Samantha's Birthday

We traveled to Redwood City to celebrate Samantha's Birthday. The day after we arrived, their ancient sewer line backed-up. Yuck! So, here is George the Plumber performing precision sewer surgery under the watchful eye of Aria's Halloween pumpkin.

Ta-da ... new sewer line.

As it ends up, he was able to save their beautiful aggregate sidewalk. Kudos to George the Plumber.

OK ... back to the birthday. Samantha turned 39. Yep, it was 39 years ago that we brought this cute baby home. We had no idea what we were doing. Still don't. Even so, we soooooo enjoy spending time with her, Jake and the kids. Fun photos to be posted as time allows.

In addition to the birthday celebration, we spent several days doing tons of handyman projects around the house. Nothing big, but lots of little things. Helen has a list.

Most importantly, we got to spend time with our wonderful grandchildren including visits to their schools. Bing School for Aria and Synapse School for George.

And Rosie grows more fun every day.

It was a most excellent Birthday trip.

Mega love to the 5 Qs.

P.S. Luckily, the Qs missed - by a mere 10  blocks - the forced power outages due to the numerous forest fires in the area.  Millions of people were impacted by these outages.

Except for a brief whiff of smoke, and an amazing view from the airplane of massive amounts of smoke on our way home, we escaped unscathed.  Lucky us.

Sierra Camp - year 2

For the 2nd year in a row, we traveled to South Lake Tahoe to meet the Quist Family at Stanford Sierra Camp. The morning we left offered a surprise driveway blockage, due to a storm the night before. 

Thanks to my lumberjacking skills, we made our flight and arrived in Reno with plenty of time to rent a snazzy red Camaro convertible to drive to camp through the Sierra-Nevada Mountains.

We met the Quists at camp at Fallen Leaf Lake. (Disclosure: please use the 5-star definition of "camp" here.) The next week was too full to describe. The weather was perfect. The food was fantastic. Here are some random shots ... showing a mere sliver of the week.

On the way home, we met up with Raina and Blake in Reno for dinner ... and monster cake.

It was an amazing and exhausting week.

I'm still napping.

Popcorn

I love freshly popped Popcorn. Always have. Not microwaved ... but cooked on a stovetop the old fashioned way. For the past 40 years, I've used an Atom Pop Popcorn Popper .... originated in Quincy, Kansas.

No butter, just fine-grade salt. Yummy. 

Based on my technique, I pop a popper and a half every time. Sometimes two. Tonight, I began to wonder how many cubic feet of popcorn I've popped ... and eaten ... in my adult life. Call me super-nerdy, but I started doing the math.

Let's see ... half a cubic foot per batch x 6 batches per month x 12 months per year x 50 adult years = 1,800 cubic feet of popcorn. If I were to pile all of that popcorn into our 33'x17'x9' living room, I think it would be more than 4 feet high. It would completely cover the furniture and almost reach the top of the fireplace mantle.

Now that's a really fun vision. At least it is for me.

Samantha and kids visit

For 10 fun-filled days, Samantha brought all 3 kids for a Kansas visit. We did super fun stuff.

And some loving and tender stuff too.

We also celebrated George's 6th birthday with mega desserts. 

Being a Grandparent is the best!

Thanks for the fun visit.

Chuck and Joan and geocaching

Last weekend, Chuck and Joan stopped by on their way from Denver to Arkansas ... and points beyond. We compared notes about spoiling grandchildren. They told us about living in Denver and the latest news about Alex. While here, we took them out for a mega desserts

and Joan gave me an introductory lesson in geocaching. She is an expert. She quickly found two caches ... both in plain sight. I looked right over both of them. This is an interesting outdoor activity with witty clues and clever disguises. Here is Joan finding the cache for the spot labeled as "Sorry Superman." 

I missed it completely. Joan didn't. 

She also found the "micro" cache just a block from our house. Once again, hidden in plain sight.

People do this all over the world. Some claim to have found more than 100,000 caches. One almost 200,000. Really? How do they find time to play golf?

It was fun to see Chuck and Joan.

Samantha and Jake buy a house

After renting a 2 bedroom apartment for 7 years, Samantha and Jake decide to buy a house.  So, in early July, I jetted off to California to help them move. First of all, you cannot move without a trucker hat.

These guys worked hard.

I will not show you the unloading and unpacking frenzy that followed.

Suffice it to say that the new house is wonderful. 

So is the back yard.

So are the 1, 2 ... make that 3 decks.


The kids took to the new house instantly.

We also celebrated Aria's and Beth's birthdays. We even got to see some of the 3-hour long 4th of July parade in Downtown Redwood City

and the evening fireworks from Beth's back patio in beautiful Pleasant Hill.

 It was all a giant blast. (Get it?)

Congratulations to Samantha and Jake on your new home. 

Have fun!