2002

My dad (Ira) and Karen went on a cruise to Alaska with my uncle David and aunt Carole. I hear that they enjoyed the glaciers, gardens, and spectacular food.

We’re up in Burlingame visiting with George and his family. Here the kids are having fun in the hot tub. Zachary and Gabe have a great time together, and when all the girl cousins can get together, it’s always a thrill. Nick doesn’t like to go anywhere without his mask and snorkel. Trouble ahead. Your author hanging in the kitchen with George, Ellen, and Charlotte. It’s a beautiful day on the drive home down Highway 1 to Santa Cruz. These photos are just north of Pigeon Point, and by Big Basin state park. This has always been a big windsurfing and hang gliding spot, but the kite surfers are a new thing. Gabe’s thinking, one day that’ll be me. ...

Charlotte’s got quite a crop planted this year. Lots of tomatoes, lettuce, eggplant, corn, peppers, zucchini, green beans, peas, pumpkins, and more. We’ve added a few more planting boxes this year. Charlotte’s also done a lot with filling in the paths and adding lots of flowers. We also added two apricot trees, and some berry vines. This is also the only place we can grow roses with the deer in the area. Can’t wait to start harvesting. ...

Monica played the part of the spider in Roald Dahl’s story James and the Giant Peach. If you haven’t read the story, or seen the movie, go get it for your kids. The Stinky Cheese Man and his version of the Three Little Pigs are also big favorites in our house. Monica did an awesome job as did all her classmates. Nick and Gabe had a great time too. I think Gabe was very impressed with Monica’s performance. ...

Don’t quite recall what this photo was from, but clearly George and Ellen came down to Santa Cruz.

Gabe’s class had a polka night. He was very excited about all of us coming to see him dance and have a great time. There’s quite a few shots of him with his friend Gabi. If only they invited some of the parents to join in also. I sure wish I was in kindergarten again.

George tells me that Zachary has got baseball fever. He can’t get enough of the game and practices all the time. It almost sounds as if some environmental trigger turned on something built into his DNA. Well he sure looks like he’s having a great time, and who knows what the future will bring.

Flat Stanley was a school project for Lynda’s daughter Rachael. She made this cool little guy and then sent him on vacation with his cousin Gabe in California. We took a number of photos of Gabe and his new friend having fun at our house. He bounced on the trampoline, played with Abby, climbed on our playground, and went on the swings. Gabe tells me he and Stanley had a great day. Maybe we can have Stanley over again some other day. ...

We had been talking about a road trip for some time. It came down to a choice between a few exciting destinations. The choices were the Grand Canyon, the Oregon coast, or Yosemite. Charlotte and I had been to the Oregon coast a long time ago when we were living in Colorado and had really loved it. We’ve also done road trips up the coast, but never quite past the Oregon border. Charlotte had done the Grand Canyon a really long time ago, but the distance didn’t go well with the few days we could take. We’re off to the Oregon coast! ...

I really blew taking pictures for Gabe’s birthday, but I did manage to capture his excitement for the new bike. He’s been hoping for a big boy bike for some time now. You can be sure he’ll be having a lot of fun today.