Landscaping

The streets of Redondo Beach were lined with well-manicured gardens. This is in an area where you have street-sidewalk-building. Here in the Midwest, we would simply give up and have nothing living in this zone. However, they really try to put out something, and in most cases do an excellent job.

This Bird of Paradise flower was one of the prettiest I've ever seen, and it was just in some sidewalk flower bed, trying not to draw too much attention to itself. So I picked it and used it as a lapel garnish for the rest of the day. Not really.

Andrea kept remarking that if we had a 12 month growing season, we could have some cool plants, too.

California Cuisine

The first meal we had in California, after a quick burger the day before and a wedding reception the night before was breakfast at a Japanese-Mexican restaurant.

An omelet, which in the Midwest seems pretty straightforward, was Californized into a avocado covered, vegetable impregnated creation, bordered by a salad, cut cucumbers, pickles, and sliced tomatoes.

I'm not complaining, it was all excellent, including the iced tea, which they did not ask me if I wanted sweetened - to their credit.

Redondo Beach

I've never been to LA before. We stayed in a hotel about 6 blocks from the beach, and it just looks like normal city blocks until you cross the Esplanada and look down on the strip of beach that marks the city's border with the sea. It's down a 30 foot drop from the street to the beach, so it kind of sits like a sporting field with the city being up in the bleachers.

The sand was immaculately groomed, and the volleyball courts were laid out with a military precision. But the life guard shacks were painted with 70's psychedelic patterns, reminiscent of a bad episode of Scooby Doo.

Still, it looked like a nice place to while away the afternoon on a hot summer day.

Depress Barn

Would you not be depressed if the only chance you had to look pretty came from a barn?

Skitters

We went to Santa Barbara recently, after going to LA to a the wedding of a friend of my wife's.

There was a botanical garden in the hills over Santa Barbara, which is where we realized how many lizards were in the area. At first, we were alarmed because you could hear them skittering in the undergrowth right next to the trail, but you couldn't see them.

Then we finally started seeing them and realizing what they were. There really were a lot of them.

Andrea decided that she wanted one for a pet and we would call it Skitters.

Which is a really excellent pet name, I think you'll agree.

This one posed for me on the burned remains of a sign post on a trail system we went on the next day. You can see the screw in the wood where the sign used to be attached. After the fire, they replaced all the signs with metal ones.

Farenheit 451, baby.

Handsome Geezer

Andrea calls Zach's plaid pants his Geezer Pants.

We have to emphasize how good they make him look by pairing them with his "Handsome Devil" t-shirt.

Ride 'em, Cowboy!

Zach loves his little riding horse, which makes all kinds of sounds as he bounces up and down on it.

For a long time, I would make it sound off by throwing a ball at it from across the room.

Now, Zach walks up to it with a ball, hits it to make it start it's songs and sounds, and then mounts up and goes crazy.

Getting Into Your Work

Here Zach demonstrates the proper way to get "into" your work.

Our AC broke down on a weekend, and we pulled a dirty fan out of the basement, which had to be taken apart and cleaned prior to use. Zach loved the tools and getting inside the fan.

Here he is demonstrating the proper hold for a Phillips Screwdriver.

Swimming Lessons

Zach took his first swimming lessons, called Seahorses for some reason.

Except for how cold it was the first week of June, he really loved it.

Especially the slide.

New Garden Plots

I'm working on converting the dirt clogged river rock in the courtyard into new garden plots.

Cuppy totally approves. She thinks the new plot emphasizes her sleek physique as well as her sense of feng shui (notice how she aligns herself with the bricks).

Powell Gardens Water Trough

We took Zach out to the new Harvest Garden portion of Powell Gardens on June 5th.

He loved the pump and the windmill emptying water into the big cedar water trough.

Of course, he loves anything to do with water.

Guy's Night Out In the Ditch

We all went to Shane's house for a guy's night on June 11th. At the end of the evening, Aaron tried to explore the moisture content of the ditch across the street while demonstrating his 4WD prowess with his new truck.

It's official. When you mire your new 4WD vehicle, you are officially an off-roader.

Shane demonstrates the barefoot, cigar in mouth two step while helping to yank the truck out of the ditch. It's good to get stuck at a house where the homeowner has a loader in the driveway. It keeps towing costs down.

Tank Q

This is how Zach learned to say Thank You.

He discovered dandelions and was picking them and handing them to Andrea, who said "thank you!" each time he did it.

Eventually, he would pick them, hand them to Andrea, and say "Dan Q" or "Tank u" each time. It's a good sign when first words & phrases are polite things.

Big as the Wind

Here's Zach, growing to seven times his normal size to confront his arch nemesis, the wind mill.

I'm a Cowboy!

Here we are at the Grand Opening of the Northland Emergency Vet Clinic.

They had horses, so we had to get our little cowboy up and riding.

