Annual ride in Tahoe

I go on an annual ride to Tahoe with some college friends and their friends and their friends-friends. You get the idea, it's a group that has evolved over the years and is one of the best trips of the year. Here are some shots:

The group up in the hills. I'm #4, Brad Edgren is on the orange KTM, John Blatter in the back, Dixon Taylor in red.

John found some extra furniture near where the RV was parked, dragged it over with the bike. Turned out to be pretty cozy place to rest after a 3 hour ride.

Vista shot where you could see for miles. This is day #2 after we had to replace half of Brad's clutch hydraulics at a local shop.

Half way around the world in 4 days

I took a business trip to Korea this past week for some meetings and was glad to see a country that wasn't so 'Americanized'. It was very modern and advanced in many ways, but they still had a very strong sense of Korean culture vs. places like Germany which felt like the US but with an obsession for beer (oh wait, the US is obsessed with beer...).

Here are some shots:

This was the wall of my hotel lobby. I loved it. It was made up entirely of......

.......these little people. It may be hard to tell, but there are actually several different kinds of people (male, female, old, young, etc.) Pretty cool.

This woman was selling Silk Worm Larvae on the street. That is the hand of my co-worker who bought some (he grew up in Korea) and persisted to try and get us to eat them for the next 4 hours. No takers in the group.This is at 3:00 am at a market the size of most small cities. I tried a new technique for switching back to Pacific time called "stay up all night before your flight home", it worked.

And finally, this is what I love about other countries. There seem to be few rules (as in we have WAAAY too many), that restrict people from being creative and taking the path of least resistance. Yes, that is probably 300lbs of goods stacked on a $500 motorcycle, now ready for delivery.

Charlie does big boy stuff

I am a sucker for this kid. He is getting so big so fast and Brit and I always talk about how we are going to miss out on his baby days. He is officially eating big boy food, carrots, peas, sweet potatoes, etc. and is officially making real poo. He is now in his crib and almost makes it through the night and can almost sit up without his bumbo.

Back to School 08

Stats:

Grace - 3rd Grade

Lucas - 1st Grade

Jack - Pre-school

So far the best (and worst) part about starting school seems to be riding the bus. The kids were soooo excited to get to ride the bus. I remember why, it was somewhat of a demilitirized zone where there were very few rules. You aren't at home and you aren't at school so it is unclear what jurisdiction you are under and kids seem to live by the motto "what happens on the bus, stays on the bus."

Gracie came home the other day and said "I rode the whole way home with my head out the window!", Lucas was explaining that one boy was telling non-stop penis jokes, and there was already reports that a mother had to come on the bus after her son got off and chew out some boys for bullying .....I rest my case.

Update on my pursuit of 'The holy grail"

I need to put the vampire book saga to rest. Here is what I've determined.

1. Girls are in love with the idea of being in love.
2. If I could bottle the mysterious feelings associated with 'falling in love' I would be a gazillionaire.
3. It really isn't what the Vampire or the Wolf are doing so to speak, but rather the situation that is what makes the ladies so giddy. I'm not saying that if they replaced the Wolf with Richard Simmons it would have the same effect (the characters definetly do matter), but the attraction is definetly to the situation.
4. The challenge to all us married folk is to somehow, someway, bring back the days of being in Jr. High and having a serious crush that actually goes somewhere (vs. mine which never went anywhere :-(

I have to say I really felt like Stephanie Meyer may have subtley exposed some law of nature that had yet to be revealed, but in reality she just tapped into being 15 all over again.

An open letter to Twilight fans.

I have been meaning to hit publish on this post for awhile.....

****Edit****

I knew my understanding of the book was bad, but apparently way off. I guess the vampire is the one that has captured the hearts of the ladies. Question is now edited.

Preamble: I've never read the books but I have lost my wife to them for weeks at a time. I have had a few discussions with my wife about the general plot and what has made her somewhat fanatical in her reading and evangelism, but I have a feeling those were only 'surface scratching' discussions. I would like to think I generally understand the female species, but I definitely don't consider myself an expert. Since I am literally one of the only males that I know of that Blogs (99% of the time to keep a record for my family) I figured I had to turn to the female masses for answers.

I'd like to think of myself as a pretty dedicated, serving partner in marriage. I do dishes, fold laundry, take care of the yard, earn a decent wage, change diapers, etc.

