Always Something New

On Friday Revel and I walked to Captitola and back just under 10 miles. We had a wonderful time and Revel is very quiet today. When we walked into Soquel on the way home Revel stopped to check out a Squirrel, which he seeks out and watched intently when we are out on our walks. Never chases them but loves to watch them especially if they are walking on power lines.

What made this particular squirrel interesting and quite a surprise to me was that it was Black. Until yesterday I would have said all squirrels are the same tan to grey color but today after checking with some people who know these things and then searching the internet for facts. Here are the pictures. You really do learn something new every day.

Teddy's first car

Look out everybody, the boy purchased Elda's 2000 Nissan Sentra and is on the roads in his own car now. He spent the better part of the summer evaluating, thinking and worrying about if he could afford it but today he got it registered in his name, he has a AAA card and he has insurance. He is a very proud owner tonight.

Elda thanks for waiting all summer for him.

Nathan's First Birthday Party

This weekend we got together to celebrate Nathan's first birthday. The kids all had a lot of fun and the presents and the cupcakes was wonderful. All of the children went home very tired and happy after a fast paced day. Think even Oma was a little tired after having a house full of little ones.







Cool presents, the bigger the better. Thanks guys!






Cupcakes, whats that?
Oh, wow that's great can I have more! How many points did you say these were??






Nathan buddy your the best to share this feast! Lets see who can stuff the most in at once!










Boys are just disgusting.

Gavin Update

Well since I have been behind on all my blog posts, thought you all could use a Gavin update. Over the past month I have taken some really nice pictures of him. He is now 17 months old, walking very well, doing stairs with almost no assistance and walking down them instead of sliding on his butt. Its a little scary to watch but he manages.

He has developed a few words but does not yet seem to understand how to use them. He has "UP" down pat and uses it for everything. The good news is this provides a way for him to ask for things when he says UP you know he wants something. Most of the time its to be picked up, but he also uses it for when he wants something to drink or eat. I have heard other one syllable words like dog, dad, and others but usually at random times. He can imitate a lot of sounds and seems very aware of the sounds in his environment. When Revel gets the dogs in a neighborhood barking on our walks Gavin is always willing to add his version.

I get the opportunity to take him out in the backpack a couple of mornings a week. He is a wonderful walker, or rider, but his interest in the world seems limitless, he can sit in that backpack for 2-3 hours watching what we walk by and most of the time he is very intent on what is going by, he rarely sleeps when we walk. These trips are quite a workout considering his 25lbs and the weight of the backpack but we attach Revel's leach to the frame and at least I don't have to worry about Revel.

Gavin has developed a bit of an attachment to me. I don't see this as a problem but its hard on the other people in the house. He seems to always gravitate to tall men at parties and I am the guy in the house he goes to first when he has a choice. It has really been a pleasure for me to be able to spend this time with him and remember when it was Edward and Teddy that stood on the chair and helped make cakes and cookies, or rode in the backpack down to the beach on a walk. I can only hope that I have the opportunity to see Gavin grow to be at least 25 years of age.

Huntington Lake 2008

Our trip to Huntington lake this year was a very quiet one. Edward, Dorothy and I went for only four days to a condo at the lake. We left Revel at home which just feels wrong, and did not make me happy for the entire four days. The weather was perfect as always and the views where exactly as they have been for the past 20 years that we have been going there. We drove up on Wednesday and did a quick check of all our regular haunts, you can drive around the lake in about 10-15 minutes so checking things out is a quick proposition. There is a new owner/operator at Captain Jacks (Huntington Lake Resort). We think they are doing a much better job, the service level is much improved and they are trying things to bring the campers into the restaurant, Karaoke Pizza night was a scream with some 6-10 year old girls doing Hannah Montana impressions, Edward enjoyed this.

