Family
- 9:27 am: Nice breakfast at Cali Cochitta B&B in Moab. Heading to see Arches soon.
- 10:51 am: Great vistas at Arches National Park.
- 12:12 pm: Heading out of Arches park and starting drive to C-Lazy-U Ranch near Granby, CO.
- 2:30 pm: Hello Colorado!
- 2:59 pm: U2 seems like Colorado music. Working well for us!
- 4:37 pm: Iced Triple Espresso from Sacred Grounds coffee shop in Glenwood Springs, CO.
- 5:43 pm: Still decent amount of snow at 11,000 feet.
- 6:44 pm: Trying to explain to Mazie why a mosquito bit her. Not going well.
- 6:56 pm: Hello Winter Park, CO! Shout out to Jim Bernard and Jeb Sr.
- 2:49 pm: Hello Utah!
- 2:50 pm: Driving from Sedona, AZ to Moab, UT today. Quick stop in Moab on way to Colorado.
- 4:36 pm: Exploring downtown Moab.
- 6:51 pm: Nice dinner at Miguel’s Baja Grill in Moab. Trying to quick adapt Mazie to time change.
- 9:25 am: Heading to the Grand Canyon today!
- 5:16 pm: Waiting for Tammy and Mazie to emerge from Target in Flagstaff.
- 5:18 pm: Arizona is really hot. Yes, obvious. You’re welcome.
- 5:31 pm: Qualifier for a really long road trip: Getting the oil changed. At the Honda dealer in Flagstaff.
- 8:35 pm: Dinner at the New Jersey Pizza Company (wha?) in Flagstaff.
- 4:26 am: I seem unable to sleep in Las Vegas. This sucks.
- 9:44 am: Heading down to the pool. Lazy river today.
- 1:52 pm: At Mesa Grill (Bobby Flay) for lunch. Awesome. Cactus Pear Margarita.
- 9:33 pm: Mazie: “I’m going to blog on my post. This is blogging on my post.”
- 11:42 am: Heading to the pool.
- 4:21 pm: Trying to figure out best Fathers Day activities in Las Vegas. Any suggestions? Thinking of Hoover Dam visit.
- 7:44 pm: Walking to The Four Seasons to get Mazie macaroni and cheese.
- 8:01 pm: Found my way to Four Seasons after several wrong turns.
- Mac & Cheese from Yum!
- Lion
- Chocolate Cake
- Mango
- Ralph’s World
- Charlotte’s Web
- Curious George
- Elmo
- Water
- Playing in Water
- Green stuff on her Mac & Cheese
- Milk (except chocolate milk)
- Stopping Play to go to the bathroom
- 11:11 am: Heading to Carmel this morning.
- 1:48 pm: Amazed with Carmel. Blue Dog gallery is dangerous.
- 4:34 pm: Left Tammy in Carmel for the afternoon. At house with Mazie for nap time.
- 4:55 pm: Ugh - carpenter starts drilling in room right underneath where Mazie is napping!
- 4:58 pm: Theory that we may be the very first guests to stay at this rental house is being reinforced. Not bad. But very uncoordinated.
- 1:24pm: Stop at Ramone’s Bakery in Eureka, CA.
- 1:46 pm: Having a very nice stop in Old Town section of Eureka.
- 2:18 pm: Mazie and I playing with the pigeons.
- 2:51 pm: Resuming leisurely drive down 101 to San Francisco.
- 8:06 pm: Ate at In-n-Out Burger for the first time. Yum!
Mazie loving the airport.
Our friend Marilee Poe Tangen took this picture of Mazie and I love it.
Shopping for plane activities for Mazie. Coloring books!
Summer of Love Resuming - Preparing for London
Tammy and I are doing final preparation for the second big trip of the Summer of Love. We leave on Sunday for London. We’ll be staying there for four weeks and exploring London in detail and taking some day trips as well. We’ve booked a trip to Stonehenge and are also planning a day trip to the Royal Observatory to stand on the prime meridian.
We’ve rented a flat for the month. This will be a very different trip than our 6-week tour around the Western US. We’ll be staying in one place. We won’t have a car and will be using public transport only. I expect to take a lot of pictures and will be trying to post regularly.
Tammy and I will also be taking a short trip to Scotland. My mother is coming over for a couple of weeks. The first week she is spending with us and will be watching Mazie while we are in Scotland. The 2nd week she is honeymooning with her new husband.
There is much planning and packing to do.
At Honda dealership after dropping off Odyssey. Waiting for Tammy and Mazie.
Mazie: Terrible two’s? Ha! No way. I scoff at two. TERRIBLE THREE’S!
Water table fun with Mazie.
Playing with Mazie.
Tiny Tonka T-Ball
Mazie and I had our very first Tiny Tonka T-Ball game last night. Sorry, no pictures or video from it. Tammy had plans, and I’m one of the coaches! Next week we’ll get some media coverage.
Of course Mazie just turned 3 a couple of weeks ago and you may be asking how exactly t-ball works with 3 and 4 year olds. Let me explain a bit.
First, this is for fun and there are no scores, no strikes. In fact, there isn’t much left of the “game” and it’s more just fun for the kids. And fun they had!
