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!

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.

San O: A Tale of Six Summers

During the summer of 2002, when Finney was about a month old, John and I took him to Old Man's at San Onofre State Beach for his very first beach day. Here's a rough scan of his baby scrapbook, marking that momentous rite of passage as a Southern Californian.

A year later, that little baby somehow became a toddler, and it was at San Onofre where he practiced taking his first steps.

Then, when that little toddler turned two, we held his birthday party at San Onofre, under the Dogpatch palapa. Here's a scan of his baby book page commemorating that day.

The next year we welcomed a little sister for Finn, and promptly initiated sweet Shea into the San Onofre lifestyle.

And, just like her brother, that small babe turned into a toddler, stumbling across the sand, growing more confident with each wobbly step. Again, we visited San Onofre.



And yet again.



And then we moved to Hawaii, which has countless gorgeous beaches, but no San Onofre. So we were delighted to visit our old summer playground -- "San O" -- for an evening barbecue and campfire with Cari and her family during our mainland vacation.

Reunited

This is my family.


Well, it's really half of my family -- the half that made John. The family that has SIX kids, now spread across five states. We all got together in mid-July in Laguna Beach, California -- something that hadn't happened since this day in Laguna Beach nearly eight years ago:

That was taken on our wedding day -- one of the clearest September Saturdays in Southern California just about anyone had seen in their lives -- mere months after the eldest child in first photo was born.

But on the more recent day in Laguna, everyone left behind their rented tuxes and high heels in favor of rash guards and flip flops for a day that would eventually end up a few blocks away at Shaw's Cove, a beach where John and his siblings often went as kids.

Later that day, we all descended on Brian and Geri's house in Long Beach, which in my lifetime has proven to be One of Those Places Where You KNOW You'll Always Have a Kick-Ass Time, and where they've cleverly erected an homage to the Temple at Chavez Ravine in their backyard:

(Here's the original, which stands sentinel over Dodger Stadium from the hills behind the third base line.)

So, what do you suppose a bunch of Irish-German folks, gathered together for the first time in eight years, will do with themselves once reunited?

That's right: consume massive amounts of Mexican food and beverages.

Here's Eric, in the beginning stages of making a ridiculously good homemade guacamole using -- if memory serves (and I had a few of Brian's stellar margaritas, so the memory was in no position to serve, quite frankly) -- no fewer than 12 avocados.

And we ate every last bite before the evening was over. 'Cause when my people go big, they go Texas big.

(They even have the ashtray to prove it.)

One of the best parts of the reunion was watching the new generation, cousins who rarely get a chance to play together, get to know each other better. But because they're kids, the ice -- with a little help of a computer video game or a few plastic swords or the inflatable pool in the backyard -- is always quickly broken.

Here's hoping another eight years don't pass by before we do it all over again.