Cancun Photo Gallery!

Have a look at my photos from Cancun here!

Cancun 08

Arriving In Cancun

 

Hello all. It's been ages since I've updated my blog, and a LOT of stuff has happend since my last update. I plan to go back and post those entries retroactively, so expect a lot of blasts from the past!

Right now, I'm on vacation in Cancun posting from my hotel room at the Westin Hotel. My son has a REALLY bad cough that has limited what we can do so far, so the last 2 days its been the beach and the pool, which has been great, but today, now that he is feeling a lot better, we're off to explore Isla Mujeres by golf cart, stopping where we like to explore and go snorkeling. More updates later!

A Family Tradition

 

My father was a bow hunter. Traditional recurve, not the fancy compound bows they shoot today. I asked my son what he'd like to do over the weekend a few weeks back, and he said "shoot arrows", so I guess its still in our blood.

Home Safe, and Learning to be Ambidextrous Again

Word came down to us Wed from our neighbors that our neighborhood was safe, and the fires had passed, so we packed up and headed home. It was a glorious sight to see Black Mountain, well... not black! We didn't see even a trace of the fires on the way home. I plan to have a look further North this weekend.

Somewhere in the hussle I managed to badly sprain my wrist, so I went to the Doctor yesterday. As the X-ray shows, there's no break, and the brace and meds are making it feel better every day. I expect to be back behind the wheel of my Mustang by Sunday. :)

What this injury has taught me is how over-dependent I am on my right arm. Before I went to Kindergarten, I was ambidextrous. That "freak" trait was literally beat out of me. Here's how it happened:

5 year-old Nathan: "Teacher, which hand is my 'right' hand?"
Teacher: "That's easy. Your 'right' hand is the one you 'write' with."
Nathan: "But I write with both hands..."
Teacher: -slaps my left hand hard and grips my right wrist firmly- "No you don't! You write with THIS hand!".

I was too scared to argue, so I never wrote or drew with my left again. I believe I could relearn it though, and being less than 100% on the tail end of a natural disaster disturbs me enough to give it a good shot. I don't want something as simple as a sprained wrist to take me out of action so easily. Wish me luck!

Disneyland!

Disneyland March 2007

Kerry and I had made a deal with Jack that he'd get to go to Disneyland for his birthday as a reward for good behavior. He held up his end of the bargain, but because of some conflicts, I couldn't make it happen for his birthday. We made it up to him 2 weeks later, though! The video clip shows a talking / moving trashcan interacting with Jack and actually singing him Happy Birthday. How crazy is that? I know the video is a tad long, but hang in there, the best part is at the end. =)

SeaWorld!

SeaWorld

I took the family to SeaWorld today. It's about a 30 min drive from our house, which is super nice. We got season passes for the price of a day's admission, which was even better. Jack was SO looking forward to riding the Atlantis ride, since Mom wouldn't go on it with him last time they came. Jack and I got to ride it 4 times since there was no line. I managed to take some videos and pics, and hide my camera in my jacket whenever we were about to get soaked. :)



After Atlantis, Jack and I climbed around this cool obstacle course structure. Quite the workout keeping up with him through there. :)

Weekend At Boomers

Boomers

I took Jack to Boomer's last weekend, one of his favorite places in the world. We did Mini-golf, rode the Go-Karts, the Ferris Wheel (Jack's first time on one ever) and Jack rode the spinning swings all by himself (something about a weight limit kept me off :) Jack and I both managed a hole-in-one on the mini-golf. Jack's favorite part was the Ferris Wheel.

Jack Learns to Ski!

Have a look at the video of Jack's ski lessons! It's a little long, but funny, and worth it for the Jack & Daddy chairlift clip near the end.

Also, I have uploaded a video of the gondola ride at Squaw Valley. Enjoy!

Lake Tahoe - First Two Days

From Lake Tahoe 06

Here are some pics from our first 2 days at Lake tahoe. The fist one is my favorite. The bottom half of the water in the shot looks like a Photoshop filter has been applied, but it was just the wind on the water interacting with the digital CCD. Neat effect.

This was Jack's first time seeing snow. He took his first skiing class today as well. The instructor said he did great, except for the turning and stopping parts. :)

Amazing Jack and his Daddy go Camping in Cuyamaca and Jack Hiked Like a 6 Year Old, Even Though He's Only 4 and a Half

The title was Jack's idea. I think it's pretty good for a budding blogger. :)

Jack and I went camping this weekend in Green Valley Falls, Cuyamaca State Park. It was our first Father-Son camping trip. It was also VERY cold. I posted three videos and a bunch of pics.

Sunday Morning In the Tent


Breakfast of Champions!


Jack Consoles the trees in the Aftermath of the Cedar Fire


LOTS of Photos Here!

Father-Son Cuyamaca Camping Trip

A Day at the Park

 

From Family

Jack the Mountain Climber!

  

Jack's first air hockey game!

 
 
 
  

Beach Day!

Catching up on my blog a bit. Lots to upload, really. just not much time. :)

Here are a few pics Kerry took of Jack and me and Del Mar Beach on 9/9. The water was FREEZING at first, but we all got used to it. Kerry showed us the ropes at boogie-boarding and Jack got to ride the waves for really long distances. Next time I'll get video. :)

He's pretty cute in that tiny wet-suit!

Teaching Jack Chess

Kerry got this great kids chess set that lets us hide special treats inside the pieces, so jack gets a sticker or jellybean every time he captures a piece. He LOVES this idea. I went through the book with him, teaching him the moves ofr each piece. i wasn't sure he was going to remember it all, but he knew enough the next day to beat kerry at chess. :) Smart little cookie! :)

Neighborhood Family Camping trip!

Here's the group photo from our neighborhood's Indian Hills Campground trip!


Dad's Turn on the Zip Line Next!


Click the play button to see my first run.


And my 2nd run, this time with camera in-hand.


With some great encouragemnet from Jack, Kerry overcomes her fear of heights and takes flight on the zip line!


Kerry returns after her Triumphant Flight!


Leap of Faith!


Swimming with Dad.


Jack & Friends.


Mass Transit!


Jack & Dad's first Camp Fire!

Visiting Jack's School

Kerry and I got to visit Jack's pre-school with him. He showed us all the cool activites he does, including math additions into the thousands. :)

Toybox construction with Jack

Jack and I put together a bech/toybox today by the sandbox. He was a big helper. ;)


He tried to hide the holes in the hinge so I couldn't find them. :)


This is comfy!


After all that hard work, we needed a rest! Whew!

Orson Scott Card on Permissive Parenting

OSC is my favorite author, and what do you know, his parenting philosophy is the same as mine:

The other word for repression is self-control. And here's how it's learned. First, your terrible mean awful horrible parents keep you from doing what you want.

Then, as you get older, you begin to realize that your friends whose parents didn't stop them from doing those things are now having horribly messy lives. You're glad your parents kept you from doing it. Now you keep those same rules yourself. You have learned to control your desires because you now understand the consequences.

But during those many, many years when children are too ignorant, inexperienced, self-willed, stubborn, or angry to grasp the idea that really bad things can actually happen to them, parents have to have the strength to say no, to mean it, and to make it stick.

That's what happens when parents actually love their children.

Jack's first foray into IT

Jack helping me build my new PC!