The boys’ origin story ties back to furry little flying dudes—specifically, to the cryptic “W2B” (Wife To Be) image I made that Margot somehow made sense of, leading to these chaps topping our wedding cake:
It’s no wonder, then, that 20 years later he’s been donning a bee costume to help Brianna’s family sell their honey.
I think he looks pretty oh God, don’t say it, but I must… sweet. 😀
Our neighbors Chris & Dev are pouring themselves into starting a new business, selling the motorsports gear that Chris designs. Hen & I were thus hugely flattered when Chris enlisted our help in capturing street photos of their inaugural product, an especially safety-minded pair of gloves.
After scouting some downtown San Jose locations together a week earlier, we met up on Thursday night with some friends & their bikes. This being the first photo shoot I’d actually helped organize, I was pretty nervous—and then super grateful when a random stranger named Mike approached us with his camera & asked whether he could join in. He really knew his stuff, and we had a ball learning his techniques.
I’m really proud of the photos Hen captured—and more importantly, Chris is happy & can put them to good use. Check out our gallery!
Listen, if California schools are going to earmark some free time for “Ski Week,” we’d be fools not to partake, right? 🙂
Much as we did last March, Finn & I linked up with his pals Malachy & Leo, then headed north to Tahoe. This year we very slowly & carefully braved a winter storm on Donner Pass—where, happily, we did not have to resort to cannibalism! Sustained by copious amounts of beef jerky and ironic rap, we finally got there & proceeded to enjoy three days on the freshly coated hills.
Finn made his snowboarding debut, and far from my fears that he’d spend days on end falling & cursing his life, he did absolutely great—cruising down the most challenging black diamond runs by the end of his first day! Perhaps he was aided by his newly shorn head (complements of Mal & the other more successful members of his fantasy football league), which decency compels me not to show here. :-p
Check out this gallery of the goings on.
With Finn & Margot laying a bit low this year, Hen & I carried on our family tradition of attending San Francisco’s joyously warm & diverse St. Patrick’s Day parade. From bikers to wolfhounds, the parade has something for everyone—and “It sure was Redhead O’Clock,” as Hen observed.
We took Caltrain up to the city, then enjoyed our first Waymo driverless robo-taxi ride (!) en route to the festivities. After enjoying the parade, we took Muni over to meet up with our friend Rob for a great walking tour of the Castro neighborhood. Check out our photos & videos from the parade.
And just in case you’re feeling nostalgic, here are some celebrations from years gone by:
“You can’t always get what you want—but if you try sometimes, you just might find, you get what you need…”
On our recent whirlwind roadtrip through Southern California, Hen & I certainly experienced our share of ups & downs (or “strikes & gutters,” as Lebowski might put it). On Monday in particular, we got shut out of some museum visits & nearly washed away on LA’s flooded streets—but it was all worth it when we got to LAX just in time for the sun to burst through the clouds and provide us with an epic plane-capturing canvas.
We set up just outside the airport, on the famous Sepulveda Boulevard, and as you can see in our gallery of photos & videos, Hen was absolutely ecstatic about the experience and our results—as was I!
Hen and I were beyond excited not that this year’s Super Bowl would be held in nearby Levi’s Stadium (yeah, cool) but that it would feature an enormous fly-over featuring no fewer than eight Air Force and Navy aircraft—including a pair of enormous B-1 bombers (aka “The Bone”), which sport very Henryesque little mustaches.
After carefully scouting locations via Google Maps, we decided to set up shop along the Bayshore Trail. We impatiently awaited the planes’ arrival, catching distant glimpses of them assembling and then orbiting over the Santa Cruz mountains.
Finally the precisely timed moment of truth arrived, and Hen was able to get some gorgeous shots. Check out our gallery!
Much as I did last year, on Sunday I dragged the boys kicking & screaming (okay, grousing & joking :-)) to Bell Wars—Bellarmine’s annual father-son contest of strength and skills.