I take my wife on a date a few times a month, tell her she looks hot (well, she is), shop for her clothes and give her constructive feedback, no lazy "uh,yeah, looks good hun", comments, but real "those pockets sit too low on your butt and doesn't give it the justice it deserves" type comments.

With that in mind here is the question that I believe can improve marriages and relationships forever:

What is IT that the vampire does that makes you so enthralled? That damn vampire is doing something that EVERY SINGLE woman wishes WE didn't do, did more of, differently, better. Single handily the vampire/book has seems to be speaking directly to women in a way maybe only Oprah can. (Your answers must be specific, as you can see I listed specific contributions I feel I make to my household, the bat has to be doing something specific that you have smiled about.)

All answers are valid as the female species is diverse and complex so different answers will apply to different marriages/relationships. Please forward my plea to friends, family, any reader of 'the books' and ask them to shed some light for me. In return, I promise to mail the findings to the 99% of males that I know that will never read this blog so they can somehow be more 'vampire' like for you to.

Thanks,

A vampire in training

No-Cal

After our trip to Blackrock Ranch we spent a few whirlwind days in Northern California. We hit Six Flags Marine World and checked out a bunch of rides and the marine shows. The killer whale was impressive, but the dolphins were our favorite. Gracie and Lucas decided they wanted to get wet so they moved down to the front, we stayed high and dry. Here's the ladies waiting for the show to start. Brad and Rachel's brother in-law Scott is a fireman in Sacramento so we stopped by his station for a tour. The kids were in heaven, especially since 2 calls came in while we were there and the firemen had to run around and jump in the ambulance and everything. Here they are in the back getting a tour of the ambulance.We went to Santa Cruz where we used to go while living in San Ramon. It was a perfect beach day and the kids had a blast.

Blackrock Ranch

We loaded up the family for an old school road trip and headed south. Once we hit the Oregon California border we headed to the coast and went through the Redwood Forest. Britney remembered doing it as a kid so we 'took our time' and went the coastal route. Yes, that is my small family at the base of Paul Bunyan's Ax. Britney remembers going here as a kid and wondering what the big round things were hanging from under Babe the Big Blue Ox :-).

We stayed in a little coastal town called Crescent City and checked out some marine life and local food. Here we the kids are outside the restaraunt.

The first night we 're-arranged' the hotel room and pushed the beds together so we could all watch SYTYCD together (if you don't know the acronym don't worry).

We pushed on through to the Sacramento California area where our friends have access to a 1,300 acre 'ranch' that has a private lake and endless trails. The kids had a blast with the 11 other kids in the group. Here they are loading up in the mule to head down to the lake.

The kids had a blast riding on the jet ski and getting pulled in the tube.

It was a blast to see our good friends, hang out and catch up. Our group is getting big with all the kids, but it is still a blast and a trip we hope to make often.

Family Portrait Time

We just experienced what I call "one of the top ten most stressful events in life". Death in the family, nope. Job loss, nope. Birth of a child, did that. .......The dreaded family portrait.

We went downtown near the Sculpture Park with a photographer (Jessica Kettle) and right as we get out of the car Jack has a compelte meltdown. After about 20 mins of trying to settle him down and telling him he can pick out ANYTHING from Target as long as he cooperated the shooting began.

We love the photos of the kids (check out the gallery here), but can't decide which family portrait we like best. So, it's up for a vote. Please leave your vote in the comments.

#1

#2

#3

#4

Why........

...did this make me laugh so hard?

For years I have used this blog solely to keep a meager record of the family, share some occasions with Family and Friends, and every once in a while allow the public to peer into what happens in my head. This is one of those times you get a peek.

I found this picture on a blog I frequent (artsy guy who gets intrigued by even weirder things than I) and had to analyze it a bit.

Is it due to the pirate hat on the little person? Was it his $1.99 Oakley Blade knock-offs that can only be found at "The Flying J"? Was it the horrible prison tattos of 2 lightning bolts pointing to some revolting man-boobs (regretable Navy days I'm sure)? Did these guys call each other and shop at 'The Party Store' before they went to this gathering (oh the look on the sweet little "crafter at the register's" face). Don't miss the pirate 'blouse' on the bearded little-man. I think it is a perfect symphony of humor.