Mountain out of a Molehill

Today was yard work day. We had been avoiding it for about two months now. I got up and busted out the new lawnmower and with the assistance of your mom, we were able to get it ready to rock and roll. Once we got started, it was hard to stop. Almost four hours later, we had success. While I was pushing the lawn mower back and forth, look at the creation you were able to come up with.

Guess what? We'll get to do it all over again in another month! Hoo-ray!

dpgmarine

History in the making

The second day of our Thanksgiving week off, we decided to take you to the Natural History Museum. It's next store to the Space Center where we took you earlier this year to see the Space Shuttle. I think the last time I stepped foot into this museum, I was still in elementary school. Well, the prices sure have gone up since then. Anyways, right when we walked in, you were already asking about going back outside. Unbelievable! The first area has two humongous dinosaurs bone sculptures for us to view. After that we went from room to room looking at all the dinosaurs and various animals that were on display. We also went upstairs to see lots and lots of stones and birds. In one area, it was almost like a rain forest complete with sounds. It was dark and once the bird calling started, you actually got scared and wanted to leave. That my friend, was too funny. We ventured around a few more areas before we went back outside and let you run around like a wild animal. Overall, it was a good experience. You may not care about it now, but one day you'll look back and say "Wow, it only cost $12 per adult back then!"

dpgmarine

Knotts Berry Farm 2013 #2

Well, this was the first time that I took off the whole week of Thanksgiving. I thought the extra three days would provide us with lots of opportunities to have fun. So, I decided since the weather was going to be nice that we should venture off back to Knotts. We had actually just taken you there a few weeks back for our annual trip. However, since we only have to pay for you and parking, it wasn't going to hurt our pockets too much to take you again. First, we kicked off the morning with a breakfast at Ihop. Man, you sure can scarf down those pancakes. It's really amazing to see how much you can shovel down your throat. After we got our filling, we headed straight to the site. This time around, it wasn't as packed because it was during the week. We actually started off by going on the sidewinder roller coaster. It does live inside of Camp Snoopy, but it is a pretty exciting little roller coaster. You then wanted to go on the blue skate and then it was off to the hot air balloons. After that, we all went on the Ferris wheel and then it was onto the boat ride. By then we were hungry, so we grabbed an orange bang and headed off to Johnny Rockets for some fries. Well, thirty minutes and fifteen dollars later we had our fries. Finally, there were some new rides in that section of the park that we had neither seen nor been on. We decided to try a few out for size. First it was the swinging fish ride. You and your mom went on and you really seemed to enjoy it. After that, we went on this solo car roller coaster. Only one car is sent off at a time with up to four passengers. So all three of us went on and you and your mom sat up in the front. It was a really fun ride and it had a pretty big drop right at the beginning of the ride. You did very well and it just made me and your mom realize how quickly you've grown and how brave you've become. Another fun day added to the books!

dpgmarine

Encino Tournament 2013

Well, today was our second soccer tournament of the season. This location brought back a lot of memories for me in particular because it was just down the street from where I was stationed as a Reservist in the Marines. Taking the route up the North 101 freeway and exiting Balboa Blvd certainly kicked up old memories of making the same drive on Friday afternoons to go to drill. Those are times that I hope to share with you when you’re older. Back to the matter at hand.


We had to be there very early because the games were kicking off early as well as photos of the teams. We started off with our usual ritual of going to Portos first. Luckily, the weather was very cooperative and it turned out to be a very nice day for soccer. After we checked the team in, we took our photos. We then set up shop at the first field where we would be playing at. Our games were scheduled to be played back to back at 1015 and 1130am. You were definitely eager to get out there and start kicking the ball around. You did very well as you have all season. Scoring has become something that you really strive for. I’m so proud of your progress and efforts. It’s truly been an amazing feat to watch you play out there. The only thing that you and all the players can improve on is passing the ball.

In the first game we played a team with only 5 players, but everybody had a great time. I believe you got stepped on once by another player’s cleats and had to come out for a bit. You were then able to get back out there and seek out the ball a short time later. We then had to break down our area and move two fields down and set back up. In our second game, we played a team with more than double our players. It was still a great time. We cut this game a bit short because it was warmer and it seemed like a lot of kids wanted to go play in the jumpers including you.

We packed up our stuff and put everything in the car and then took you to play. You were primarily interested in the jumper with the slide in it. For some reason, I was really exhausted after the events. I laid down on the grass and shut my eyes for a bit, while you mom sipped on her smoothie drink. Finally, it was time to go. One last look in the direction of my old unit and then we headed back onto the South 101 freeway . We ended up stopping at King Taco to get some chow. You were really into feeding the pigeons and sparrows on this day.

Finally, we headed home and jumped into our bed for a family nap. Your mom had went out the night before so she was definitely looking forward to that moment. Another day, another adventure!

dpgmarine