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Lunch at the Lake

Todd — Sat, 26 Jun 2010 19:37:20 +0000

The kids enjoying a gorgeous Saturday afternoon by the lake after we finished our lunch of fresh tamales from the excellentEl Fenix Carniceria in Rancho Santa Margarita.

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Miscellaneous May

Todd — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 05:52:03 +0000

Quick pop quiz! What do these three things have in common?

a dead hummingbird
an off-shoe camera cord
children playing in a box

Give up? They all happened to be in our house during the month of May in 2009.

Centennial Farm with Henry

Todd — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 05:54:02 +0000

I played hooky from work one day to go with Henry’s pre-school class to Centennial Farm at the OC Fairgrounds. His teacher, Mrs. Carrie, laid down the ground rules prior to us entering the farm and then we were off!

First order of business: have lunch. Seems that no pre-K kid can make it past 10 AM without some sort of snack to tide them over. Once properly fed, the kids started their tour of the farm. We saw farm implements, learned how cheese is made and saw some cute newborn animals.

The star of the show was the fat sow and her dozen or so piglets. Whether running around and squealing or fighting for a prime feeding spot, the kids all had a great time watching the chaos in the pig pen while mama pig snored away.

The farm tour ended with a good game of chase, of course, and Henry and his buddies laughing, screaming and gloriously grass stained.

Wild Animal Anniversary

Todd — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 04:17:41 +0000

At the end of December we headed south to San Diego for a long weekend in celebration of our 12th anniversary. Our destination: the San Diego Wild Animal Park. We’d talked about going for years but never made the trip. With three kids it seemed like the perfect spot to celebrate our anniversary family-style.

First surprise: the park is actually outside of Escondido, a good 30 miles north of San Diego proper along I-15. That put a bit of a damper on our plans to stay in a swanky hotel in the Gas Lamp. No matter, the Holiday Inn in Escondido was just fine with the kids.

Where else could you run naked in circles in your bedroom?

The first day in the park was a blast. Emma and Henry didn’t complain (much) about the walk and enjoyed the animals. Cora was, of course, an angel.

On day two we went to A Delight of France for bunch. Oh, my. If you’re ever in the neighborhood, you must eat here. Heck, if you’re not in the neighborhood it is worth the trip. The almond croissant is among the best things I’ve ever eaten at any bakery around the world.

Wow. Just, wow.

The zoo on the second day was equally fun, with an awesome tram ride around the “back country” of the park. I was amazed to learn about the important conservation work that the park does. The white rhinos we saw were literally two of twelve remaining of their kind. (Eight in captivity and only four remaining in the wild.)

After getting matching tattoos with Henry we headed back home, with a dozen roses and fondue waiting for us at The Melting Pot. I couldn’t have asked for a better weekend than spending it with Marla and the kids!

(Won’t You Take Me To) Monkey Town

Todd — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 03:18:42 +0000

Just on the edge of town in Kyoto is Arashiyama. The touristy prefecture is famous for cherry blossoms in spring and brilliant orange maples in the fall. The timing wasn’t right for either but no matter.

We were there for the monkeys.

The day started with breakfast at the wonderful Coffee Lounge. It was straight out of 1965 but the food was fantastic and cheap. I still don’t understand why, but nearly every breakfast in Japan comes served with a salad.

After a meeting with Nintendo and a late sushi lunch we hopped on the subway for Arashiyama, hoping to make it before sunset.

After we arrived, we crossed the Togetsu Bridge and made our way up the mountain to see the monkeys first hand. The trail was steep and there were friendly signs telling you about the monkeys. Being a life-long monkey fanatic I couldn’t wait to get to the top and into Monkey Park Iwatayama.

I wasn’t disappointed, as the photos will attest!

The top of the mountain was covered with monkeys. Some big and definitely alpha male, some small and timid and a few too-cute-for-words babies. Isn’t this the saddest face you’ve ever seen?

Deer in Nara, Japan

Todd — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 20:53:52 +0000

The last day of my 2007 trip to Japan we visited the city of Nara just to the south of Kyoto. Nara is famous for two things: Todai-ji and the many tame deer that roam the city.

As you walk up the busy street from the train station toward Nara Park, which includes the Todai temple complex, the city fades away and you being to see trees and deer – everywhere. In the grass, on the sidewalk, in the road… 1200 sika deer rule the streets.

Vendors line the streets selling little biscuits (shika-senbei) for 100 Yen that the deer are happy to take directly from your hand… and happy to nudge or bite you when you run out.

Todai-ji is, ostensibly, the largest wooden structure on the planet. As you can tell from the photos, it is absolutely huge. The current structure dates from the 1709 and is 30% smaller than the original main building. I couldn’t find any actual measurements, but the Buddha alone is nearly 50 feet tall. It reputedly required all of the bronze in Japan to cast and bankrupt the Japanese government in 751 when it was completed.

Bamboo, I Choose You!

Todd — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 21:49:16 +0000

Our carpet was approaching 8 years old so and after two kids it was beginning to show. We opted to replace the floor with hardwood during our kitchen remodel.

