“Sun’s out, guns out,” they say, but in foggy San Francisco, we have to go with “Sons out, guns out.” Here Henry explores the artillery at the Presidio.


“Sun’s out, guns out,” they say, but in foggy San Francisco, we have to go with “Sons out, guns out.” Here Henry explores the artillery at the Presidio.


Oh hi, don’t mind meβI’m just enjoying multiple suckers at once. Why, do I seem different? π β From Halloween 2013

No one got doused with chilly water (frozen or otherwise) or lost a digit, Iβm happy to report, during our Saturday visit to the San Jose Sharks practice ice rink with Finnβs pal Zach & his fam. The lads enjoyed tottering around on skates with the help of buckets on which they could lean. Check it out:


During our time in Mendocino, journeyed south to the Point Arena Lighthouse, then up to light at Point Cabrillo. Here’s a gallery from the outing, as well as (below) a couple of interactive 360ΒΊ panoramas I captured. (You can click the icon in the upper-right corner of each to make it full screen, then drag to explore it.)
The boys are, of course, insane for trains, so kudos to Margot for discovering the Skunk Train that operates out of Fort Bragg (the town just up the coast from Mendocino). The train winds its way through redwoods en route to an old logging camp that offers BBQ & knickknacks (but not BBQ’d knickknacks). We met some nice families along the way. A 3-year-old kid named Silas ended up lending his name to Finn’s little souvenir stuffed skunk (for which we devised the mnemonic, “He makes you sigh less”), and a couple from Fremont helped the boys squash pennies on the rails while keeping Henry from being squashed as well! Despite the cold & wind, Hen insisted that he & I stand outside for mile after mile, so he’s a bit overrepresented in the photos. π
Here’s a gallery from the day, as well as some video highlights:

[YouTube]
Having really enjoyed our trip down the coast at Thanksgiving, the boys were super amped for another “Roadtrip, roadtrip!!” as they called it. Therefore on Sunday we took a drive in the opposite direction, heading north to Mendocino. I’ll post a bunch of other photos & videos soon, but in the meantime here’s a little gallery showing off the gorgeous sunset lighting we encountered upon rolling into town & exploring the bluffs. (Vertigo-inducing shots have been omitted to Grandpa Nack’s presumed relief. ;-))


Following our torrential rains, the dudes & I explored the waterfalls of nearby Uvas Canyon. The boys even took turns rocking my big camera, so this set includes the first Finn-captured photo upload to Facebook! They were also keenly aware of things we could do to images after the fact (“Dad-O, take a picture & then Photoshop me falling off the bridge!” “Dad-O, will your Google friends make this into a little animation?”).
Stay tuned for the Photoshoppery, and in the meantime, here’s the gallery plus a short video below.


Anyone excited to drop in on Dad-O at Google & pound down some ice cream? Anyone, anyone? π

Thanks to Auntie Laura for some fun new reads!
We were delighted to discover this little composition en EspaΓ±ol in Finn’s backpack. It shows our immediate fam plus Liggett grandparents & Lingle cousins, each performing our characteristic activities (click for larger version).
Some translations:
I’ve always gotten a goofy kick out of the line in Handle’s Messiah that says “We like sheep!” We sure did like some the other night whenβthanks especially to Margot’s crazy skills with hot glue & cotton ballsβour dudes were resplendent in sheep threads. Check out a gallery from their performance in Aesop’s Fables.
Special thanks to our pal Magdalena & her dad David for coming out to enjoy the show.
In the clip below, the Willow Glen Elementary sheep take us to the jungleβthe mighty jungle!
Why hello there! You’ve just caught me drawing a little somethin’ somethin’ for Grandma & Grandpa… π

Ladies and gentlemen, I give to you, the North American Bizarre Owl. π

Greetings from some truly micro Micronaxx, daily lovers of Lego Advent calendars. π

Backseat wishes from the boys. (“Finny the director,” notes Uncle Ted. π )
[YouTube]
Finn expresses some reasonable concern for Monterey’s Windex warriors. π
Throwback Thursday: Happy Henry at the Legoland Hotel, August 2013.

Liβl pumpkin with pumpkin. π
