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Birthdays Lake Tahoe Photos

The Old Men & The Lake

Up in Tahoe I rang in the start of my 40’s just two days after our friend Hans started his 50’s. Just as last year we shared a cake, and this year Margot & the boys took the sting out of mortality by giving me “Benny’s Spaceship Spaceship SPACESHIP!!” from The Lego Movie—a loving throwback to the 80’s-vintage sets I had growing up. Amazingly (miraculously!) despite our cabin being darker than Carlsbad Caverns, we built the beast and got it home without losing any parts.

Here’s a handful of photos from the festivities—including impatient Henry realizing that yes, he will actually get to eat some cake 🙂 .

Cake Triptych

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First Day of School Milestones Photos

Big Men on Campus

Q. Who’s got four thumbs and is (almost) ready for the first day of school?
A. Theeeese guys. 🙂

(For comparison: First day of first grade/kinder 2014; first day of kinder 2013)

Big Scholars
Big Scholars

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Lake Tahoe Photos

Spherical Tahoe

I like to go beyond what a simple photo can capture, so I really enjoy capturing 360º spherical panoramas of our travels. (The fam is nice to indulge me as I lag behind on hikes, etc. in order to make these.) To look around some of the Lake Tahoe-area sights we encountered last week, you can click and drag on any of the photos below, or—better still—you can click the “View on Google Maps” link on each one to view it much larger.

Stormy Skies

Sunset

Easy Sunday Morning

 

Fallen Leaf Dam

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Lake Tahoe Photos

The Twilight of My Thirties

Few people really want to age, but getting to spend the final sunset of my thirties with these chaps on the shores of Lake Tahoe—well, that wasn’t too bad. 🙂 Here’s a little gallery of the boys digging their giant earthworks project, returning a tiny clam to the water (Henry was quite sentimental about this), and “Ninja Warrior” Finn clamoring up the pier & leaping into the sand.

Flyin' Lion

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Lake Tahoe Photos

Lords of the Paddleboards

Greetings from Lake Tahoe! Despite facing some unseasonably cool & blustery weather, we’ve been spending a good amount of time down by the lake. We’ve become paddleboard “lords” only in the most ironic sense, but it’s been fun zipping around the long, very shallow stretch in front of our cabin. Here are a few pics.

BoardLords

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Photos

Some excitin’ kitin’

We had a ball checking out Berkeley’s Kite Festival last weekend. The boys were especially intrigued by the enormous octopodes stretching their tentacles out more than 100 feet. Check out a little gallery of the proceedings.

KitesBig

KitesWaving

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Photos Videos

Throwback Thursday: Thomas & Toddling

Five years ago today we were riding the rails with Thomas!

TBT

And just two years before that, here’s what went wobbling its way through our kitchen. 🙂

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Videos

Of Krakens & Kites

Here are a couple of video glimpses of our fun, windblown day out at the Berkeley Kite Fest. (Click on either one to play it.) Pics to follow!

A video posted by John Nack (@jnack) on

A video posted by John Nack (@jnack) on

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Photos

Port of Call: San Diego

Having previously explored the USS Hornet, Iowa, and America, the boys were eager to see what the naval hub of San Diego had to offer. They weren’t in the least disappointed to scurry through not one but two submarines (the deep-diving recorder holder USS Dolphin as well as an old Soviet Foxtrot-class boat), the 100+-year-old ferry Berkeley (which helped rescue people after the San Francisco earthquake), the 19th-century Star of India (the world’s oldest active sailing ship), and finally the aircraft carrier USS Midway. Check out a gallery from the day out.

ShooterHen

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Birthdays Milestones Photos

Henry: 6; gift wrap: zero!

Hen BDay Anim

Our lad Henry marveling excitedly at the Birthday Lego set he has waited for!

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Birthdays Milestones Photos

¡Enrique Seis!

Our Henry has hit another milestone – he is officially a 6-year old! He has been so excited to turn six, and we’ve been stretching the celebration out over the past two weeks. Last week, at Henry’s request, we took a family vacation to Legoland California as a special birthday treat. While there, we also visited San Diego’s Maritime Museum and the USS Midway aircraft carrier, and the San Diego Zoo Safari Park. At long last, Henry got to celebrate yesterday with singing and vanilla cupcakes, cards and gifts from cousins, grandparents, and our beloved Coco, and of course a new Lego City construction set from us.

Feliz Cumpleanos to our youngest, but no longer little, Henry!

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Photos

SD Zoo Crew, Part Deux

Having really enjoyed our 2013 visit to the San Diego Zoo, we were eager to check out the Safari Park some 30 miles north of town. Despite the 90-degree heat, the park didn’t disappoint, and the boys were delighted to see lions, tigers, and goats—oh my! Here’s a little gallery from the day.

Birdo

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Photos

Bat Men

Just a couple of mammals digging the San Diego Zoo Safari Park:

BatMen

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Photos

Legoland!

Legoland

To the surprise of probably no one ever, we’ve had a ball exploring Legoland over the last few days. It’s great that Henry is now able to ride all the big-guy rides, and like MacArthur storming back into the Philippines, he boldly reclaimed the Lazy River that literally sank him two years ago. Highlights this year included the upgraded water park (where you can build & race Chima-themed boats), the giant Lego Death Star (see below), and the 3-million-brick basement set from The Lego Movie. Check it out!

A video posted by John Nack (@jnack) on

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Photos

“Who did our lion eat today?”

Oh, probably just some little blonde kid from up north. 🙂 (Hi from Legoland!)

Lion

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Photos

Throwback Friday: Wigglin’ with cousins

Seven years ago today. 🙂

Cousins

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Photos

Throwback Thursday: Wigglin’ with Grandpa

Seven years ago in Leadville. 🙂

GrandpaWiggle

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Photos

Weekend Silliness

This is what happens when you let a couple of high-energy chicos pro-wrestle one another at a beach house…

Ottomanicas

…and then go hiking in the woods.

CreekWalk2a

CreekWalk1a

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Camping Photos

Greetings from Sunless—er, Sunset—Beach

Despite freezing our butts off last weekend (seriously, the temperature dropped 40º en route from San Jose to our Sunset Beach campsite), we had a ball as usual hanging out with tons of friends large & small. Henry, having fallen head over heels last year for our friend Jake’s shovel, was delighted to bring his own shovel this year. To tell the tools apart, the boys dubbed them “Seymour El Macho” and “Seymour Junior.”

Here’s a gallery of some of the first-kite-flying, kid-burying, craft-making, surf-jumping, s’more-toasting good times. 🙂

Surf Jumpers

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Photos

Throwback Thursday: The Battle for Dad-O’s Face

If there’s one thing I’ve taught my sons, it’s respect for their elders. 😉

Ancient-face-assault