Patio Cover

So we thought long and hard about getting Maria a new car. Couldn't find something we liked in a price we could afford. So we decided to wait awhile on that, and instead invested in a new patio cover. What an amazing difference it has had on our outdoor activities. We're still settling into it and getting used to it, but it's been wonderful. Here are some photos taken during the build process.
They worked quickly. This is the end of the first day. They had the posts in, and the covered area up. It was supposed to be a two day job, but with all the curves we had, it took them 3 days.
These are the support brackets mounted to the house, over the master bedroom area This is to support the area where we have lattice. The cover, which extends the full length of the back of our house, is a mix of solid area and lattice. This allows us to have full shade and dry area in winter, along with a lighter area if necessary.

This is the covered area, they are putting lattice on the outer edge, to allow it to match the curvature of our cement.
Here they are laying the support beams for the lattice.


Maria liked the look of the round columns over the support structures. It flows with the Tuscan style we have created. She debated on some Greek columns, but decided it didn't really fit the theme we were looking for.
Mod of the solid area. Note the beams are NOT in a straight line. Several companies that gave us a bid, wanted us to have them be straight across the patio to make the build easier. that would have clashed with the curves we have in the yard as well as cut down on our patio space with poles in the middle.
Here they are adding in section of the solid area. It extends past the kitchen door, so we can walk outside from the kitchen to the BBQ in the winter.
You can see the lattice going up. It's two inch beams with a two inch space between them.
Here's a view of the pool from under the patio. It's hard to really get a feel for the size and scope of this from the photos. In future photos, you'll see we've since added in two outdoor ceiling fans with lights and we're stringing several strands of the little white Christmas tree type lights around the edge. These little lights give a nice ambient mood lighting to the patio, where the ceiling fan lights make it almost too bright out there. Next major project for the backyard is a built in BBQ. Might be another year or two before we get to that, but I'm excited about it. Maria is looking forward to the full set of outdoor patio furniture, with a couch and rug etc.

Stay cool everyone and come join us for a swim on one of these hot hot hot summer days.

Dad's and Grad's

It's that time of year, Father's day and graduations. Here is the wrapping that my present from Nate came in.

Here's the picture that Nate made for me. I now have it hanging in my office.
As I prepare to celebrate my 20 year high school graduation, we are attending Nate's Pre-School graduation. I can't help but think of a line from the Incredibles, where the father shouts "we keep finding new ways to celebrate mediocrity!" I mean a full ceremony for a pre-school graduation? It was honestly very cute. Quite touching and I enjoyed every minute of it.
Here's Nate walking down the aisle.
Getting high five's from the other kids.
Nate waiting patiently for his turn to get his goody bag and diploma. Although I did notice he was the only kid who needed to be reminded twice to sit calmly in his seat.

Finally, his turn, now he knows what he was missing.

As you'll see in the video below, Angela is Nate's best friend. They played together all the time in school. When Angela grows up, she wants to be a bird.

I present to you the 2010 graduating class of Merry Hill Pre-School.

Nate accepting his diploma. He wants to be a Dr. when he grows up. However, the thing I find truly amazing is that he said this summer his plans were to stay home. That will be a first for him. The boy is always traveling.

My boy growing up. Now it's on to Kindergarten.

US Open - Pebble Beach

My neighbor,who happens to share my name, Mike Green is the golf pro at Del Paso golf club in Sacramento. They hosted the second level qualifying for the US Open at his club this year. It was one of the few qualifiers on the west coast. Mike offered me tickets to the US Open and it turned out to be one of the most amazing events I've ever experienced. From the beauty of Pebble Beach to the opportunity to see master of their craft perform, I was like a child in a candy store. To top it off, it was the week before father's day and I was able to bring my dad along and share this event with him. Below is a sampling of pictures we captured during our two days at this event. We attended Tues and Wed, which were the practice rounds. Great thing about the practice rounds is that you can actually bring a camera, which is not allowed during the actual Open rounds. Also note, there are no cell phones allowed at any part of the event.
This is the "chipping" range. We never walked over to the full driving range, although this area was big enough to hold one of my drives as I think it extended out 250 yards or so. Behind the stands is a chipping green with bunkers and such to practice out of. One thing to note here, the signs designating who is hitting where.

