Nate Tries Skiing

Yesterday we told Nate that when the sun went down, then the sun come up and we'd go skiing. So, after the second night in a row of sleeping the whole night in his own room (Yeah!) he came in to our bedroom at 6:15am and said sun is up let's go skiing. And that began our day. We woke, ate breakfast, packed, got dressed in our ski gear and headed up the mountain to Soda Springs. For $25 they have an all day snow park, with inner tubes, a little ski run and an inner tube merry go round thing.

We arrived around 10am, got his ticket and made the trek over to the snow park. He got his little ski's and snow boots, no poles and we headed over to see what his first day of skiing was going to be like.
Not much for having instructors there, it was very much parent interaction and involvement. I asked one of the folks who worked there how to begin. She sat down in front of Nate and told him to bend his knees, lean forward and if he wanted to stop, make a big slice of pizza with his ski's. Nate went about a foot, she stopped him, he did it again and I said I'd help him the rest of the way down the mountain. We did two runs down the hill like that, the second, I was running backwards down the hill while he chased me. By the third time, he told me to get out of his way and he went down all by himself. That was it, after that he was hooked and couldn't get enough. He went down about 6 or 7 more times before he wanted to stop and eat. We'd packed hot chocolate, sandwiches and some snacks and made a little picnic in the snow.
Afterwords a few more ski runs before we went over to do the tubing. At the tubing place, Nate saw a snowman, so we built our first snow man, but he destroyed it before we could get too many pictures.

We then played in the fresh area of the snow, rolled down the mountain and had a great time. He then wanted to get back to skiing and we went for another 10 runs or so before we finally called it a day. We could tell he was getting tired and started to fall/crash into other skiers. It didn't stop him, barely slowed him down. He wanted to stay, but I felt it was time for us to leave. We headed back down the hill and was home around 4. He slept most of the way home and when we got there, while we were tired, he was ready to go play.

I took him out back to play catch with Lilo and decided to turn on the spa for us to relax in. While playing catch, Nate kept going to check the front yard to see if our neighbors, and his new posse were playing out front. Sure enough, Jake, Logan, Jimmy and Emily gathered for their afternoon biking session. Nate wanted to join in, so we went out front and played for 1bout an hour and a half. When the other kids went inside for dinner, I grabbed Nate, we went home and put on our swim trunks and hooped into the spa. We through the ball to Lilo, so she went swimming in the cold pool, while we hung out in the spa. Everyone ran inside, we took a shower, ate dinner and I read him stories while he quickly fell asleep. I have to believe there was not much else we could have crammed into what must have been an almost perfect day for Nate. All the things he loved, he was able to do in a single day.
Tomorrow Nate is going to Nene's house and is going to spend the day with Claudia. It'll be good for the kids to hang out together. Maria is thinking of trying to arrange a more frequent rotation with them so we can give each other more time and give the kids regular play sessions. Maria's even thinking she might volunteer to take Claudia some days to give Nate someone else to interact with, hoping to make it easier on her.

Socks

Nate is wearing daddy's socks. We are getting ready to go skiing.

Nate in rain

Nate wanted to use an umbrella.

Actually No!

Nate's latest little saying is putting "Actually" before he answers a question. So you can ask if he wants to eat dinner and he answers, umm Actually No!

My dad came to visit on Tuesday. Wanted to upgrade the hard drive in his PC. We changed his 40GB drive for a 1.5TB drive and got everything copied over. It went surprisingly well, which seems to be unusual when dealing with PC upgrades. G-pa, Maria and Nate went to Costco and got some shopping done, while I was working and then we had a nice BBQ before we called it a day.

Sherry called me 8 times yesterday, left 8 voice mail messages, each 4 min in length, before the machine runs out of room. In those messages, the basic theme was that IO was taking things from her mom's house that she wanted or felt was hers. The two main things she thought I took were a down comforter and some dishes, neither of which I did, nor do I know anything about them. It's been difficult dealing with her. She called again today and left a more nasty message which prompted me to call her and try and set the record straight. While she claims she wasn't accusing, but merely asking, I don't know that a rational person would agree after listening to the messages. I did tell her that we were looking at making the house available to rent and that we needed to empty everything out of it. I gave her until March 15th to remove any and all things she wants from the house and I will then clean it up after that. I guess the good news is that there may be less work for me to do.

It was clear on the call that Sherry is having a difficult time dealing with her mom dying. I know she was in tears when all was said in done, but she wants to blame me for the fact that life is hard, people get old and die. I know she struggles, wanting to place blame or fault or have someone or something to go after, but it annoys me that she has to pin it all on me. At least she was understanding and supportive of getting the house ready to rent, despite her feeling bad that she had to deal with any of this while Lorraine was alive.