As with last year, we certainly distinguished ourselves—sometimes through competence, and sometimes through total lack thereof! In particular, Finn—whom I barely beat in arm wrestling last time around, and who’s been lifting weights ever since then—just mopped the floor (er, table) with the old man. Thankfully I still had Hen’s number, but if he keeps coming to CrossFit with me, I fear for my future. 😉
Check out a little gallery from our day.
All of us were so pleased to join Finn in celebrating the conclusion of his final (!) year of Bellarmine Hockey. Each graduating senior was honored by the coaches, players, and parents, and we especially enjoyed mortifying Finn & the other players by holding up giant-sized photos of them as their littler selves.
Check out our gallery from the evening, as well as some appreciative & supportive words from Finn’s coach:
Q. What’s the best possible gift for Christmas?
A. Getting the Notorious M.O.M. back with us!
We’re so happy to report that we were able to spring Margot from the hoosegow on Tuesday, and we’ve all been chilling this week, thanks especially to pals bringing us all manner of delicious chow. The plan is to keep laying low, and honestly the human boys are relieved to skip a post-Christmas road trip for once.
Here’s a little gallery showing all six of us enjoying presents around the tree. As always, here’s to gratitude, and to a healthy & happy 2026 and beyond!
[Writing this today to bring us extra luck!]
Sharing Notre Dame-related experiences with the boys & my folks has made this fall truly one of a kind.
In the last few years I’ve been pleased to drop by an ND MBA class held in Silicon Valley, sharing some hard-won & hopefully entertaining insights I’ve picked up over the years. This year I was surprised & delighted to receive an invite to return to campus on a football weekend (which somehow I hadn’t done since graduating!) and once again address the class, and to speak with a large group of faculty & staff who are wrestling with AI and its implications for education.
The boys joined me for a redeye flight to Chicago (sorry for slumping over on your tray table, Hen!), where we met up with my folks, then drove down to South Bend.
Our whirlwind four days included:
Quite predictably, Hen & I took such a debilitating number of photos (!) that it’s only now that I’m getting around to sharing them. Without further ado:
We headed back west on Sunday, stopping off at cousin Liz’s house in Chicago for a great Lou-Malnati’s-infused gathering; see pics here.
The rest of our trip was thankfully uneventful, and a few weeks passed before the Irish flew west for their season finale at nearby Stanford Stadium. The lads and I got to enjoy the ND tailgater, where Hen got to meet the famous Leprechaun!
Afterwards, as we still had some time & it was pretty darn cold (at least by our Cali standards), we quietly snuck into a Stanford tailgater—where we met none other than the famous Andrew Luck (former star quarterback at Stanford & in the NFL); hence “Luck with the Irish.” He graciously came over and shook Finn’s hand, despite our copious ND paraphernalia!
Once the game finally started, we enjoyed watching the team again beat the brakes off their opponents. You can check out our views in this gallery.
All told, we feel very lucky indeed!
“I’m just the kind of guy who looks real good in a suit!” — Henry, quoting Uncle Ted at the same age 🙂
Our handsome gents recently escorted the lovely Brianna & Mandy to Bellarmine’s winter formal, as you can see in the photos below & in this little gallery.
We weren’t able to get a photo of the boys together, so being the geek-dad I am, I couldn’t resist asking AI to imagine them in a winter wonderland. Not bad, I (and perhaps only I ;-)) think!
“Gratitude is alchemy,” they say: it’s a transformative practice which, much like traditional alchemy sought to turn lead into gold, helps us see the extraordinary in the everyday.
Pulling together a year-end photo gallery for Margot to use when selecting Christmas card pics, I was struck by just how many cool (literally & figuratively) experiences we’ve gotten to share with our dudes this year. Among them:
…and that’s just the experiences for which we have pics! 😀
Man, we couldn’t be happier with the chaps or more grateful for the times we’ve gotten to spend together. Here’s to more adventures in 2026 and beyond.
