sports, but it definitely has its perks too. For example, we got a 3 day park hopper ticket between Disneyland and California Adventure for just $99 when a normal 1 day park hopper is $97! Then, we upgraded to an annual pass for just $45 more dollars. We definitely plan on abusing that annual pass so if you have one too and are itching to get back to the Magic Kingdom, let us know! And for all you moochers, our passes have our pictures on the back so we can't share...sorry! Here's the link to all the pics, separated by days: day 1, day 2, day 3.

Here's the whole family right inside the gate for the classic Mickey flowers pose

My dad absolutely abhors the "It's a Small World" ride. But he indulged us by coming too, much to his chagrin.

Nick, unfortunately or fortunately, you decide, loved the ride. He nursed and just stared at all the crazy animatronic children. Funny how some are still not very politically correct. If you zoom in on the picture, you can see a guy chowing on a corn dog behind us. Classic.

One of the few happy moments on Dumbo...not the best ride to wait for as it doesn't have much shade and quickly makes an 11 month old cranky.

I know this looks like child torture, but I promise you, once Nick gets ahold of a lemon, he won't let go until it is scraped clean...I will get this on video one day.

One thing that can be a bit irritating about Disneyland is all the parades. For some, it may be enjoyable, but when you're trying to hustle over to get a fastpass so you can get back in line again, it becomes tiresome, quickly. One of the parades featured this lovely sign, which is cut off by a flashlight wand by an attendant, but reads, "In Everything You Do, Celebrate You!" Oh Disney. How I wish your land was saved and didn't buy in to what the rest of the world longs to hear but desperately does not need any more self image or reliance inflation.

As in every hotel room bathroom, they discreetly hang the toilet paper rolls under the sink as well as exposing all of the pipes for little crusiers to find. This is just some of the mayhem that Nick got into at the hotel room. To read about the real "crap," click here and read my personal blog and an episode you won't want to miss.

Enjoying Thunder Mountain and posing.

Nick in awe on the Monster's Inc. ride.

A toy I won my family by scoping out the water gun carnival game and taking the average of which gun was the quickest based on the previous five games. Best toy I've ever won for five bucks.

Somehow, back at the hotel, Nick managed to army crawl his way underneath the pack-n-play in an attempt to mess with his stroller. Fortunately, he did not get stuck, and weasled his way backwards and out. Crazy.

This next sequence is of the ride "California Screamin'," a "real" roller coaster in California Adventure that Katy, my dad, and I loved. My mom's not so keen on the "real" coasters and would rather stick to ones where you aren't pressed against your seat and go weightless a few times.

So here we are posing as we get ready to launch. I'm right behind Katy. It was worth the extra two minutes to get in the front car.

Here Katy and my dad are in launch. I apparently got cropped out.

And all of us obviously still enjoying the ride for our "complimentary with a $15 charge" picture. Good times!

Nick wondering why he has to ride a blue fish and not the "real" coaster...or maybe just trying to find out where his parents are who are calling him. On a positive note, he has learned to "hi-five," wave, and clap almost on command now. We're getting him trained real well!


At the beginning of day 3, we immediately saw Goofy with a fairly short line. The previous two days we saw numerous characters but the lines were ridiculous, especially since Nick had no idea who these characters were. But this one was worth it.

Later he got to meet Eeyore too. This time it was a bit sad, in typical Eeyore fashion. There was no worker standing by with Eeyore, and no line for a picture. The donkey was just standing there all by himself. Kinda eerie Eeyore.

And what's Disneyland without some Mickey ears!

More Mickey ears shots and looking a bit mousy too!


Nick getting pretty into the psychedelic Winne the Pooh ride. I guess I will have to drug test him sooner than I thought...

Enjoying the Buzz Lightyear ride and messing up the grandparents score by tugging on that red joystick that sent them into a jet wash...way to go son! Our plan worked!

My mom and I after we got the shaft from my dad. He was supposed to take an awesome picture of us on Thunder Mountain, but as we passed by, we saw him holding and playing with Nick instead. Sell out!

And finally, the three of us in front of Snow White and the Seven Dwarves little grotto...pretty tired I must say, but well worth it!

One Shell of a Beach

On our way back from houseboating, Nick needed a pit stop. It just so happened we were right next to Shell Beach when he needed one, or we needed one. Depends on who you ask. So we got out, grabbed our sweatshirts (it dropped 30 degrees from Fresno to Shell Beach, 30 degrees!) and camera, and found there were a ton of cool places to put Nick and shoot some pics. And here they are:

Nick and a dino head, trust me, that's what it is. The dinosaur caves are right at Shell Beach.

Nick on a piece of a dino egg shell. We were going to put him in the dino egg, but it was full of sand, and Nick likes to put everything in his mouth. So this was second best.

Nick in yet another swing with a classic look on his face.

Nick on a killer whale

Nick in a tire swing and quite enjoying himself

The fam on a bench after approximately 10 takes. This was as close as we could get to Nick looking at the camera. Stupid seagulls! Speaking of seagulls, what do you call a seagull that lives by the bay? A bagel!

Nick making sure Katy was all zipped up in the cold

Look at me! I'm blind on a bench!

Enjoying the cool ocean breeze blowing through his hair

Getting close to walking on his own

Pismo from afar

A pelican in flight

While I was waiting for a pelican to take off from "Brown's Rock," as we found out it was called, we saw them stretching their necks. Everyone of them did it about every two minutes. The weirdest looking thing, but I guess if you have jowels like that they need to be stretched.

Don't know if it was the same seagull that was distracting Nick earlier, but I took the shot anyway. If only I had my .40 in my pocket...

Houseboating '09

Every year we get together with some college friends for what I like to call, the houseboating trip. We've been doing this weekend retreat for about 6 summers now, and for the first 3 our friend Stephen Ferguson's father had a houseboat we went on. Well, he has since sold said houseboat, but I'm still holding on the the title for the weekend as: the houseboating trip. This year we went to the Jones/Messer compound in Auberry outside of Fresno for 3 days of hanging. There are way more pictures, but after the first night I conceded picture taking to semi-professional photographer/Chippie behind a desk Justice Jones. Hopefully we'll post the other pictures later, if we get a copy. The weekend was awesome, filled with great conversations, ping pong tourneys, fantastic food, shooting of .40 cals, paintball, and of course, good ol' friends!

Some of the gang hanging out...check Nick out under the table. Yeah, that's where we keep him.

Matt Moore being, well, Matt Moore

Sarah Moore and most of Silas

Cole Ferguson congratulating Seth Moore on finishing his dinner

Cole smiling for the camera as only Cole can do

I love this next sequence of Avery Jones

Kinda sees the camera

Oh, it is a camera and it's pointed at me!

Alright Rob I'll smile!

Seth's head is a bit fuzzy. How could I expect a 3 year old to sit still?

Tyler Wisner making sure I know he didn't do it!

Katy and Nick, both enthralled with Matt's story

Katy and Natalie Wisner trying to keep the boys in the tub at bay

Aforementioned boys in tub, Tyler and Nick

Ok, so the story behind these two hands. Dave Wisner and I were the last two outside after just completing a great poker match. We're shutting out the lights to the outside when I turn around and see this. Two hands, perfectly aligned, almost posing for the camera with newly received engagement ring on top. And zooming out...

John Garrison and his fiancee' Skye. Congrats again guys and way to stay on the right mattress and yet still show your love!