On to happier news, I guess that means I won't have to work on the house for the next few weekends, so we're planning on taking Nate up to the snow on Sat. Would like to try and get him up on ski's. We're thinking of going to a small resort like Soda Springs, so he can get a lesson and we can see how he does. The following weekend is Maria's birthday and the Cottles are coming and we're planning on spending the weekend in Tahoe, with some skiing, gambling and dining. Should be fun.

I'm now on a conf call with the JOEM's, HP customers in Japan, as I have been all week, and can't wait for this set of meetings to end. Makes for very long days. Nate's out front riding his bike with Jake and Logan, while Maria is chatting with Jessica. Glad to see Nate get out and play with the neighbor kids. Funny it started with him and I in the back playing catch with Lilo, when he went to the gate and saw "others" out front and pulled me to go let him play with them. Kind of cute actually.

Have a good night,

YOU make me sad!

So Nate's latest little exclamation when he doesn't get his way, is "You Make me Sad" or sometimes the variation don't make me sad. He usually pull sit out when he's told to do something he doesn't want to, or is forced to go to timeout, or gets yelled at. An example would be when he's eating and starts kicking Maria, she hates it, tells him to stop, he keeps it up, she yells louder then tells him to go to time out, he cries and says Baba you make me sad.
Been trying week. With all of us sick, haven't been able to do much. Maria finally turned the corner on Tuesday and has been getting better. Nate still has the swollen lymph nodes, but otherwise is not acting sick at all. I've been struggling with a sore throat, fever and headache. Today is the first day I'm feeling better than the previous. Hopefully I've turned a corner as well. Haven't exercised in a week and feel like a slug.
We were hoping to get to Lorraine's for a visit, but with our sickness, I'm afraid to give any of it to her. Same goes for Tony, who fell and broke her ankle this week. Hasn't been a good week for all involved. Tony's fine, or at least as fine as you can be with a broken ankle. She was at her program when she fell and broke it. Hopefully we'll feel better and can get her to see her mom. I know that will cheer her up.
We did get some good news on the condo, looks like we have a renter who wants to sign a 1 year lease, so that will be a big help and load off of our mind. We really need to dedicate some time to Lorraine's house, hopefully we'll get over our sickness and start to really see some progress. I was hoping to have it ready to rent by end of March, we'll see how that goes.
Sat was a great day, weather wise. Nate has been dying to get outside, and we were able to take him out and play in the street with the neighbor kids. They have one of those electronic ride in cars/jeep things that go 2.5-5MPH A pretty good pace. Nate loves to run around in them, but he has a ways to go before he gets a license. He steers, but doesn't look where he's going. He rode his bike and scooter with the kids and the adults hung out and chatted. Nothing too exciting, but at least we were outside. It's raining this morning, so not much to do today. Trying to figure out how to keep everyone entertained.
Maria has now seen all the best picture Oscar nominee's, I've seen all of them but Milk. Just couldn't get into that. I'd rate them 1. Slumdog Millionaire. 2. Frost/Nixon. 3. Benjamin Button and 4. The Reader. I liked the india aspect of Slumdog, and I though the music was great too. Good story and thoroughly enjoyed it. I was surprised by Frost/Nixon, I knew the history, but certainly don't remember it. And I should say I knew the history of Nixon, never heard of the interview. It was a great story and I love the Nixon performance, amazing, easy to understand why he was nominated for best actor. Benjamin Button wasn't bad, a bit long, generally a feel good story like Forrest Gump, but didn't feel anything overwhelming about it. It was good, but nothing too special. The reader, was pretty boring to me. I thought the concept was good, but it really dragged on, not something I'd normally watch. Finally we watched The Wrestler last night. Mickey Rourke was nominated for best actor, I can see why. I've never been a fan of wrestling, so I wasn't excited to see it, but overall it held my interest. I'd say either he or Frank Langhella the guy who played Nixon should win. Maria, who saw Milk, said she though Sean Penn for Milk was right there too. A toss up. I'm rooting for Nixon as I think I overall enjoyed that film more.
Now, to entertain the boy for the day, any suggestions for a rainy day with him?