Man, could we possibly have lucked out more in getting our friend Mr. Seamus, aka Smilin’ Jim, the fancy gentleman & employee of the month? Absurd question: of course not! 😀
Our buddy remains a genial delight, gamely accompanying us on adventures near and far, and now putting up with his perpetually nippy (if well meaning) new little brother. Check out this gallery showing some of our favorite moments with him in 2025.
Every day with this chap—from our first meeting to today—remains a gift. Here’s to many more, curly pal!
Yesterday, Hen (known as our Licensed Adventure Catalystâ„¢, for reliably getting us out of the house & doing fun things) was inspired to suggest that we return to the USS Hornet up in Alameda.
We’d last visited it nearly seven years ago, bunking on board with Cub Scout pals—and seven years before that we’d dropped by for the boys’ first visit. It’s wild to see the passage of time (check out galleries from 2012 and 2019).
I love having a MiniMe who shares my loves of photography and arcane plane facts. Sunset ended up being the perfect time to capture some striking silhouettes—and props (heh) to Hen for spotting some puddles that provided us with great natural mirrors. Check our our gallery for all the shots.
PS—This time around, despite having just seen Dr. Strangelove for the first time, Hen did not do his best Slim Pickens impersonation. 😉
Amidst all the hubbub of the dudes’ senior & junior years, we’ve fallen behind in updating the ol’ Micronaxx—so let’s see about fixing that!
Finn has once again hit the ice, repping the Bells’ blue & white. Here are some pics from the first game of yesterday’s doubleheader.
Back in 2019, en route to & from Legoland, we found an out-of-the-way vineyard where Hen was the surprise beneficiary of a low-speed tour in a ’52 lowrider Chevy; see photos and video.
Building on his longstanding enjoyment of classic cars, especially of the artfully modified variety, we dropped by a lowrider gathering in San Jose on Saturday, taking in the lovingly hand-crafted rolling art.
Hen’s eye for detail is really coming along, as you can see in this gallery of great images he captured.
Man, it’s surprisingly bittersweet to realize that our dudes—who’ve started school together since what seems like the dawn of time—have just had their last joint FDOS (First Day Of School).
With the Finnster starting his senior year (!) and Hen being a junior, this marks what’ll almost certainly be their last joint starting day (well, unless Hen follows in Finn’s footsteps to a school to be named later!). Sigh… the days are long but the years are short, always.
Anyway, look at these handsome dudes:
And from memory lane:
We’ve long been intrigued by Donner Pass—named after the ill-fated (as in, cannibal) expedition that became stuck there, and which the transcontinental railroad was able to surmount through immense skill, effort, & will.
Hen’s buddy Peter had previously hiked the 3-mille trail that now runs where the original rails once lay, and on Saturday the three of us made the long drive (nearly all the way to Lake Tahoe!) to hike it ourselves.
As you can see in our gallery, we enjoyed the immense tunnels & snow sheds, popping out perodically to enjoy some spectacular views en route to the current railroad—which we caught in action!
Yes, we’re terribly behind on updating the ol’ Micronaxx—but in our defense, as soon as Hen turned 16 (technically earlier, even), we skipped the continent! 🙂
Here’s a quick gallery of El Segundo celebrating in Leadville with the fam, including cousin Kristen visiting from Illinois:
And, making up for a bit of lost time, here are a couple of galleries that gather shots Hen & I took on the Fourth of July—first at the parade, and afterwards at the airport BBQ.
And boom goes the dynamite! For the last what feels like forever, Hen has been dutifully squirreling away in the basement, building up an amazing Butch-and-Sundance-themed diorama to enter into the Walthers National Model Railroad Build-Off.
As you can see in this gallery, the plan really came together in a spectacular blaze of glory, re-enacting one of the movie’s famous train robbery scenes. Way to go, Henry—we’re so proud of your hard work and craftsmanship! (And as our friend Jodi just remarked, “There is no person more qualified to create a model train diorama!!!!” :-D)
PS—Mom adds, “OMG SO FREAKING OUTSTANDING!!!! Hen, I could not love this more!”
