2008 In Photos

2008: The Year in Photos

In January the kids got buckled into the car for school, backpacks and lunchboxes in hand -- Shea, for the first time.

In February the kids got spoiled all kinds of rotten.

In March the kids and I climbed up Diamond Head together.

This is the view from about halfway up.

In April, still getting used to the whole concept of preschool, Shea cried through most of her Easter parade. Afterwards, her brother comforted her.

By May, Shea had long-since figured out which of Finney's friends were the cute ones and flirted accordingly.

In June, we posed for a family portrait in our backyard because I needed to submit something for my 20-year high school reunion brochure. 20 years.


In July, while visiting California, the kids got to wear fun hats in a photobooth at Frankie Dino's 6th birthday party.


In August Finn kept a keen eye on the competition at his school's jog-a-thon.



In September the kids watched The Red Balloon on my computer, wearing next to nothing and loving it.



In October John showed Shea how he shaves every morning.



In November we all watched history being made by someone who can actually bodysurf Sandy's.


In December I actually talked Shea into wearing a dress AND a hat.
Which she wore for about 10 minutes.


Here's wishing you a fantastic 2009!

The Kids Love Saying Baby Makapu'u As Much As They Love Going There

The Moment They've Been Waiting For For Six Years

Paying Our Respects To The Institution

If you read the last post, then the topic of this one will come as no surprise; after gorging ourselves at Philippe's, we drove up the hill to Dodger Stadium and took in a evening game from the top deck seats.

We were joined by Brian, Geri, cousin Reilly and Reilly's older cousin Danny...

...as well as Aunties Gretchen and Jody.

After weeks of preparation, Shea learned all the words to Take Me Out to the Ballgame, and made us all proud as she sang them during the seventh inning stretch.

And once again, we lasted a full eight innings.

Which was more than enough time to put the Giants in their place.

A French Dip, A Piece Of LA History, And A Slice Of Heaven, Please

As I've written about here before, for our family no trip to see the Dodgers play would be complete without a trip beforehand to one of LA's classic establishments, Philippe's.

Here, then, is a photo tour of our gastronomical pilgrimage last month. I only wish this blog had the capacity to share samples with you.

Then we could swoon together.

This somewhat nondescript white building on the corner of N. Alameda and Ord holds 100 years of tradition and deliciousness. (Technically, Philippe's opened in 1908 but didn't get to this location until 1951.)

Hungry patrons queue informally between long, wooden tables. On busy days and nights, every one of those tables are full and every one of those lines is twice as long. If you look close you can see John and Shea holding hands in line behind the first pillar, with Finn a few steps behind them.

On the middle shelf against the back wall you'll notice nearly a full row of Philippe's famous mustard. As they say, it's "hot, but good." So true. On the counter in the foreground, an entire container of pickled eggs, brining in their magenta deliciousness.

Uniformed and gloved servers do it all for you: take your order, make your sandwiches, scoop your salads, fill your drinks, and deliver your money -- which you place on the palm tree tray -- to the cashier, behind, in pink. Cash only, baby.

Back row: Scoop of potato salad, scoop of coleslaw. Front row: Two pickled eggs, one kosher pickle. Tall glass of ice-cold lemonade. Not pictured: One turkey and Swiss double dipped french dip sandwich; one lamb and blue cheese single-dipped french dip sandwich; homemade beef stew with tons of chunky veggies; one slice of pecan pie.

Fruit salad, yummy yummy. How did she know I wanted the one with the big kiwi slice on top?

Iced teas and lemonades, frequently purchased, are already prepared for servers. Our beer, however, was freshly draughted.

Finn flashes his best smile in hopes of scoring one of those cinnamon-sprinkled tapiocas in the front row.

At our table and excitedly about to dig in. Look closely and you'll notice the patron at the table behind us has a Giants baseball cap unapologetically resting on his table. At a notorious Dodger establishment. But the food's so good nobody seems to mind.

Remind me to tell you the now-legendary-in-our-family "pecan pie" story from years ago the next time I see you.

They even have an old-fashioned candy counter where we always stock up on goodies for the ballgame. And yes, that's sawdust on the floor.


Top two rows: The real candy, circa 2008.
Bottom four rows: The original merchandising display stickers, worn and weathered, that used to indicate which Life Savers were stocked there, back in the day.

Did you know they used to make Clove Life Savers? Me neither.


The view towards the main entrance from inside. On the right, antique wooden phone booths. Out front, the restaurant's famous striped awnings.

No doubt she gained at least a few extra ounces dining on all the goodness Philippe's has to offer. The antique scale will tell for sure.

What It Do, Logie Boo?

Remember these adorable three-year-old preschoolers, winding their way through a pumpkin patch hay maze back in 2005?


Well they're six years old now and in the first grade, but would like you to know that they're still very much pals and friends and best boogie boarder buddies and all that good stuff. And can you just step a little to the left, please, so we can play with this video game?

One of our first matters of pressing business while in California was to log some serious play time with Finney's buddy Logan and his family. Here the kids are at the local park, eating Kultured Kitchen frozen yogurt, playing chase with the bigger kids, and being generally puppy-dog adorable.

Part of our grand vacation plan included scheduled kid-free Mommy time for Gina and me, so we made sure to get it inked in long before our plane's wheels even touched the ground at LAX. Here we are with Cari outside the restaurant where the three of us had a lovely dinner, and later at one of San Clemente's best old dive bars, The Red Fox Lounge (which, sadly, due to a slow, city-wide gentrification over the last decade or so, isn't red, foxy, or even all that loungey anymore. We had a good time anyway).

Before our vacation was over, we were even able to get the Dads involved for some quality barbecue, corn on the cob, homemade macaroni and cheese -- and surf talk. Jerry, you see, is a real-life master surfboard shaper by trade and -- how cool is this?!? -- made John a custom surfboard during our visit to match his height, weight and even paddling-distance tendencies. Now that we're home in Hawaii again and the new board has cured, John's like a kid on Christmas morning every weekend riding his very own new, shiny tricycle. In the water.

Once again, good times all around.