San Juan Trail

Went mountain biking last week with my friend Bryan. He took me to the San Juan Trail in Orange County, east of San Juan Capistrano. This was a pretty difficult, sometimes rocky 10 mile downhill shuttle run. I use a hard-tail titanium with a short travel shock up front. I use road bars and shifters. This bike does double-duty as my road bike with a quick change of the wheels. Usually I am at the front of a group of riders, but not on this day. I had to pick my way carefully down the trail while Bryan smoothly sailed his way down the hill. I had a blast, even if I had a good helping of humble pie.

Bryan, next time we do a ride with some up-hill!

Going to Parties

One of the strangest things about being a parent in the modern age is the young child's birthday party. Since Quinn has been going to preschool we're starting to get more and more invitations. I'm a little at a loss for etiquette, some parents say no (although there are always violators) presents others say yes and one wonders how to give an age-appropriate gift that doesn't cost too much without seeming cheap (or is it too late for me?).

Last month we went to a 4-year-old's party at a place called "Pump it up"; a big gymnasium full of inflatable play structures. This was a fantastic place to play. Quinn absolutely loved it and we had just about as much fun (thank goodness adults are allowed) jumping and climbing as he did. I'll be taking mental notes during the year as other birthday parties come and go so when we have one for Quinn we'll know what to expect. I'm guessing the common success factor will be having someplace where the kids can run around like crazy and lots of food.

We did another party at the beach in Oceanside. Luna had her 5th birthday a few weeks ago. Her father Jon, went to the beach at 2:00 AM to stand watch over the covered picnic table area. He got no sleep. Luna seemed to have a good time anyway. We got there a little early and missed the main fun. We still had a great time.

Kitchen Remodel

What a boring post! Home remodeling is only exciting for those who are doing it. But, we have been busy, so I thought I would post some before, during and eventually after pictures. Living with no kitchen is lots of fun!

Here we are post demo:

Here we are with the new cabinets in:

Here are some samples of the floor tile, counter-top and back splash materials:

I expect we will be done in about a month and then back to normal.