pictures

My birthday was Monday (I turned 39) and as usual, what I really wanted to do was spend the day at the beach, doing all kinds of fun beachy things, with my family.  Since the kids have school on Monday, I had this crazy idea that I could stitch together one perfect day from two or three days at the beach.  So, Saturday (while Joann was visiting her cousin) I took the kids to Manresa State Beach.  It was a little cool, and a little windy, but pretty okay all in all.  And we had a great time.



Over the summer I got the boys each a short sleeve wetsuit, which we put to good use with it getting cooler. The tide was low, and the swell almost non-existant, so there were lots of little 1-2 foot waves rolling in - plenty to be fun for kids, but nothing big enough to be intimidating. And since we were at Manresa at low tide, you could walk out 20-30 yards and still only be in knee-high water (the slope of the beach there is very shallow, unlike a lot of other beaches around here, and so it's great for kids). These factors together let the boys feel a little brave, and they both tried riding a could of little waves on my boogie board, and had a great time.

(To be continued... roasting hot dogs and marshmallows over a fire, watching the sunset playing frisbee, buying a Jawa costume the next day, and going back to the beach for more boogie boarding on Monday)

We went rafting on the Truckee River on Sunday with the Compeaus - it was great. We played on little beaches along the river, had peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and even pulled over for ice cream when we saw an ice cream stand (yes, on the side of the river!). Ben learned to skip rocks - or at least he skipped one rock!

Eli was very brave in spite of being knocked off balance by a raft and floating down the river a bit. I think he knew that the life jacket would keep him safe. (The current was just fast and strong enough, even at waist deep, to make things interesting once and awhile.)

Occasionally we'd go over some rocks and some "rapids" and it was just enough to feel like you'd had a little adventure. I can't wait to go back, and neither can the boys!

We've had a lot else going on - Benji is getting more and more confident in "The Little Gym". Joann is making headway into scrapbooking. I've captured a few old home videos and compiled DVDs (but it's still only a small dent). I'm still doing some programming and have released one small thing on Sourceforge (a user authentication script called EasyLogIn).

Joann took the boys to see "Thomas the Train" at Roaring Camp - now Ben is very into Thomas the Train. Too cute. Let's see, what else... I know more has happened in the last month and a half, but can't remember it at the moment.

What else happened lately...

• Eli lost one of his top front teeth
• Joann turned 35 (we had fun little celebrations, including a decent size family gathering/bbq at our house)
• My dad turned 60 (to be celebrated later, in better style, in Mexico)
• Our garden is producing the best tomatoes we've had in years, as well as some pretty decent watermelons (but the cucumbers are awful - bitter!)
• The boys have taken to frequently playing in the dirt and mud in the back yard
• Ben sang a song in which "Daddy is my best friend" but later something happened about sticking me on the fridge (I have no idea...)
• Eli has "made us breakfast" several times - a concoction that may include any mixture of chocoloate milk mix, milk, water, cinnamon, tea, baking soda, hot cocoa, and ???
• We layed outside on a blanket and watched (looked for) meteors
• And I'm sure there's still more that I'm forgetting...

I'm sure that I've come to this conclusion before, but, with my memory, it's not surprising if I've had this train of thought many times. The importance, if there is any - and I really like to think that there is, must be in the process. Or the journey, if you prefer that. Unless of course you believe in the great reward waiting for you after you die - paradise - but that isn't too far off either, since most major religions would dictate that the reward is based on your behaviour while you're alive - bringing you right back to the importance being the process.

So, it's the means more so than than the end. And really, maybe the means even justifies the end. I don't know.

I've got one more week of "vacation" left before I start my next real job. How lucky am I to have had all this time off? Pretty lucky. I go back and forth between wishing I would have done more, and being glad for everything I did - time I spent playing with my kids, working on my house, doing interesting projects, talking to my wife. And I'm certainly going to do as much of all of those things (okay, I'm leaning more toward the fun things) in the next week as I can. I had a bunch of time with family, a trip to Disneyland, some surfing and boogie-boarding, and a lot of other stuff. Pretty cool. We just went to Marine World - that was great. I have mixed feelings about the treatment of animals (same issues with zoos and circuses) but I do give some credence to the idea that first hand experience is a good educator. We rode an elephant - it was amazing. Not just entertaining - but an awe-inspiring experience to be able to touch such an incredible creature. I can only hope that they are treated well - but I can't quite bring myself to wholeheartedly condemn the idea of these beautiful creatures in captivity, only because we humans need to have some first hand experience to appreciate things. So, here's Tago, our elephant, who probably wasn't too happy, but I do appreciate the oppportunity to meet him.

here's an overdue picture, one of about 250!