First Suits

They got their first wetsuits and then proceeded to body surf for 2.5 hours. Me too

Mark on a Swing

Bullet Train

Uncles

Disneyland 2010

Last week we took the kids to the happiest place on earth for 5 days. It was their first time.  Kim and I decided that to make the trip even more special, we would book our hotel reservations at the Disneyland Hotel. A wise choice dats4sure!  I was nervous because some people in the reviews I read had said that it was old and run down.  Those reviews couldn't be further from  the truth. While it wasn't the most modern hotel, it had tons of Disney charm and the service was outstanding. But enough hotel review. It was a fantastic place to stay!

It took us 10 hours to get to the hotel by way of 101.  We unloaded the bags at the curb and I went to park the car so that we wouldn't have to pay the 17 dollars a day for the valet.  As I was searching for a place to park, I got a text from Kim who was supposed be checking in. She was stuck at the entrance unable to go in. Evidently Mark wasn't having it. Once he caught a sight of Goofy he got spooked. He locked up and wouldn't budge! When I arrived at the door after parking, Mark was tracking the giant puppet man with a instinctive survival glance. It was super intense.So I wrapped him up in my arms and we went into the lobby. Elisa was exactly the opposite. She ran over and gave the Goofy a huge hug and posed for pictures. She was STOKED!!  The stage was now set for how the kids would react to the characters.

After we unloaded our bags in our room we headed for the park. We opted to walk through downtown disney. When we got there we headed straight for to the mad hatter and had some Disney ears made.

Un-Cupcaking

This is Elisa's Cup Cake bike. Mark has inherited it now. He was asked what color bike he would like it to be....

Recycled

West Side Santa Cruz 2010

West Side, Santa Cruz 2010

Blender Sounds 2

Blender sounds

Caper Acres Nov 2009

Today I am fat

I woke up at 4 again to the cat. Why does our cat want to wake me up to tell me he has a full dish of cat food?  Cats are strange beasts. They act so smart but then do REALLY REALLY stupid things.  I wonder if they are really as smart as we humans would like to believe. 

So the house still has not sold. I think it's been about a month now.  Things are getting pretty tight financially. The Ford Escape broke down on our way back from Chico last weekend. We were on Bayliss Blue Gum Road and Kim had to pull into some farmer's driveway when the car lost it's power.

We called the AAA and they came and got the car. Fortunately I drove my truck as well, so we loaded the items from the Escape into the truck. Chris came to pick up Kim and Elisa.

Kim was stranded in Chico for another 2 days with the kids. I came home to work and heard the stories of children projectile vomiting on my brothers sofa via text and face book. YAY!!!

Kim is back now but she had to leave $651.34 at the Dealership. Sucka!!

 

Home

Well the house sold 3 days ago. Our real estate agent told us of the offer. We found the number to be agreeable. So the agent came over at 10pm and we signed the papers.

Today we found that the buyers wanted to pull out of the deal. They said that the design of the house wouldn't allow for the kind of remodel they were planning on. Fun. This year really is full of wondrous surprises of stinky!

Tomorrow is the next round of open houses. I feel like a zombie. I am so depressed about having to sell and move.

Moving 3

Wow I am cooked. I think I was up at 6am and packing up the house by 630.  The house is more or less ready to show to rich people who can afford to buy it. We are going to list it at 669000. I really hope we can get that number.

Today we had the house cleaners come and spiff up the nasty bits. The kids went to grandma's house for a 3rd day. That woman is a rock star!!!  I will head to work tomorrow. Craig is going to come and clean my tank and take my truck to the dump to unload the trash in the back. The house will be listed on MLS tomorrow.

Halloween Fishing

So Kim came home from the hospital last night. My brother Tim, who came dowm from chico to help out while Kim was in the hospital, left shortly after eating some bagels.  He was a huge moral support for me and the kids, dats4sure! Thanks Tim. Thanks everybody.
  Anyway after bagels I loaded the kids up in the car and took them fishing at Parkway Lakes.


We brought the Spider-man and Cinderella fishing poles, a bucket, and some diaper wipes.



At first Elisa didn't want to go on the trip because she didn't want to miss trick or treatin.  In the end she made it.  When we first got their the lady running the cash register, was dressed as a witch and gave the kids some candy. They picked out fishing bobber and then it was time to fish.

 When we got to the sure catch pond, there was a European family struggling to learn the english words that are used in fishing. We waited for a bit and then it was our time to catch the fishy. I asked who wanted to fish first and Elisa jumped at the chance.



I think Elisa was suprised at the power of the fish. It kind of spooked her. 
When she hooked her first fish, she reeled it to the side of the pond and then asked me to finish bringing it in. After that she was a little shy for about 10 minutes. Mark stood by in shock as the fish jumped and splashed.

After we got the first fish in the bucket both the kids ran up to get a closer look. They jumped about 3 feet when the bugger splashed them with a few shakes of the tail. They got a great laugh out of that.

Mark really was amped to get his turn.  The night crawler he had was a long one. In fact he decided it was a Snake and not a worm.When he hooked his first fish he was confused. He didn't expect the fish to pull so hard. It was funny and then frustrating to him that he couldn't just reel the fish in.


At the end of the hour and a half, the kids had caught 5 nice rainbow trout.

Growing Up In The Storm

Dude Bro Hamging Ten

Framing a little man

Holga on my Birthday