family + friends

Sun - September 25, 2005

Anna's Birthday

Audrey's sister, Anna, is 1. Greg + Cat had a nice birthday party brunch at their place this morning, with their whole families and many friends. Jose + Andrea were there, as was Derek, who has recently returned to San Diego after a stint at Lucas Arts, and Michel, who's still at Discreet but living in Encinitas now.

Greg getting some footage; Audrey showing Anna how to work a toy.

Posted at 10:11 PM Read More

Sat - September 24, 2005

Happy Birthday, Grammie!

We went to the park to shoot some video of Grammie's only grandson, and edited it down (some), burned a DVD, made and printed a label, and sent it Prioroty Mail to get it there on time. Only to learn that Grammie + Grampa have the 1st DVD player ever made, and it has no idea what a DVD-R is. Turns out they haven't been able to play any of the DVDs we've made for them.

So we sent them this cool DVD player. It'll play anything. You could draw a picture on a coaster and it'll play it. I need to get 1 or 2 of them for myself, too.

Well, the box will look good at least.

Posted at 10:56 PM Read More

Mon - September 5, 2005

Coronado Park

The cousins finally made it down to Coronado Park for a picnic, on the last day of the summer concerts. Justin was happy because they had birthday cupcakes and presents for him. That was a cool surprise!

Blowing out a candle and getting a birthday smooch.

Posted at 10:35 PM Read More

Sun - September 4, 2005

2 Years Old

We celebrated Justin's 2nd birthday today—a week early—because the cool steam locomotive is running this weekend rather than the trolley car. We invited people with small kids to a brunch buffet at the Hamburger Factory and train rides. On a birthday, they do 3 laps around the park instead of 2. :)

The funniest moment came right before guests were to arrive, and Melisa said "I just read that you're not supposed to have a big birthday party for 2-year-olds, you're supposed to wait till they're 3." Swell. Today is going to be just swell. Justin was great and had a lot of fun. By the time he opened presents, his knees were buckling, and when we left he fell asleep as soon as he was in his car seat. I don't even think he waited till we started the car.

There are a lot more pictures from the party on my Flickr site. I shot video too, including a lot of b-roll of the train and park after everyone left, but who knows when I'll get around to editing that...

Somehow we survived and even had a great time. Hope everyone else did.

Posted at 10:32 PM Read More

Fri - September 2, 2005

Walkies

This week Justin stayed home from day care with Nana + Pa. While we were away at work, they entertained him (or vice versa). They went on a big walk today and it was reported that Justin was very good about not going out in the street and sticking close by. Here are a few pix Pa shot when Justin was dragging around a big stick he found.

Stick 'em up.

Posted at 09:07 PM Read More

Wed - August 31, 2005

"Nana-n-Pa" Visit

When Justin sees an airplane, he often says "Nana-n-Pa" because he knows that there are flights involved in seeing them—either they fly here or we fly there.

This time Nana + Pa have flown out here to celebrate birthdays of both Pa + Justin, which are 2 days (and 60-some years) apart. Luckily they missed out heat wave and are enjoying some really nice weather.

Mmmm, more corn on the cob.

Posted at 01:15 PM Read More

Sun - August 28, 2005

At the Park with Audrey + Anna

We went to Alborz (a Persian restaurant in Del Mar, Google it) for dinner with Greg + Cat + the kids, and afterwards Audrey invited Justin and us over to the park to play.

It was a restaurant, and Justin is almost 2, so I spent a lot of time outside, preventing him from wreaking havoc on the patrons. Justin loves playing around parking lots. Or, at least, he presents plenty of opportunities to play around parking lots.

Audrey chasing Justin down the slide; Anna likes the swing too.