Back to "Normal"

Well, the family is back together again. Maria and Nate arrive home on Sat. What a welcome sight, loved picking them up at the airport and ensuring they made it all the way home safe and sound. Nate fell asleep on the way home, but woke up shortly after arriving home. He was only mildly excited about his new "Ka-Chow" bed. Yeah, I wound up buying it for him after he asked for it again last week. I was surprised he still remembered, so I figure it was something really stuck in his head. The Roseville Costco was out, but the Folsom one had 5, so Shawn was nice enough to pick it up on his way home from work for me. Luckily, the price was down another $100, so I got it for 50% off the online price. Spent 5 hours putting the dang thing together. Nate liked it, but was upset that it didn't move.
Sunday, Nate went to spend the day with Aggie, and we got about 6 hours together, before she called in a panic. Nate had a scratch on his neck and his glands were swollen. We wound up taking him to the Dr on Monday. Nothing serious, just a viral infection and his glands are working overtime. They ran a bunch of tests, required us to draw blood, which was a painful process to go through, not sure who it hurt the most. Got the results today and nothing out of the ordinary, just what the DR expected. However now Maria is sick too. So while they're back, they're not feeling good.
Maria and I did get to see Slumdog Millionaire. Maria got all caught up on Biggest Loser, Survivor, Saturday Night Live, Big Bang Theory and about half of the Bachelor's. Still need to catch up on Lost, Law & Order, Top Chef and Hells Kitchen. Such important stuff.
We reserved a hotel in Tahoe for Maria's birthday weekend. Mike and Lilia are coming up without the kids for an adult getaway weekend. Should be a lot of fun.
Back at work today, not much else new. Seems strange to actually be back in the office instead of working from home. It's going to take me awhile to get back into this routine.

Take care.

Almost There

I'm about to call it a very long day. By the time I wake up in the morning, Maria and Nate should be boarding a plane to begin their journey back to LA and they'll be closing the chapter on their journey. Which means I'm about to close a chapter on mine as well. I'm very excited about seeing them. I miss them terribly. It's been a very interesting month. While I knew it would be different, I'm not sure I did everything I expected to do.

Looking back now on what I accomplished versus what I thought I was going to do, I come to the same realizations I have every other day of my life, there just isn't enough time to get it all done. You find you make time for some things, hopefully, if you're doing it right, they're the things you value most. When I look at the last 4 weeks, I can say that my priorities have been working, golfing, my dog and my fitness. I fell short of my intentions in terms of seeing Lorraine, mostly because she was sick. The incident with Tony's seizure also changed some of my intentions there, however overall about what I expected. The house is still standing, in fact I even made a few repairs, mostly with paint and spackle. Got a tray made for Aggie's Xmas decorations. Did laundry and kept the mess to a minimum, luckily I haven't had to do much to clean here in the last few days. I didn't leave the house as much as I thought I might, wound up working from home alot. Recovered a PC crash from a bad hard drive and isolated the issue with Maria's laptop. I'm nearly ready for valentine's day, just need to figure out what to do for dinner. After all, they'll be too jet lagged to do anything too special. Didn't go skiing like I wanted, not sure if it was laziness or not wanting to do it alone, probably a bit of both, with a little lack of new snow thrown in. I did get my taxes done and have a strategy for the next steps with Lorraine's house, but the hard work is still to come there. Back yard is in a bit worse shape than I'd like, but didn't plan to have so many issues with the dog and she tore up the back yard quite a bit. All in all, I guess I'd grade my time a B. I could've done a little less HP work and had some more me time to accomplish a bit more, but like when Maria's here, I always struggle to minimize that piece. Got the major things done I wanted to accomplish and had some fun. Overall, glad it's coming to end and I can be back with my family and get back to the normal routine, which is anything but normal or routine.

I'd chat more about V-day plans, but if Maria reads this, I don't want to spoil anything. It's not much anyways, things are tight now, and it's a down economy. We'll save anything major for her birthday coming up. Looks like Mike and Lilia will be joining us for skiing in Tahoe. Looking to book a room at Harvey's for a night or two. That should be a fun getaway.

Time to hit the sack, and plan out the last few things to do before maria gets here. I know I need to catch up on laundry and file away Lorraine's '08 paperwork, but I keep thinking I'm missing something else. Maybe it'll come to me while I'm dreaming.

Good night!

Lilo

Took Lilo to the dog park yesterday. She was super obsessive. I made her walk around the dog park before we went in. She was crying and whining, couldn't wait to play. When she did get in, all she wanted to do was fetch. Well, it was going well until another dog wanted to join in. They both grabbed the Frisbee and Lilo got upset and nipped at the other dog. Wound up biting the other dogs lip, drew some blood. I felt really bad. It was really the other dogs fault, but you never know how an owner will react. Following that, took her home and left her in the back yard while I went to RC Wiley to pick up Nate's portable DVD player, and Safeway for some milk. Then I came home, let her in and starting doing chores around the house. Of course, as she usually does after the dog park, she waited until she came in to puke in the office and in our bedroom, including up on the curtains. Spent the next 45 minutes cleaning the mess up.