It's quite a bit different than the play horse in the family room.

Tree House Mania

It may look like he's too short to climb these stairs, but no, with a little perseverence and baby can-do attitude, he makes it.

Once on top, he climbs up on a little step stool to further his dominance over the ground based world!

First Time in a Rain Coat

Andrea found a very nice raincoat for Zach, and then we waited for the right day to try it out.

Here he is standing in the rain. He was anxious to get out as quickly as possible, took about 5 steps and stopped cold. He was frozen in place, transfixed by the sound of the rain on his hood. It was like he was locked up. We already knew he likes puddles, so now we'll have to get to work on playing in the rain.

The Known Universe

I found this on the Astronomy Picture of the Day website for January 20, 2010, see http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap100120.html if this video doesn't work.

We are really tiny.

Play with me!

Cookie Monster tried to get Zach's attention, but he was busy playing in the condensation on the inside of the windows (note the wet face).

This Cookie Monster toy makes all these little noises when its jaw opens. So you can shake him and the top of his head bounces up and down while he says funny things. One of the things he does is burps, then the next time you shake him he says "scuse me!"

We put the wrapped box he was in under the Christmas tree and he must have been sitting right at an angle where the jaw was on a hair trigger. Whenever you walked in the room, he would do his little Cookie Monster sounds from inside his gift box.

I give this toy the "Zacher's two thumbs up and put it in your mouth" seal of approval.

Comics Box

Here's a picture of my favorite gift this Christmas. I got Kyle a little Leatherman multitool/knife that came with a little flashlight.

I got a diaper box to wrap it in, which is huge. I taped the knife and flashlight inside the box to the side. Then I wrapped it with Sunday comics, which was fun.

Andrea thought that Kyle would be disappointed to have a box so large with such a tiny gift, but he liked it. He read the whole box first, and then he wasn't disappointed at what was inside because it was so cool.

I think, growing up in this family, he has to be ready to be messed with.

Christmas is Coming

Here's Zach in front of our Christmas tree at home. It looks like a lot of presents for his first Christmas.

It almost looks like someone asked him if he's been good and he's avoiding the question.

Which is ridiculous, because he's a baby, he's always good. Wait, I forgot about the way he chews on electric cords and throws his bottle on the ground and attacks the cats and ... Oh well, he's a baby, he gets a pass on all those things.

Fireplace Fixation

When we took Zach to Grandma & Grandpa's, he did the same thing he does at home, which is to hang out at the fireplace.

I think it's just that it's a nice child-sized ledge. It's not like he's making a fire or studying masonry. Well, he might be studying masonry, we can't tell what's going through his mind yet.

Baby's First Christmas

We went up to Des Moines early in order to get Christmas in with the Grandparents.

It was a hit, and Zach thoroughly enjoyed the tree, the Grandparents, and all the holiday cheer.

Elmo is a hit

Zach got a laughing Elmo for his first Christmas, which was a huge hit.

I'm not sure what Elmo is, exactly, beyond being fun. I'm thinking maybe the bear family.

Weightless Hawk

This Redtailed Hawk seems to weigh almost nothing, if you look at the branch he is perched on.

I have never understood how these big birds can be at the very top of a tree and not seem to weigh down the branches they perch on. I wonder if they can put a little bit of twist in the limb by the way they grip it that unbends the branch and reverses the effect of their weight.

Or maybe they are made of air.

Harvest Garden

We went back out to visit the new Harvest Garden section at Powell Gardens, with a little more of the area finished than on the opening weekend.

We found more randy grasshoppers, this time of the variety that I've known about since I was little.

I think Andrea thought that the big one was giving the little one a ride.

The cold frames were very cool. I've read for years about how you can grow lettuce up until December sometimes with a good cold frame.

Grasshopper Love

We went for a nice visit to Powell Gardens back when the weather was still nice.

You expect to have to explain to your small children big animal's behavior, like horses or cows, but you don't expect to see such randy grasshoppers. Fortunately, Zach was oblivious.

I've never seen such big grasshoppers, let alone these dark green ones.

Legacy Fields

We got into the habit of taking long walks down the east side of the Legacy Park walking trail, which gives you some nice silhouettes of the ball fields

Two Bucks

Here's two almost identical bucks that were coming up to our back yard for about a week. They had a doe with them, too, and they were play fighting for her. They were in practice for the real thing, which was still about 2 months away at that point.

Hidden in Plain Sight

How can this "Pointe" be hidden if they have a big sign for it?

And why the lighthouse in Missouri? Last I checked, we don't have an extensive coastline.

I'm not saying it's not a really cool entryway for a subdivision. I'm just saying that they were a lot more creative with the naming of the subdivision than with the design of their houses.

Baptism by Slide

God loves a good water slide.

Reflective Walk

We went around the lakes at James A. Reed on a pretty fall day that had no wind. This made some nice reflections on the water.