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NYC Photos

NYC Friday: Library & Central Park

Man, we’ve been zooming around the city like mad, barely catching our breath.

Today we started out at the NY Public Library, home to the stone lions Patience & Fortitude, who Finn & Margot knew from their roles in the Percy Jackson book series. After that we split up, with the boys & I heading up to Central Park for some exploration, boating (a first for all of us!), and watching street performers (the Afrobats). Happily Hen (mostly) overcame his fear of sailing into the bushes, and Finn’s “interpretive dance” style of rowing didn’t result in (permanent) oar loss.

Now we’re all laying low a bit at home, grabbing some chicken on the corner & watching The Hunt for Red October before Margot & I head out for a nightcap. Here’s a little gallery from our day. Note that you can click the stretched-out panoramas to load them into interactive 360º viewing mode. Enjoy!

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NYC Photos

NYC Monday: Sailing, Rain, & WTC

Greetings from sometimes rainy but always thrilling New York! I’m being pulled out the door for day 2, but in the meantime here’s a little gallery of what we’ve been doing so far—visiting Brooklyn and the 9/11 Memorial, sailing around the harbor, and more. To be continued! 🗽😀

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Videos

Whiplash rides again!

Twenty-odd years ago, I took young Ted Nack to a rodeo in Galena where we saw Whiplash The Cowboy Monkey—a crazy little collie-riding Capuchin. I’ve never forgotten that little dude & had told Margot and the boys about him over the years. Imagine my surprise and delight, then, when I learned on Friday that not only is Whiplash alive & well (age 25!), but that he was coming to a rodeo near us. Check out this brief tour of our trip to the California Rodeo in Salinas yesterday—and Whiplash, long may you ride!

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Birthdays Milestones Videos

Henry’s Eighth!

We can’t believe that it’s been eight full rides around the Sun since our young Hen suddenly charged into the world, and we continue to have a blast with him. We’ll try to post more pics from his birthday shortly, but in the meantime here’s a peek at our epic day at Great America:

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Camping Photos

Camping with Las Madres 2017

Continuing our great tradition from the last 5+ years (see previous installments), we were delighted to join our gaggle of Las Madres pals for some s’more-spattered fun in the woods. This year was beset by bees & biting flies (released, no doubt, by the increasingly large & far-ranging kids’ explorations), but fortunately our dudes were mostly spared. Highlights included playing Old Maid, Mancala, and Rush Hour Jr. Check out a gallery from the adventure.

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July Fourth Photos

Happy Fourth!

We’ve been having a great Fourth of July here in San Jose—missing our traditional Leadville scene a bit, but happy to get to party with Las Madres pals along the Alameda. You can check out a little gallery of photos by mousing over the image below & clicking the little arrow at the right, or by

 

A post shared by John Nack (@jnack) onJul 4, 2017 at 6:11pm PDT

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Photos Videos

Grandpa & the Guys

On the heels of a great visit & Father’s Day spent with Grandpa Nack, here’s a little time capsule (much like the one we made for Grandma Nack) showing the chaps’ adventures together over the years. You can view it as a video (below) or as a gallery. (Happy belated Father’s Day, Dad!)

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Big G Videos

Mississippi Queen

“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 (?)!

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Big G Videos

Alpine Mayhem

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!

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Big G Photos Videos

Alpine Cruising!

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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Photos

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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Photos

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.)

#GoIrish #Lego ☘️💪

A post shared by John Nack (@jnack) on

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Baseball Photos Videos

Wrapping Up the Dragons’ Tale

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.

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Photos

Mother’s Day: Celebrating our year with Mom-O

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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Videos

Mother’s Day with Grandma Nack

The dudes are really looking forward to their impending adventures in Galena with Grandma & Grandpa Nack. In the meantime, the video below is a fun little time capsule of some times with Grandma over the years (automatically created by Google Photos!), and here’s a little gallery of their times together.

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Photos

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!)

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TYKTWD Videos

Chaos Reigns @ The Googleplex

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:

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Videos

“Let’s go sci-ence!”

Our strange world now demands that we speak up clearly in favor of reason & evidence, so today we did. After hand-crafting some signs with Mom-O, the boys joined us & our friends the Hogarties in our local March for Science. Take a peek!

[Side note: Here’s a collection of great signs (and sines & cosines!) seen at marches around the country.]

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Easter Videos

Easter Scientists 🐰

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:

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Baseball Videos

Little League Sprinkler Party

The Willow Glen Green Dragons cool off after their latest victory 💦⚾️😄🐲