Been Awhile

I really need to do this more frequently, I'm sure I'm missing some updates. Funny how I thought I'd have more time with Maria and Nate gone, but I actually don't seem to have any more time.
Speaking of them, the most recent update is that they are leaving the Island on Thursday and taking th ebus back, will arrive 7am local time. Staying with Nicole through the weekend, so far been prmised to have Internet, then back to Sabine's for the last few days before she heads home. Her mail from Yesterday, she tells of Carlos taking the SeaDoo out and spraying Salvador and Nate who were on the shore. It spooked Salvador, but Nate loved it and kept shouting again again. He seems to really like the SeaDoo. Something for us to think about getting, if there was any lakes around here with water in them to do those things. One other interesting note, I guess there was a bit of excitement when one of the tree's there caught on fire. Everyone ran to put it out and it was all taken care of before the fire dept got there, but it spooked the kids and made everyone a little nervous. Here's a photo of them on the beach, then I'll continue below.


I just finished a call with Aggie, she went to visit Lorraine today. She mentioned that she wasn't doing too well. I think this cold is really getting to her. I know Eskaton called and said they wanted to change her "memory" medicine, but no update from them on her cold. I'm going to go visit her tomorrow, hopefully she's feeling better. I know they put her on antibiotics this week. I've also started a more regular dialogue with the attorney about what we can do with her house and what the best scenario is. Hopefully we'll get some paperwork drawn up in the next two weeks.
I went to the bay area yesterday, played golf with my dad at Tilden Golf Course. As the guy who played with us joked, it shoul dhave been called tilting golf course. I don't think there was a level lie anywhere on the course. Ball was always above or below your feet. Overall a nice course. I played a bit better on the back than the front. Shot a 93, on a par 70 course. Had 2 birdies, and actually had an eagle shot on the par 5 on the back, I reached the back edge of the green in 2. Definatley interested in playing it again, but it will probably be a long time before I do. Afterwards, we drove over to Lorraine's house their in Orinda. I wanted to check in on the place and see how it's holding up. Also need to asses what we're going to need to do to get it ready either for sale or for rent. Either way we need to clean it out and that's going to be a lot of work. Then we headed over to Casper's for a hot dog and I made the long drive home.

Over the weekend, I played golf with Shawn and John out at Wildhorse in Davis on Sat. Another new course I hadn't played before. Nice, green's were very fast. Some interesting holes. I shot a 96, but that was with 6 penalty shots. Funny, but felt I played a lot worse than I actually scored. Sunday I went to Brad and Kim's to watch the SuperBowl. Good game, better than I thought it would be. Played a little poker afterwards, but there was only 5 of us, so it went quick. Felt a little odd being out without Maria. Not used to going out solo.

On Friday, I was at home when I got text message from Rich Ramos asking me what Taro's balls were. For those that don't know, Taro is the owner of Mikuni's Roseville, as well as several other Mikuni's. Anyway, they're actually called Japanese Bon Bon's, they're fish, I like Hamachi, wrapped around crab meat and shaped like balls. Anyway, I was bitter he was at Mikuni's without me, and so he invited me down. I headed down and met up with him and Ian. We had a beer and some sushi, before agreeing to head back to my place for some Scotch and cigars. I think Ian, who's Scotish, was a little jealous over my golf trip and the Scotch I had around here. But their girls started to nag almost before we got to my place, so the night ended rather early. We agreed to go out this coming Sunday for some golf, then come back to my place and finish what we started, hopefully they will have permission this time out.

Going further back, I took Lorraine out to dinner at Crush 29 on Thursday. It was just the two of us. We had a nice dinner, but it landed in my stomach a little wrong and I didn't feel well on Friday. The night was a little long, as most dinner's with Lorraine are. It was a 3 hour dinner, but Lorraine barely spoke. She doesn't have much to talk about, so it makes for a difficult conversation. She was not feeling her best, but was really excited to get out. I think she needs the outside stimulation because otherwise she won't get out of bed.

That's about it for tonight, I finished my 6.5mi run, so now I got to shower, finish dinner and try and get some sleep. Got a long day tomorrow. Need to get to Lowe's and get some paint so I can patch of the walls from where the dog has tried to eat through them.

Talk to you all later,

TGIF

What a week. What started with a great bike ride and a shocking view has ended with a Friday night at home on a treadmill. Still not losing weight like I'd like, but that's mainly because I'm still snacking too much. Without my wife to chat with, don't have any one to discuss all those daily things we encounter. Not sure why, but this week seems to have had more than usual. Let's give them a quick run through.

