Seasons Greetings!

We are spending the Christmas holiday in Florida, so no real tree this year. Lucy didn't mind the silver tree but she was disappointed that we couldn't place christmas lights on the "conductor of electricity" tree.

The Silver Tree


We like robots.


Spaceships are very festive.

We made it here safely. And although we will be missing the white christmas in Colorado, you really can't complain about 70 degree temps in the dead of winter. Yes, visions of sugar plums are dancing around in Lucy's head as well as chocolates, and ice cream and hot chocolate and other decadent treats. So the only question left to answer is whether Lucy was...

naughty or....


...nice?!?!

Hope everyone has a great Christmas Day!

Mele Kalikimaka

I was fortunate recently to attend a conference in Kauai at the Princeville Hotel. From a meteorologist's perspective it was a prime week to be there since a powerful Kona Low pummeled the island with high winds, 20+ surf, and heavy rain. From a tourist perspective, that kind of weather sucks. Oh well, the temperature was sublime the entire time, and there were brief periods where the clouds cleared and I could enjoy the spectacular view. There are worse places to hang out in the rain. Here are some pictures of the trip:

Big Sur Country

As we sit inside, with below freezing temperatures outside, it is nice to think back to our summer on the coast. We traveled down Highway One on several weekends, enjoying a world class stretch of coastline called Big Sur. Named after the river which flows through the area, it is a rugged region of wilderness on the sea. We enjoyed the Pfeiffer State Beach and the State Parks, with the majestic redwoods and jagged rocks and cliffs carved by the Pacific. I also had a chance to read Kerouac's book of the same name, which chronicles his trips to a cabin beneath the Bixby Bridge in the 60's. Landmarks like the Bridge and Nepenthe (a restaurant with a spectacular view) are still there, and the coast itself is timeless. By far one of the darkest books Kerouac wrote, it is a stream of consciousness in a period when Jack was an extreme alcoholic. I had no bouts with delirium tremens during our trip so his experiences there were quite different than mine, but I imagine everyone who visits Big Sur is affected profoundly.

Bixby Bridge

Pfeiffer State beach

Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park Waterfall

The Coast
Check out the rest of the photo album here:

Big Sur

The Only Time When Eating a Turkey Leg is Acceptable

We hope everybody had a lovely Thanksgiving Day. We spent the day with friends at the Piza's new house in the burbs. A lot of good food. A lot of good beverages. A lot of bad jokes, most coming from Bell. A great time.


Party at Mateo's house!


Brie overload.


I missed the kick. Elaina has video footage of this. I'll try and get it at some point.


"My baby has a penis."

As usual, the kids got to the open liquor cabinet and began to booze it up. What was a civil, adult Thanksgiving Day dinner turned into a Turkey Day Dance Party.

The Snowy Day

First snow day of the season!

LASIK Before and After

It is now just over a week after my LASIK surgery and the results are turning out well. I can see at least 20/20, and the side effects are diminishing now. I still have some more healing to go, but so far I am pleased with the decision. Since laser vision correction is borderline cosmetic surgery, I was hesitant at first. Was this the first in a line of nips and tucks to make a better me? Most people who have seen me without my glasses have not noticed the change. They may think to themselves, something is different, but what? I decided to post some before and after pics to highlight the new me. It is the subtle things about my new life without corrective lenses: not worrying about losing or breaking them, wearing cheap sunglasses, and seeing a squirrel in a tree four blocks away. Well, you can decide for yourself whether the subtle changes are noticeable or if its just the same old me.

If You Hear Someone Whistling "Singin' In the Rain" While Walking Through a Dark Alley At Night--Run!

Like all parents, we look at our progeny for glimpses of ourselves in them. We hope that all the good genes were realized and the not so good ones remain repressed. We hope that Lucy gets Bell's flair for the math and sciences and my ability to not appear like a geek who knows math and science. It would also be great if Lucy got Bell's ability to eat anything and everything and still be a stick. And if she got my ability to poop in under 3 minutes (this is pants down, pants up)-- she would be the greatest catch.

Then there are those that are not so great like Bell's inability to dance like a homo sapien and my inability to know the full lyrics of a song. I highly suspect Lucy will be asking for a nose job and possibly a boob job by her sweet sixteen. But like everything, those failings can be fixed. If by chance she doesn't end up with my superior eyesight and ends up with Bell's 20/100 she can have LASIK when she turns 34 just like her papa.

Yup, Bell had Lasik surgery today and everything seems to have gone very well. The procedure took less then 30 minutes and was relatively painless. In fact, he said the whole experience was rather akin to this:



He highly recommends it.

ARRrrrh There More Candies To Be Eaten?

Halloween is quickly becoming Lucy's most favorite holiday. Free candy galore! We as a general preference don't have many sweets lying around our house--lots and lots of salt, grease and lard but very little candy. This year Lucy got to select her outfit. I guess she is now old enough to reject our ideas unlike this time but she turned out to be a great prop for this guy. And there was also the time we decided to turn her into a revolutionary.

This year she decided to be a pirate.


(Click on thumbnails for larger image)

This year we also went to Boo at the Zoo with her friends Kaylynn, Lilly and Mateo. They were cute but what a handful!


And check out these two girls. Then:

And now:

Cuteness!

Three Is The Magic Number

As was expected, once school started for us the posting abilities has taken a backseat. Here is a quick summary of what has taken place in our part of the world. Lucy turning three in August enabled her to enter preschool this fall. She attends a Montessori school that we are quite satisfied with and Lucy seems to really enjoy. Lucy has had her first horseback experience riding a brown Shetland pony named Louie. I ask her everyday what she has done in school and she always says, "I learned french!" And she demonstrates this by counting to ten en francais, pronouncing quatre--cat and huit--weeeet with such a flare not even a frenchmen would know she came from the whitest town in America.

Lucy's first day of school.

This is my third semester in my landscape architecture program at CSU. It's kicking my butt. So far only one deadline meltdown.
A lot of Photoshop. A lot of ecology. Currently, no all-nighters but there have been a lot of late, late, late nights. Only three more semesters to go.

This is Bell's third season playing with the silver league in roller hockey. Yeah! His team won the gold medal.

We don't have too many traditions in our household. However, we make it a point to go to the Osborne Farm and pick our own pumpkins. This is our third year doing this.

Lucy loves the barrel train. Your photoshop image of the day.