“A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again” is how David Foster Wallace memorably described his experience aboard a cruise ship. By contrast, we had a ball cruising the Mississippi with the boys (see previously shared pics), but turning the boat into a temporary aircraft carrier for my drone was… not my soundest idea. Here’s the footage I was able to salvage amidst my semi-frantic attempts to land the drone (which kept getting blown backward as it approached the boat). Enjoy (?)!
Category: Photos
In case you somehow didn’t get enough of our downhill hijinks the other day, check out this pair of vids. (And if you’re feeling nostalgic, compare them to the time the whole fam sledded at once, three years ago.)
To quote Hen on this one, “Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhh!!” 😝 (turn up your speakers)
And in this vid, you can click and drag around as it plays, seeing the scene in 360º mode!
Yesterday we had a ball riding Chestnut Mountain’s Alpine Slide down to the Mississippi, then tooling around the backwaters for an hour before hitting the slide another half dozen times. As you might be able to see, Hen started out pretty nervous but grew to love the slide, getting faster with each run. Here’s a little gallery from the day, plus a video of Henry in action.
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Andrea’s wedding
On Saturday we had a ball journeying up to Marin County with my folks & the boys to celebrate my cousin Andrea’s wedding. From bagpipes to mariachis, from a cappella Guns & Roses to devouring jars full of Oreos, it was memorable all around. 🙂 Here’s a little gallery from the day.
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Lego Leprechaun
Henry Seamus put his idle hands to good use Saturday at the Lego store. ☘️😊 (Roll over the image & click the little arrow by the mascot’s fist to see more pics.)
Finn, Hen, and their fellow Green Dragons closed out the season in style last night, playing their 19th (!!) game of the season and their first on the “majors” field. I took the boys to practice at the batting cage beforehand, and it paid off with Hen knocking in an RBI, then scoring a run, and with Finn connecting probably harder than he has all season. Here’s a little gallery and video montage of the game and celebration.
Wow—what a whirlwind last 12 months we’ve had! Here’s a quick compilation of some of Mom-O’s highlights with her dudes—from riding rapids & exploring a goldmine Colorado, to ziplining in Hawaii, to freezing in Yosemite, to plumbing the depths of Death Valley and beyond. The pics are also viewable as a gallery.
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Remembering John Chancellor
As a very young kid, I spent innumerable hours (and gallons of water) playing in the sandbox, where engaged in the rather bizarre ritual of drowning “John Chancellor” (a Fisher-Price figure I named after the then-current anchorman). I also enjoyed taking my Lego armada into the tub for technicolor food coloring battles.
Therefore I’m one happy padre when I see our dudes partaking of the same kinds of fun (well, minus the late Mr. Chancellor), sometimes with the exact same boats! Here’s a little gallery from yesterday’s building & battling. (Note cameo appearances from the little Lego lion & whale Grandma Nack sent at Easter!)
Much like we did in 2015 and then again last year (pics), the boys & I dropped in on Google’s annual Take Your Kids To Work Day. After engaging in some sugar-fueled Greco-Roman beatdowns, the boys checked out an animal exhibit (how ’bout that anteater!), Finn got himself a new hoodie, and Hen scored a giant plush Android. 🙂 Check out a bit of the proceedings:
Bonus throwback: Finn doing his best Dad-O impression at the whiteboard during our 2015 visit:
After stalking Easter eggs & wolfing down their candy contents, the boys headed up to San Francisco with us on Sunday to explore the California Academy of Sciences. Check out a few glimpses of our day:
The Willow Glen Green Dragons cool off after their latest victory 💦⚾️😄🐲
What’s the sound of 1,000 little fingers slapping? Watch this vid & see, as the dudes & I circled the infield and high-fived a couple hundred of their fellow Willow Glen Little Leaguers:
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Splish-Splash at the Sutro Baths
On Saturday we drove north to SF to rendezvous with cousin Patrick Loughnane & his wife Jocelyn, then check out the ruins of San Francisco’s historic Sutro Baths. The crazy-gusty wind blew Finn & Margot back to the car, but intrepid Hen led the rest of us down to the caves & along the catwalks among the pools (much to Grandpa Nack’s unease :-p). Check out a few photos from the little adventure, and watch for Patrick’s hair to convey just how gusty things got!
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Our Life on the Rails
From the redwoods to the Rockies…
From Death Valley to Dubuque…
From the Pacific coast to the shores of Lake Michigan…
…in every season and at every age, we’ve sure had some excellent times riding the rails with our dudes & pals.
Following Sunday’s train show, Old Railroad Man Hen decided he’d really like to print out an exhibit of our photos capturing just some of our adventures. Here’s a sample of the ever-growing set!
Oh, and here are our very oldest & very newest Hen/train pics. 🙂
Our big man Finn turns 9 this week (What?! Nine?! Nein!!). Though he’s not fond of being the center of attention, we managed to get him to agree to a small, low-key celebration with two of his best buddies, Colton and Damien. We took everyone out to the Lego Batman movie, then went out for pizza, and home for cake, gifts, and a sleepover.
Finn also did an excellent job of art-directing and helping to construct his custom birthday cake: chocolate cake, frosted with Nutella, filled with more Nutella and banana slices, and ringed with cookie straws. A good, sugar- and nerf battle-fueled time was had by all. Here’s a little gallery of the proceedings.
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Sweet child o’ mine—literally
“Ohhhh!!” said Hen, cackling as he saw this bit of silliness I whipped up, “Get those off the screen & put them in my mouth!!” That kid has never met a carbohydrate he didn’t like, so it was fun to make him this tasty morsel.
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Pinewood Dervishes 2017
This year the lads took a much more active hand in crafting their Pinewood Derby cars, applying hacksaws, a Dremel, paint, and glue to shape their hot rides (which ran much faster this year than last!). Here’s a little gallery showing the construction, plus a video from the day.
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Superb Owl Sunday
Hope you & your feathered friends enjoyed the big game. 🙂
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Space Looens!
Recipe:
- Ingredients:
- Two young dudes
- Innumerable cardboard scraps pulled from recycling
- $3 worth of random hot tub tubing
- Assorted memories of James Bond’s “Moonraker”
- One sleepy dad
- One rainy Saturday
- Mix well, serve cheerfully.
While I dozed on Saturday following the march, the dudes took a break from screen time and surprised me by constructing a really elaborate launch pad, jet packs, helmets, communicators, and more for Leo, Tim, and other members of the animal posse. Here’s a little gallery of some space-age cuteness.
I felt so proud & privileged today to march alongside Finn & Hen (and in spirit alongside Mom-O in DC) in the record-setting Women’s March. Numerous marchers smiled & took pics of the sign Hen thought up and made by himself (well, with a little questionable spelling assistance from Finn). I’ll translate: “You fried circus peanut, you’re not going to rule our state, you’ll rule the dungeon. Boo Trump!” :-p
Here are a few shots from the day.