The first “inning” the kids were really into it and having a blast. It was funny to watch the different kids. There is only one girl other than Mazie on the team and they became fast friends. They were standing in the infield with their arms around each other. On the other hand, some of the boys didn’t feel like taking turns and were pushing and shoving each other to get at the ball. By the second “inning” our entire team, with one exception, was sitting on the infield with their gloves next to them playing in the dirt.
Our team, the yellow team, now known by unanimous vote as the Yellow Bees has one ringer. One of the kids is a future hall-of-famer. He can hit a line drive right up the middle, has a heck of an arm and can play all bases equally well. He was not playing in the dirt.
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Summer of Love Day 29 Log
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Take a Lap in the Lazy River
Have a couple of minutes? Join us on the Summer of Love for a trip around the Lazy River at Mandalay Bay. Mazie’s very first time in a lazy river.
Happy Fathers Day 2008!
This year marks something that will not happen again until 2014, when Mazie turns 9. Father’s Day is the day right after Mazie’s birthday! Father’s Day is always the 3rd Sunday in June. After 2014 it won’t happen again until 2025, on Mazie’s 20th birthday. Now, I know what you are all wondering. When will Mazie’s birthday be on Father’s day? Never. It gets to the day before, and then flips back away because Father’s Day moves back due the third Sunday thing.
I love being a Dad and as the years pass I realize more and more that it’s the most important thing in my life. Your job changes, your hobbies come and go. Your family is always your family. Your kids are forever your kids. Taking this summer off has provided a luxury that I’m so lucky to have. To be able to spend all my time with my family. Completely unrelated, I was reading The Soul of a New Machine today and this passage seemed so fitting for the day (p. 279).
During that summer, West suddenly remembered bike rides he’d taken with his father on Sunday evenings, and he found time to reassert that tradition with his oldest daughter. Suddenly, it seemed, he realized that his children were growing, and apparently he intended now to guide them on their way. He said one evening: “That’s the bear trap, the greatest vice. Your job. You can justify about any behavior with it. Maybe that’s why you do it, so you don’t have to deal with all those other problems.”
I like to think that I’ve kept my priorities in order, but I think the “bear trap” reference is appropriate. Its good to remind myself what is important and where priorities lie. I’m grateful to have this summer for that, and to have Father’s Day every year to reflect on it.
See also: Father’s Day 2006
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Daddy's Girl Turns Three
Today my little girl turns three years old! Happy Birthday Mazie!
Mazie has been blowing my mind lately. This morning she told us “my birthday is June 14.” I know I easily suffer from being an overly Proud Papa, but she is making leaps and strides in so many areas. Clearly we are witnessing geometric growth. Perhaps this all comes at the expense of some other development. She did just figure out how to jump not that long ago.
In addition to her big jumps in vocabulary, her turn to three has also brought with it some gaming. Now whenever I tell her she can’t do something or cannot have something, apparently “Daddy is saying bad things.” Mazie is clearly establishing her own ideas and opinions and deciding what she wants to do and may, if she feels like it, take some input from you.
In return for this I now get a wonderful “Love you Daddy” at bedtime. I melt on the spot. She’s a little sweetheart with her super grin, chipped front tooth and all.
Mazie is getting to celebrate her 3rd birthday in Las Vegas. We planned this stop on the Summer of Love so that she could have her day. No driving. Morning in the pool. Chocolate cake. Presents. Whatever she wants to do. She’ll have great stories to tell her friends. Most people don’t get a Las Vegas birthday until there 20s.
Happy Birthday (Maze / Sweetie / Pumpkin Pie / Goofball)! I love you! — Daddy
Some of Mazie’s Favorite things:
Some of Mazie’s Unfavorite things:
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Super Mom
This is definitely a parent story. If you don’t have kids, you may just want to skip this. :-P Being a parent is really great. When Mazie says “I love you Daddy!” I pretty much melt on the spot. But being a parent brings you really close to things like boogers, poop and puke. Traditionally Mom’s bear this brunt more than Dad’s, and that is definitely true in our family.
Mazie is now totally potty trained. She hasn’t touched a diaper for a few weeks, even at night. She’s doing a great job. Fantastic actually. She sleeps through the night and everything. However, she wont go near a normal toilet. She insists, and will really only use, her kids potty. We have it with us as a result. It sits in the van and has made appearances all over on the Summer of Love road trip. Side of the raod potty stop, check. Sidewalk potty stop in downtown, check. Quick potty in the car while getting gas, check check.
Today Mazie announced at lunch that she wanted to “go and take a poop”. We were downtown Portland at a fabulous restaurant and had finished. Tammy took Mazie to the bathroom and she predictably decided she didn’t have to go when she saw the toilet in the bathroom. Off they went to the van to use her potty. Right there in downtown, in the van, we had a #2 stop but lacked anywhere to “take care” of the potty. So, we started driving with a window cracked open.
We stopped after about 15 miles to get gas and Tammy took care of the potty. Tammy, being a fully immersed mom grabs the ‘container’ in the potty. She doesn’t put it in a bag or anything. No real attempt to conceal anything. She just grabs it and walks right into the gas station and heads to the bathroom. Total bad ass. I chuckled to myself while pumping the gas thinking of the amount of angst that would have went into that procedure before being a parent. What are you going to do, right?