c and da go to target

so i've been doing pretty well on riding my bike this week. this last week, i did over 40 miles, which is pretty good for a fat slob computer geek like me. anyway, on saturday, i decided i was going to take c to target to get the last lego knight guy, Santis. the deal was we would ride the bike to target... about 5 miles round trip. as we got ready, a couple decisions were made that would play pivotal roles later.

1. I decided to increase the distance of the bike ride by also riding over to the castle park that c likes to play at and let him play there for a bit.
2. I decided to put the old navy sandals on c, instead of his normal sandals.

so we took off and we biked over to the castle park. we played there for a while. running around, climbing in the castle, going down slides. they have this cool tower where you can hoist cups of sand up and pour them into these pipes that redistribute the sand back onto the ground... pretty cool stuff... far better than the wood death pits that I had as a kid. (I'm not kidding, I can remember 3 distinct accidents that resulted in broken bones on the playground of my elementary school...

anyway, in the middle of playing, c starts complaining about an ouchie on his foot. so i check it. sure enough a blister had rubbed above his heel. now he wants me to carry him off the fort and airlift him to the hospital. quickly I came up with a new, incentived-laced plan and communicated it to him.

1. First we put the sandal back on and get on the bike and go to target.
2. Then, in addition to buying Santis, we will also buy some Star Wars band aids and a pair of Spiderman socks.
3. Lastly, we will go to subway for lunch after the ordeal is over.

So disaster was averted. We ended up getting power ranger band aids (thanks a lot, samir) and we got some batman socks. After target, we hit subway for dinner and biked back.

what i'm learning as a dad is that nothing really ever goes the way you draw it up. the key is to be able to have fun making the adjustments. if you let the adjustments bring you down, then you're headed for misery.

on the plane back, c just absolutely crashed. poor kid was spent. had a great trip with some good peeps. we were very fortunate to get to go!

k's face sums up how we all feel at this point... we were just about to dash off to the airport and everybody was getting bummed. (check out the red power ranger tho... c was diggin that)

here's a pict of ts taking a pict of c and samir in front of this weird bow and arrow sculpture... not sure what it meant, but c liked the 'crossbow'

here's c and samir at the diner we ate at in the ferry terminal... it was called taylors.

the next morning, we went for a walk along the embarcadero to get some breakfast... here's ts and c holding hands.

this was a pretty good juxtaposition of class structures that you get in SF. straight down from ts's pad - 18 floors - there was a homeless shelter of some sort... never forget how quickly everything can disappear...

after the game, ts made some martinis to help offset the pain from the loss... his signature move is to use an onion in the martini... yeah... that's just about how it tasted.

at the ole... ball... game!!! skylar, ts, c, and tasha pose at pac bell...OOPS! sbc park! should be more careful, they are a huge yahoo partner and all.

c really got into the spirit of it all... taking one on the cheek for the team. good thing the giants are in the NL and I hate the dodgers... GO HALOS!

the next day, we all went to the giants game. before we went, the kids got properly attired... these do come off right?

so that night, ts and k went out for a date - which left me with 3 kids to mind. I actually didn't really mind and asked for the job. we had a blast - got pizza and watched movies. here's c and tasha attempting to go to sleep...

post sbux, ts and i cruised over to gordon biersch to grab a pint. i had to take the swivel pict as payback for all the times ts used his nikon

the view from gordon biersch... with great weather not sure that any city tops SF... maybe seattle, but I'm not sure...

after we got settled, we all took a walk to starbucks for some true urban java living. it's definitely nice to be able to just walk to places instead of driving

start em young... start em young... i guess i should buy sbux stock since i'm raising my kid on their chocolate drinks

here is the view from ts's porch... on a clear day...

here's the view from ts's front door... you know, some people just have it so hard

here is the pimp himself. standing in front of his living room view of the sf skyline. some people have it so rough :-)

here's c at john wayne. he's checking out our plane. initially, they didn't have us sitting together, but i figured it wouldn't be fair to some unsuspecting traveller, so i switched seats...

here's c in the seat. he actually was pretty sweet on the way up. read his lego catalogs and the sky mall catalog. i think he wants a one ring from the lord of the rings... maybe for christmas

christopher and da go to sf

so ts was kind enough to invite c and i up to sf to come visit them in their super pimp apartment in downtown sf. the plan was for us to fly up there, hang out in the city, go to a giants game, let the kids play together. good times.

new workout routine...

i haven't been feeling very svelte, so i'm trying to stick to a new workout routine.
the problem is that i have been working at home until late, getting up later, not feeling all that motivated to workout - it becomes an endless cycle unless you get on it.

my new theory is to cram some sort of exercise into the moments in time during the day when i actually do have space. even if it is a short amount of time, at least it is something better than sitting on my butt in traffic.... so here goes.

m,w,f: run in the am to the gym, lift, run back.
t/th: sprint up red hill on my bike / swim at night

weekends: exercise option - christopher permitting.

we'll see how it goes or if it helps. definitely need to burn off some stress tho

arin left...

arin left today. c was pretty bummed. we all liked having her around. hopefully she'll get to come out for christmas and see everybody.

wow. look at that. an enemy is found.

our man jayko looks for someone to fight

grandma, arin, and c on their way to pick up some new lego

here's c and arin playing air hockey

after c, grandma got into the act

here's the ball rolling...

here's the little bowler getting ready to toss the ball down the alley

before we bowled, we played some video games... galaga, spiderman, air hockey

grandma, arin, and i took c to tustin lanes to do some bowling today... here's c in front of the bowling alley

I promised myself I'd get the millenium falcon for myself for turning 30. Today, I did. Arin and I were up to 1am putting this bad boy together.

my friend Ian gave me the Lego AT-AT for my bday. I started building it with Arin on Sunday night and finished Monday morning... it was a beast

HOME NOW. THE CAR IS WASHED AND CLEAN FROM THE TRIP. EXCEPT FOR THE TICKET, THE TRIP WAS AWESOME. I'LL ALWAYS REMEMBER THAT TIME WITH C

BOO I JUST GOT A SPEEDING TICKET. I TRIED TO WORK THE BIRTHDAY ANGLE AGAIN BUT NO LUCK. BUMMER. OH WELL I SUPPOSE IT'S FITTING.

STARTING THE DRIVE HOME NOW. STOPPING IN BISHOP FOR SOME SCHAT'S BREAD FOR GRANDMA AND GUMMY WORMS FOR C. WOOHOO!

OK, I JUST GOT US MATCHING T-SHIRTS. POOR C. WE LOOK LIKE DORKS, BUT I'M 30. I CAN DO WHAT I WANT

DONE WITH THE LAKES NOW. HORSESHOE IS CLOSED FROM VOLCANIC ACTIVITY. SAD. GOING TO GET SOME T-SHIRTS NOW

GOING TO THE STOVE FOR BREAKFAST - SIERRA SUNRISE FOR ME, PANCAKE FOR C. THEN OFF TO SAY BYE TO THE LAKES

OK IT'S AUGUST 1ST 2004, I'M 30. NOTHING NEW TO REPORT SO FAR. SORTA SORE FROM THE WALK YESTERDAY BUT THAT'S NOTHING NEW.