Time for another summer trip to Bootjack. One of Gabe’s favorite ways to spend his time up north is out on the dock fishing. Most of the time it’s rock bass, but here he’s caught a smallmouth bass. If you’re really lucky you can catch a northern pike. Gabe is hoping to beat last year’s gigantic pike. Keep working those lines.
We met up with a few friends down at the beach today. Monica got to try out her new wetsuit during some boogie boarding. I bought myself one as well, but we plan to try them out together down at Manresa tomorrow. Hopefully Monica won’t get too tired playing in the surf today. Plenty of good friends, conversation, and food. As the sun goes down, it’s time to get the bonfire going. It’s also a good place to warm up after many hours in the water. ...
Charlotte took the kids and some friends over to Raging Waters in San Jose. I’ve never been, but it sure looks like non-stop fun. The slides are gigantic, and the wave pool looks like it’s getting a lot of action.
Charlotte has to have some of the most unique feet around. As far as I can tell, she actually has 4 pinky toes on each foot. Maybe this is the future of feet and we’ll be seeing more feet just like these. I have heard that from an evolutionary perspective, we actually only need one toe on each foot. She doesn’t appear to have any problem walking around on these beauties. It doesn’t look like any of the kids have inherited these peculiar digits, but we may have to wait and see. I have of course come to love these very special feet along with the rest of my wonderful wife. ...
Charlotte and the kids headed over to the La Madrona pool and tennis club for a little get together. The ladies enjoy some time talking, while the kids make the most of the pools. Some of the flowers from our backyard that the deer missed.
What better way to spend a beautiful Santa Cruz day than at the beach. We wanted to try out a beach that was a bit more remote to avoid the crowds. Manresa State Beach fits our needs perfectly. The shallow area is just packed with sand crabs. Monica even manages to find a clam. This is as close to the water as Nick will get. He’s a warm water kind of guy. Nick could have pointed out the gob of sunscreen on Charlotte’s chest sometime during their walk down the beach. ...
A big day for Monica. Next year she’ll be going to Middle School with Nick, and Gabe will be on his own. Time marches inexorably onward.
It’s the last week of school and the kids are obviously very excited. The last week is also filled with more fun and less work. Today is crazy hair day and Gabe went all out. I wish my hair had turned out this good. Meanwhile Nick gets a few well deserved awards for a very good year of effort.
Gabe and I haven’t been out fishing for quite some time, so it’s time to break out the poles. Gabe got up bright and early at 4:30am this morning. No way I’m getting out of the house before 6:30am. It’s a great day and there’s no one else out for some reason. I’m sure happy to not see the usual mob scene down at the wharf. Once out on the bay, we start catching kingfish almost immediately. We even snagged a pretty big octopus this time, though the picture is a bit blurry. Nothing like a nice cup of cocoa to help pass the time. ...
Some of the latest work from Valri’s studio.