This is Retief Goosen on the practice tee.

They had these bill boards in a few different places around the course. Players started on either the first or 10th tee, with different start times. It was helpful to know who was in what group and what order they were coming through, if you wanted to see a particular golfer, you can calculate where they may be on the course.

Lexus had a booth setup where they would take your picture with the Open cup. You can see my dad and I here with the cup.

The other photo you get int he Lexus booth is the one with this car. If you look closely, this car exterior is made to look like a golf ball with dimples all over it.

This is Camilo Villegas on the 9th tee box, with Carmel Bay in the background. After he hit this shot, he hit one of the grounds workers in a red coat with the tee shot.

Here's Camilo looking at his yardage book, taking notes for use in the actual round. Maybe he's noting how far out the groundskeeper is standing.

Here's a group of golfers hitting their second shot over on the 8th hole. It's an over the ocean shot onto a tucked in green. Camilo is the golfer swinging here, if you look closely you can see the ball in the air.

Here's Vijay Singh on the tee at the 7th tee.

Jim Furyk chipping onto the 18th green.
Kenny Perry looking at the yardage book on the 8th green.
Zach Johnson on the 3rd tee.
Zach Johnson taking his tee shot on the 3rd.
Tom Watson examining what he wants to hit on the dog leg left 3rd hole. Note the guy holding the sign in the background. These guy's walked with the groups and if you couldn't recognize the golfer, or see the name on the golf bag, these guys were the other way to help identify who was who.
Tom Watson hitting the tee shot on 3. He hit two shots, one with a driver and one with a hybrid.
I believe this is Ian Poultier, but don't recall.
Angel Cabrera on his second tee shot on the 3rd tee

Here's the view from the grandstands behind the 18th green looking back down the fairway.

This photo was taken from the tee on the 6th green. The picture does not do justice on how high that cliff rises, that the golfers have to hit their second shots up and over to the green.
This phot was taking from the top of the cliff on the 6th hole, looking back towards the 6th tee. Still hard to see how far this hole rises, or falls from this direction.
My dad in the same spot looking back at the 6th tee.

Here's a view from the 17th green side stands, looking at the famous par 3 7th hole which is one of the most spectacular in golf. You can see how much this 100 yard par 3 drops.

My dad took this photo from the stands overlooking the 7th green, which you see in the background.
This is a shot from in front of the 18th tee, up about 50 yards, looking down the fairway towards the green. One of the most amazing finishing holes in golf. You can see the stands for the 18th green in the background.
This is the 14th green. If you watched the Open, this was the hardest hole on the course. While the green was normal sized, if you hit it towards the back of the green everything rolled off the back and down a hill. If you landed in the front, everything rolled back down and off the front of the green. You can see in this photo, a gray matting up there, which is where any short balls would roll back to.

Now I'll begin the onslaught of Phil and Tiger photos. First up is Phil's second shot on the 18th fairway, he hit under the trees and close but short of the green.

Phil after hitting a tee shot on the 7th hole.

Phil hitting a tee shot on #7. In the gray sweater on the left is Dustin Johnson, your 54 hole leader who blew up on day four.

Phil making the determination of what club to hit on the 7th. Swirling winds and a short hole make this an interesting choice.

Prior to hitting his shot, Phil can be seen talking to Butch Harmon, his swing coach.

Here's Tiger walking up to the 17th green.

Tiger's tee shot on 17 was a tad long. Here he is chipping it back on, amazing how short he hit it and how far it rolled.

Here's tiger hitting his approach shot on 16.

Phil and Johnson walking after hitting their tee shots on 18.

Phil hitting his tee shot on 7

Tiger hitting tee shot on 18

Tom Watson hitting tee shot on 3

Vijay in 7th

All in all, getting the opportunity to see the practice rounds, take photos and walk the beautiful course was an event I will cherish forever. I can also state that it made watching the open on TV even that much more enjoyable. I was truly able to recognize each shot, the difficulty involved and exactly what they were facing. It helped to draw me in and appreciate this great sport even more. Best part about it, I was able share this event with my dad for Father's day. It just doesn't get any better.