First and foremost the wife and child. They're still in Chile and doing well. However, in talking with Maria, Nate's got a cold. Combine this with Sabine's cold and Maria is spending a lot of time with 4 kids, and she doesn't have me to help give her a break. When we chatted, she seemed kind of stressed about the whole thing. Nothing serious, I think it's just being tired after a long day. Although right now their long days are by the pool, with the sun high in the sky. Apparently Nate and blonde boy self are quite the attention getter. He's also getting a bit of a sunburn just below the eyes. Maria's is applying sunscreen by the gallon, but apparently the sun's really bad there. I've been talking to Maria almost every day, but the time zone difference of 5 hours make it a little difficult. She still doesn't have internet, so I've actually been using Skype to call the land line there. Not bad rates, ~$0.02/minute. They are leaving on Tuesday for the island in the south for 9 days. Then I'll really be out of touch with them. Maria tells me that Nate has been talking more in spanish, but is also saying he misses daddy, misses Lilo, misses his toys and wants to go home. Maria has asked, but apparently he doesn't really miss Ohana.

On Monday, John, Brad, Steve and I played Darkhorse. I really do love that course. My favorite around here. And as usual, it really destroyed me. Actually only shot a 101, I remember when that was a really good score. I started off well, but there was a stretch of holes, starting on #5 that really messed me up. Before John and I headed up to Auburn to play, we waited in line ar RC Wiley as they were having some door buster sales. I picked up a 7" portable DVD player for nate for $20. It was supposed tob e 1 per family, but several people in front of us in line grabbed more than one. It was limited to the first 100 people and as it turns out they sold out about 6 people before me. Luckily however, they had only ~50 in stock, when they were supposed to have 100, so I was able to pay for it an will pick it up later, when they come in.

I got a call from Jo, Tony's caretaker, that she had a seisure this week. Apparently it was 8 minutes long, so they called 911 and she was admitted into the hospital. I went to visit her, she was doing well. In fact, I have to say she was in one of the best moods I've seen her in, in a long time. She had a big smile on her face, but it could also be because she was laying in bed and getting lot's of attention. They released her yesterday from the hospital and I was planning on trying to take Lorraine and Tony out for brunch on Sunday.

Speaking of Lorraine, I stopped in and visited with her after seeing Tony. Wanted to let Lorraine know what was happening with Tony, and had promised Tony that I'd have her mom call her. A bit surprising, but Lorraine didn't seem all that worried about her and acutally brushed off the whole ordeal. It's a bit of a strange feeling for me. Lorraine and I talked about the usual things, her going home, missing her home, her plans for going to Hawaii, her hopes and fears of what it would be like if Sherry and her were to live together. She seems convinced that Sherry's trailor is a 1 room place, but unless she's moved, last time I was there it was a 2 bedroom place with a living room and kitchen. Nothing to brag about, but it is what she chose. There was a brief conversation about finances, I've tried to keep Lorraine from worrying about her running out of money. She's always been cash poor and dirt rich, but the current drain for daily care has really squeezed me, as I've put in a lot of cash to keep her in a good place. I'm having tos pend a lot of time contemplating what to do with her house. I really think it's getting to be the time to sell it, but I know that will break her heart and Sherry will do everything she can to make it difficult for everyone. Funny, but Lorraine actually discussed selling it, as the place was too big for her to live in, and talked about buying a place closer to us.

After working from Home Tues and Wed, I decided I'd better get my butt into the office Thurs and Friday. It felt good to get back on a bit more of a routine. I was a bit worried about Lilo. I know we've left her in the crate for 8 hours, but I don't liek to push it. With Maria here, its not something I have to worry about, but she's not here. So I went to work Thurs, came home early to check on the dog, figured I'd work at home for the last few hours, and wished I would have stayed home. Apparently Lilo had the runs, and you could smell it as soon as you walked in the house. She crapped all over the crate, got it on the walls and carpet and of course all over her. Spent the next 90 minutes cleaning the shit up, literally. Gave the dog a bath and was so ready to hop online and kill something. Glad it was game night with the guy's. Nothing like a good hack and slash to relieve some frustration.