Solid wood was out, since we’d have to build up a subfloor. That would have required ripping up all of the baseboard molding and would have put the entry at the front door a few inches lower than the rest of the first floor. Yuck.

We ultimately decided to do the “green” thing and picked bamboo for our floor. There’s some debate about just how green bamboo really is and, as it turns out, there’s good stuff and cheap/bad stuff.

We opted for the good stuff, naturally. After a little research we settled on Teragren’s Craftsman 6″ wide planks with the bamboo oriented vertically instead of horizontally. Teragren has a fair forestry stewardship-like program in place and beats even the strictest European standards for outgassing.

ANYWAY, in just a few short days the floor was down and I was able to start moving some furniture in. I tell you, there’s nothing quite like eating breakfast at the table after a week of eating in the garage, surrounded by all of your furniture.

During the installation we had a little visitor join us on the patio for supper. This little rattlesnake had curled up under a spare plank and the floor installers found him while cleaning up. They were going to whack him with a board but he bit the board instead.

Just like in the cartoons he his fangs were stuck in the plank so they dropped him in a bucket rather than risking it again. After a few days stuck in the adhesive used to put the floor down I felt sorry for the little guy. Then again, it was a rattlesnake in my backyard.

We’re so close to being done I can taste it! Actually, I literally can taste it since Marla’s started cooking again on her new stove. But more on that in a another post…

Day 7: Whale “Watching”

Todd — Fri, 29 Dec 2006 06:15:39 +0000

I woke us up at the crack of dawn today for our whale watching tour. Sound familiar? That’s because we did the same thing yesterday morning. This attempt, though, we arrived at the right time, the right place and the right day.

Captain Dan is a fairly well known whale researcher and does a couple of tours a day during the “whale season” during the winter in Hawaii.

Unfortunately the whales weren’t cooperating so we spent a few pleasant hours on the Lady Ann touring the Kohala coast. We saw a single blow spout far off in the distance but were never lucky enough to spot the big humpback that had come to the surface.

At last, on the way back into the Honokohau Harbor, we spotted a pod of spinner dolphins. Emma raced to the deck to watch. The short few minutes the dolphins were swimming next to the boat made up for the previous few hours of boredom as far as she was concerned.

We packed up and headed back home, all of us ready for naps. The kids managed to stay awake long enough for a lunch out at the Nasturtium Cafe – featured on the Food Network, they liked to proclaim.

After nap time we made a horrible discovery. Trusty Molly, who had accompanied Emma across the ocean and all around the Island was lost!

We had no idea where we might have left her and ended the day resigned to never seeing her again. Just as Emma drifted to sleep, though, she mumbled that she’d left her in the gas station near the Harbor…

Day 2: Place of Refuge

Todd — Sun, 24 Dec 2006 00:53:17 +0000

Today we visited Pu’uhonua o Honaunau (“hoe-now-now”), also called “Place of Refuge.” This was a very sacred site for Hawaiians in ages past. Any and all could flee to the pu’uhonua and be safe from harm. Whether you were fleeing an army bent on your destruction or you’d broken a law and were sentenced to death. If you could make it here in time you would be spared.

In addition to learning a little Hawaiian history here we were also treated to our first turtle-spotting. The crystal-clear waters made it easy to spot the green sea turtles (honu.) Factoid: the green in their name comes from the color of their fat, not the color of their shell.

Emma and Henry were so excited by the turtles. It was a delight watching them rush around the edges of the water hoping for another glimpse.

After touring the refuge we took a “short” hike along the shoreline looking for a kid-friendly beach. None were to be found so we turned back and ended up playing in the tide pools for the afternoon. (The Waiu-o-Hina lava tube along the 1871 Trail was closed, sadly, so we weren’t able to walk through it to the ocean.) We spied many tiny fish, a few sea cucumbers and a lone anemone before heading back home.

Another great sunset tonight (no green flash, though.) I wandered out after the kids were in bed to gaze at the stars. There are so many stars visible here, I can’t even begin to describe it. The best I can do is say that so many are visible I have a hard time recognizing even common constellations like Orion and the Big Dipper. Fabulous!

Rattlesnake!

Todd — Tue, 12 Sep 2006 05:07:20 +0000

We were taking a relaxing walk in the canyon across the street (O’Neill Regional Park) Saturday night when we spotted a snake slithering through the bushes.

Being the fine father that I am I wanted to responsibly show my children the beauty of nature. I remember thinking about It being important to teach them to appreciate wildlife…

… until I heard the high-pitched rattle start up.

Then my thoughts were all about, “Let’s get the Hell out of here!”

It seems that we crossed paths with a Western Rattlesnake, one not uncommon in Southern California. The past few years of above average rain have increased the population of their prey (rats, mice) and, in turn, the population of rattlesnakes has exploded.

We’d previously only seen gopher snakes so close to home.

Marla relayed to me tonight that a friend’s dog was bitten by a rattlesnake in their backyard just earlier today.

Guess I’ll have to add that to the list of things to look out for when we venture outside! (There are also tarantulas, mountain lions and deer across the street.)