Posted at 02:50 PM Read More

Sat - August 27, 2005

Early Thomas Birthday Present

Because we're celebrating Justin's birthday on the 4th, Birthday Week has opened early. It makes sense to us to spread it out over a few days, to avoid saturation, so we let him open our present early. We, with Nana + Pa, got him a Thomas the Train set. Melisa also bought a train table from someone on craigslist, so we'd have a place to set it up and play with it. Grammie + Grampa sent a set too, and we have it set up there as well. It's pretty nice, but Justin, at age 2, basically sees himself as Godzilla and lays waste to the entire city.

We have since bought some clips that hold the track together, so that's a big improvement.

"Thomas! How did you know?"

Posted at 02:31 PM Read More

Sun - August 21, 2005

Sam's 2nd Birthday

Justin's friend Sam had a birthday party today. We got a lot of pool time, but Justin preferred the hot tub.

The decor was Elmo, and included BBQ. The kid's table was an old door on crates in the back yard, which was a good idea. Sam seemed to like the present Justin brought him, which was a set of Hot Wheels cars.

Sam's brother Ben is recuperating from his reflux well. He went through a period of stopping breathing and was on a monitor for a few months. Now he's off the monitor and his parents are very relieved.

Justin + Dada floating around; the birthday boy trying on some cake.

Justin offered to help dispose of the cake; most of the kids at their table.

Posted at 02:14 PM Read More

Sat - August 20, 2005

Qualcomm Picnic Circus

We went with our neighbors to the Qualcomm Picnic, which was held at UCSD this year. The food was really good and there were elephant rides, circus performers, and fireworks. Justin enjoyed the corn on the cob, and had fun hanging around with Nicole, Alex, and James, as well as Tylor, who we met there.

Corn; Ty's pimped ride.

Justin & Nicole watching the circus.

Circus and fireworks.

Posted at 01:43 PM Read More

Sun - August 14, 2005

Play Day

After a tasty breakfast at Pipes, we took justin to the beach at Cardiff, where he proceeded to wallow in sand. He wasn't too fond of the water, but he loved the sand. (More pictures.) A café mocha for $2.25!

Later on we went to a local playground to swing till he was shivering from wind chill.

Posted at 09:49 PM Read More

Sat - August 13, 2005

Preston is 2

Preston is a month older than Justin (4 weeks exactly, I think), and we were invited to his birthday party. His mother asked him what he wanted for his birthday, and his reply was "trucks and trains." Thus the house-sized inflatable train-shaped jumper. It was pretty fun—for me. Justin will probably like it more next year.

Justin was a little rattled in the jumper; the birthday boy.

Posted at 09:39 PM Read More

Fri - August 12, 2005

BBQ

Justin hosted a BBQ for Allison & Matt on a nice warm Sunday evening.

The guests seemed happy with the food but the chef seemed frustrated.

Posted at 08:32 PM Read More

Sun - August 7, 2005

Maybe You Shouldn't Invite Us Over for Awhile

Scott + Renee invited us over for dinner at their place, and when we arrived it became clear that (1) Justin was in kind of a hyper mood, and (2) the house wasn't prepared for a 2-year-old boy. We followed him around and lifted things he approached out of his reach, which made it hard to chat and catch up. We managed to have a good dinner, in spite of the fact that Justin knocked over a table, which used to have a wooden rim around it until it hit the floor. A quarter of it sheared off, and we're not sure yet whether it's fixable.

They are growing grapes for winemaking and have a garden, which includes artichokes. And (congratulations!) they're growing a baby, due around Thanksgiving.

Maybe we should meet at restaurants or in parks for a couple years, while Justin, and Justin alone, enjoys his "terrible twos."

Scott + Renee; Justin upside down.

Posted at 11:11 PM Read More

Sun - July 24, 2005

Simon Says...

Sunday brought us up to Fallbrook, to meet Jeff + Trish's new baby, Simon. Got rain poured on us along the freeway on the way up. Turns out Fallbrook is just 10 minutes short of Temecula, so it's a 45 minute drive. I thought Jeff lived a lot closer to work than I do, but it's about the same.

Simon is a good little baby, considering he was born a month early. Jeff says he's up to about 10# now, which is double his birth weight.