All that brings me to today, Friday. Ahh, ready for the weekend. Now I know my home PC is getting old. Had it for a little more than 3 years. Which, by HP standards for our work PC's is the time they're deemed ready for retirement. It's been running sluggish lately and I wasn't sure what was going on, so I had starting to try and tune it up and was trying to decide what to do, when scanning my hard drive turned up bad sector after bad secot. After running scan on it for 36 hours, and only at ~23% complete, I figured the hard drive must be dying. Sure enough, good thing Fry's had a 1.5 TB drive on sale, because that drive won't boot anymore. Not sure what I've lost yet. I do backups pretty regularly, so I'm not too concerned, but may have lost some of our Xmas photos from this year. We'll have to see as I continue to recover that drive and install the new one. I don't think I'll have a full idea of where I'm at for another few days, while the software does it's work on the drive. Good thing there's no shortage of PC's around here.

Oh, one more thing, I'm borrowing a new toy from Wally, checking out how it's working. It's a Iomega device that let's you make a digital copy of movies, TV etc. Plug in RCA jacks to it and press record and it'll save it to the internal Hard Drive. It has a 1 TB drive in it, so plenty of space. You can also copy files from your PC onto it, and then carry it from TV to TV. Sort of a portable digital media center. Thought it would be a good place to store all those episodes of Handy Manny, Little Einsteins and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse for Nate. They run ~$220, depending on size of Hard Drive.

Well, I think that's about it for tonight. I'm going to go finish watching the Dark Knight on Blu-Ray, and then get to bed. I'm supposed to be playing Lockeford with John tomorrow. Should be a nice wet day. Also need to stop by and seen Nene, as they're having Claudia's birthday party tomorrow as well.

Bike Ride

Had a great day today. It was an amazing day, the temp was in the upper 60's, the sun was shining and I couldn't wait to get out and go for a bike ride. While getting ready to go was a chore, couldn't find all the pieces necessary to get the bike rack mounted to the car. Spent over an hour looking through the garage before finally getting all the pieces together and the bike loaded on the car. Drove down Sunrise Blvd and parked near the river, hopped on my bike and figured I'd head up to Folsom Lake. While the ride was great and most of the scenery was spectacular as always, I was shocked when I saw how little water was left in Folsom lake. I had read in the paper that the lake was down a lot, but never imagined it looked like it did. The damn looked like it wasn't even holding back water. Words can't even describe how low it is.


After the ride, I came back, heated up the spa, cooked dinner, talked to Maria and watched some football. While that was going on, I caught up on the football games today. I'm looking forward to playing golf tomorrow at Darkhorse with Brad, Steve and John. Hope I play better than I did yesterday.

whewww

OK, feel much better now. Got the call from the wife that everyone made it safe and sound to Chile. Haven't had a lot of time to talk with her, but at least the worry can go away.

I spoke again with her on Skype this morning. Heard Nate running around the house with his 3 new best friends. Maria said he's trying to speak some Spanish, so I think all signs are pointing to him really speaking it well by the time he has to leave. They were at Carlos' place, so no webcam, but they were able to see me, Lilo and Ohana. I've decided I have to go to Aggie's place and get her setup on Skype so she can get in on the action. I couldn't tell, but I think they were leaving Carlos' place today. Hard to get details it was all too hectic there.

As for me, not much going on. Hard to believe how quiet the house is without Nate and Maria. It really seems lonely. I guess that means more time for me. While it sounds exciting now, I wonder how it'll be sounding in a few weeks. Played some PS3 last night with Shawn and Jason, got a new game Marvel Ultimate Alliance, kind of like the old Gauntlet game, but with Comic heroes instead. Fun, but not to detailed. Graphics are good, and it seems to be good for blowing off steam. I think I still like Bad Company better. I'll have to re-hookup my Xbox so I can play Call of Duty 4. Had to put it in the gym for Shayne when they came to visit for New Year's.

Speaking of the gym, I guess I need to get back in there and do another run. Will also try and get some stretching in before I head out for golf today. We're playing with Shawn, Brad and Steve out at Mather. Have a 1:30 tee time. We've talked about playing somewhere tomorrow too, but no plans made as of now. I have the next three days to get stuff done.

Off to sweat...

Full Day

As we wrap up our busy day, I thought I'd take a moment to discuss the highlight of Nate's day. Per my previous posts, you may have thought it was the trip to the mall, playing on the play ground, or where he begged for quarters to ride those cheesy machines out front. For those that know Maria, and her ritual with Nate at the mall, you may have though it was the Pretzel and Orange Julius (although this time it was some red drink) that Nate absolutely HAD to have. According to Maria, this is a mall ritual that occurs every time they go, if Nate's good, and I don't think Maria would ever tell him he's bad. You may also think it was the time spent at Carino's glued to his Itouch, watching Mickey Mouse ClubHouse and eating his Chicken strips while sipping on his soda water with Lime. However, that was not what captured Nate's mind all day. While we were at Costco, Nate spotted a twin size bed, actually a trundle bed, so I guess it's really two twin beds. However, this one was made up to be Disney/Pixar Car's bed. Or as Nate put's it his Ka-Chow bed. HE swears he HAS to have this bed and it will make him want to sleep in his own room. Yeah, he still likes to sleep with Baba and Daddy, and Baba is a sucker when it comes to that. So, while we put him to sleep in his room, we have anywhere from 2-4 hours before he crawls back into our bed. So as we debate the purchase of this $500 bed, I wonder how long will a three year old's promise to always sleep in his Ka-Chow bed last before he says take it back, he want's Baba and Daddy's bed.