On Thursday we did a hike to the Waterfall. The water level is low but not abnormal for this time of year. Edward was good about hiking to the base of the falls and provided me with some better than usual photo opportunities with him. In the afternoon we headed out to Indian pools which was very quiet, not very many people at the pools and Edward was not interested in getting in. I think he has reached the age where the cold water is limiting his desire to get in.

Friday we rented the pontoon boat. Spent the whole day with Edward driving us around the lake, listening to music and relaxing, I did a little swimming, and Edward did some exploring of the islands but mostly we just drove around the lake.

Dorothy and I did some talking about cabin ownership up at the lake, we both have some reservations about how much time we can get away and would it be worth it. There are more cabins for sale than I can ever remember and some of the ones for sale where up for sales last year so the prices are falling (same as everywhere). I have this dream in my head of a weekend or two up at the lake in the winter with Revel when the temps are in the 20's, riding around on Snowmobiles with Edward, and returning to the cabin to Hot Chocolate and a fire in the fireplace. No way to reach the cabin without snow shoes/snowmobile so the quiet is amazing and the stars at night look like you could reach right out and touch them. Not sure my dream is worth $300,000 though.

Day 6 and 7 End of the Voyage

On day 6 we traveled to Prince Rupert, Canada. It was really a nice little seaside port. We did not get there until 4pm and were leaving port at 10pm so Dorothy and I decided to just stay at the town, no excursion, but that does not mean we did not enjoy ourselves. We did a quick walking tour of the port area (well you know me it was really a two hour walk for several miles). We traveled through the housing area and a really wonderful community garden. There is a really fabulous park right at the port that Gavin would have enjoyed for hours, and the few for the parents is beautiful. We also passed through a little farmers market with local artists displaying there crafts.

Back at the port we decided to enjoy a nice dinner on the port so that we could easily walk back to the boat (regardless of how many margaritas should be consumed between 7pm and 10pm. We picked a bar/restaurant called Breakers with a nice deck out the back so we could sit and watch the fisherman bring in their catch. While sitting there we enjoyed 2-3 Eagles who stopped for some of the fish being cleaned on the dock. It turns out in Canada Eagles are the seagulls (scavengers) in the area. They sure are a lot more impressive then our seagulls. We even got very excited watching a sea otter running around on the dock, which a local gave us a bad time about until I explained to him that sea otters are no big deal to us but ours don't get out of the water. We had a wonderful meal and I think I may have made it through everything they had one tap. Not sure that I remember all the details but desert was the biggest piece of chocolate cake I have ever seen and I have seen a lot of chocolate cakes. Around 9:30 we stumbled back to the boat for departure.

The next day we sailed all day past Vancouver Island and Victoria on our way back to Seattle. Knowing that you are at sea all day and that you have seen every inch of the ship over the previous 7 days leaves you no choice but to spend the day doing nothing (what ever your nothing should include). For Dorothy and I it meant sleeping in late (8am was late when you get the sun coming up at 4am), going up top climbing into a lounge chair and reading a book for about 4-6 hours. I finished the book Mom sent me off with "The Last Lecture" it was very enjoyable and raised a lot of good questions, the author and I share similar life philosophies so it was a good read. I was also able to tune in the Giants game conveniently being played at 10am on the portable XM radio that I brought.

The following day we, took our time getting off the boat which docked in Seattle at 7am. Our flight home did not leave until 2pm, and the ride to the airport is just 30 minutes. We would have liked to walk around the city for a while but we had already booked and paid for the bus to the airport so around 10-11am we left for the airport. The flight home was an uneventful two hour trip. Teddy was waiting for us in San Jose, so nice to have a driving son, who can be helpful from time to time. We both missed the boys, Gavin and Revel a great deal on the trip but had a really wonderful, relaxing time for our 30th anniversary.

I highly recommend this trip, it can be as challenging or relaxing as you want to make it depending on what you do in port. For a group of people with varied abilities or interests this can be a great way to spend time together on the boat and do the excursions that match the individuals while in port. Its a great way for an extended family to travel together.