Oh, if you're interested in seeing the bed, go to:
http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.aspx?Prodid=11330156&whse=BC&Ne=4000000&eCat=BC|93|75982|56265|2212&N=4025263&Mo=38&pos=4&No=3&Nr=P_CatalogName:BC&cat=2212&Ns=P_Price|1||P_SignDesc1&lang=en-US&Sp=C&ec=BC-EC10582-Cat56265&topnav=

Dinner

After a long day of shopping and playing we took advantage of Carino's
happy hour menu. Nate is entertained with his itouch while eating
chicken strips.

Nate at mall

More photos of Nate.

Nate at mall

Nate is learning the value of quarters.

Time for the next vacation...

Maria and Nate are leaving for Chile, so I've decided it's time to close the chapter on our Scotland trip and make this blog about our every day lives. This will be the final post for Scotland activities, really just trying to retain the heading from that blog as this one is migrated.


From the Scotland Blog Header:
Maria and I are traveling with Mike and Lilia to Scotland. Following the lead of the Three stooges (Gerhard, Charlene and Robert) we've decide to try our hand at this blog thing. BTW - If you want to check out their blog, visit robryano.blogspot.com

Our Final Day

Saturday, October 25, 2008

This is our final day. We got up and packed and our taxi arrived at 10:30 to take us to the airport. We had a flight at 1pm. I wish we could have spent more time with Tatiana and family but will treasure any amount of time we did spend with them. Tatiana, Carlos, Pilar, Carlitos and Rai, I thank you from the bottom of my heart for letting us come stay with you. I can only hope that one day I can return the favor. Besito Grande!!!


Mike, Pilar, Carlos, Tatiana, Carlitos and Rai


Rai, Tatiana, Me, Carlitos and Carlos

London

Friday, October 24, 2008

We went to bed late and now we are up early. Again we are out of the flat by 7 am before anyone is up. And just like the day before we took the train to London Victoria and met up with our tour group. We have a busy tour scheduled!

We started by driving through the city and saw Belgravia, a district of central London in the City of Westminster where the rich and famous of England live including Margaret Thatcher. We saw Trafalgar Square with the statue of Lord Nelson and the lions surrounding it, Downing Street, the official London residence of the British Prime Minister and we also saw the original Hard Rock Cafe. It was just a blur as we only drove by it.


Statue of Lord Nelson


One of the lions surrounding the statue

We stopped at Westminster Abbey. The Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster, which is almost always referred to by its original name of Westminster Abbey, is a large, mainly Gothic church, in Westminster, London. It is the traditional place of coronation ( since 1066) and burial site for English and later British monarchs. Behind the abbey, at least from our point of view, was Big Ben and Houses of Parliament. Big Ben is actually the name of the main bell in the tower, but now in common use for the bell, clock and tower.


Big Ben with the London Eye behind it.


Us in front of Big Ben


In front of Westminster Abbey


Mike in front of the abbey

We then went to the Household Cavalry Museum. The Household Cavalry Museum is a living museum in the heart of Horse Guards, Whitehall, London. There we saw unique “behind-the-scenes” look at the work that goes into the ceremonial and operational role of the Household Cavalry Regiment. Mike was even able to try on the hat and vest.


Mike in front of the Household Cavalry Museum


One of the guards standing post in front of museum


Mike trying on the hat and vest.

Then it was off to Buckingham Palace to watch the changing of the guards. Buckingham Palace is the official London residence of the British Monarch. The Changing of the Guards takes place in the forecourt of Buckingham Palace. Amazing how many people are there to watch this event that happens everyday.


In front of Buckingham Palace waiting for the changing of the guards


Changing of the guards.


More Changing of the guards


In front of Buckingham Palace

After Buckingham Palace we went to Covent Gardens. Here we had lunch and did some shopping and walking around. Covent Garden is a district in London. Dominated by shopping, street performers and entertainment facilities and contains an entrance to the Royal Opera House Covent Garden. This was a major source of fruit and vegetables in London at one time and later during the 18th century was a well-known red light district. This was a fun place to see. Lots of street performers!


A street performer we saw


Mike kept pointing to this shop and I though he wanted me to go in and buy something but what he actually was pointing at was the maniquin on the left is not a maniquin but a real person.


In front of Covent Gardens

We stopped at St. Paul's Cathedral. One of London's greatest buildings with its Dome standing proud on the skyline. The present building, completed in 1708, replaced the medieval Cathedral destroyed in the Great Fire of London. The Royal Family holds most of their important marriages, christenings and funerals at Westminster Abbey, but St Paul's was used for the marriage of Charles and Diana. We took a tour inside but we were not allowed to photograph it. I can tell you that it was gorgeous and big!


Front of St. Paul's Cathedral


Another view of St. Paul's


Backside of St. Paul's


Another view of the Dome at St. Paul's


Statue of young lover's behind St. Paul's

Then we went to see the Tower of London and the Crown Jewels. We really enjoyed seeing this. During its 1000-year history this impressive fortress has been a royal palace, prison, mint and zoo. It has seen three Queens of England beheaded, and the torture of numerous prisoners, stretched on the rack and crushed in the Scavenger's Daughter. Some notable executions are William Hastings, 1st Baron Hastings (1483), Anne Boleyn (1536), Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury (1541). Catherine Howard (1542), Jane Boleyn, Viscountess Rochford (1542), Lady Jane Grey (1554), Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex (1601). We also saw the Bloody Tower, Traitors' Gate, the Royal Chapel and the White Tower, built by King William the Conqueror in 1078. And of course this would not be complete without seeing the famous Crown Jewels including the dazzling Cullinan diamonds and the exquisite Koh-i-Noor. Unfortunately we were not allowed to photograph the Crown Jewels.


Outside of the Tower of London


Crown Jewels in Jewel House behind Mike


Inside the Tower of London



Mike is sitting on the site (which is now a trash can) where the beheading's took place


A monument to those who where executed. If you look closer you can see Ann Boleyn's and other's name inscribed on it.


Me with a Beefeater

After the Tower of London we took a cruise on the River Thames. We saw spectacular views of Tower Bridge, London Bridge, the London Eye, Houses of Parliament, and Shakespeare's Globe theater. It was a bit nippy on the cruise.


View of Tower Bridge on our way to the cruise down River Thames


Another view of Tower Bridge.


Just about to board the boat for the cruise


Going under London Bridge


The Shakespeare Globe Theater


London Eye and Big Ben


London Eye behind me


Houses of Parliament and Big Ben behind us

Finally we ended our tour by taking a flight on the London Eye. It was a 30 minute flight and amazing views of London. Mike marveled at the engineering feat. From a distance you can't tell its moving because it is slow moving. We really enjoyed this ride and would recommend it as a 'can't miss'. One of the things we noticed of the views were all the cranes in the city. I guess London is doing a lot of prepping for the summer Olympics in 2012. That would be an interesting time to visit!


Closer look at the London Eye


The River Thames from The London Eye


Amazing view


Having fun on our flight


Spectacular views


Waterloo Train Station - Largest in London


Mike loved the engineering of the London Eye

Once we were done with the London Eye, we went to the Waterloo train station (largest in London) and made our way to HARRODS!!!!! My turn to truly marvel at this amazing feat! I just want to know why don't we have this store in the USA. On the other hand maybe that's not such a great idea for me at least. Harrods is the largest department store in the world. I wish we could have had more time. This store would take at least a week to walk through it's entirety. It has over 330 departments. We only had about 2 hours before it closed. Everything you can imagine is in it. We had heard about the champagne and oyster bar and that was our first stop. We ordered a dozen oysters and had a glass of Sancerre with it. Delicious!!! Then it was off to see as much as we could within the store. I won't say what but Mike, my amazing and wonderful husband bought me a beautiful gift. Thank you my sweet Angel! You truly do spoil me. I am very happy in this store!


Arriving at Harrods


Happiness

The store closed on us and we had to head back to the flat. Oh my aching feet! Even had a blister. We did lots of walking. Once we arrived, Carlos, Tatiana's husband had arrived. It was great to see him. His mother, Pilar, had made this amazing dinner called Chupe de Centolla (King Crab Pie). Carlos opened up a few bottles of some amazing wine. Dinner was spectacular. It was awesome to catch up with them. Unfortunately, this is our last night there. Not enough time! Guess we will have to come back one day. Pilar, Carlos and Tatiana - Thank you for the wonderful dinner!!!


Chupe de Centolla


Me with Tatiana


Carlos and his mother Pilar