Dude's gotta have his own stick

Costco is an economic marvel. Although we are not currently members, we have several friends who are and when Ross called to tell us that foam boards were currently on sale for 100 bucks, we asked him to pick one up for us. Living as close to the beach as we do, it's customary to offer a surf lesson to all visitors or even to loan a board to a friend who didn't want to bring theirs all the way up to north county. Now we have a worry-free option. An unexpected bonus in all this has been Quinn's reaction. The little man has been going to the beach since before he was born but has not really displayed a huge attraction for submergence in seawater. Granted, it's been a bit chilly of late. Since we returned from La Paz, we took the big blue sponge out to give it a try and the water is quite nice, in the 70s. Thus, it wasn't too surprising when Quinn finally consented to some water time, kicking through the waves in Wendy's arms while watching Scott take in a surf. However, when the board was offered to the little man, his enthusiasm for riding multiple waves and a declaration that he wanted to ride big waves by himself warmed the cockles of his parents' hearts and provided hope for a future that is not too distant where we will all hit the waves together.

Growth

Since changing from the website to the blog, I have not updated Quinn's growth chart. He is now 36 inches high and just over 1 1/2 stones in weight. You may want to click on the chart to see it in a size that is easier to read.

La Paz

We started out with a taste of many modes of transportation; the car ride to the train station to take the bus to the airport which ended with the taxi ride to the hotel. Whew! Quinn loved every second of it. Scott bought Harry Potter 7 in the airport since Wendy's pre-order was due to arrive the day we departed and she couldn't wait a whole week! No spoilers here.

Our hotel was quite lovely with a view of the bay, air conditioning, cable TV and a delightful swimming pool and playground area. We spent much time in the pool with Scott being instructed to be "an underwater shark" by our imperious small companion. Quinn would cling to Wendy's back and alternately shriek "run away! run away!" or "go get him!" while Scott swam around. Often there would be other children in the pool with inflatable toys to share. Good fun.

There is a wonderful element to travelling in Mexico with an attractive blue-eyed child. Most waiters, servers, and women passing by in the street tousle Quinn's hair, pinch his cheek or otherwise exclaim about the "bonito" child turning his head away shyly. We made him, we'll take all the credit for the magical genetic jumble that has produced this little guy.

Before Wendy's professional conference got going we had time to explore some of the beaches near La Paz together. There are many beautiful sandy beaches on which to relax, swim, rent kayaks and partake of the local fresh seafood nearby. The water is sparklingly clear but not all that warm considering our latitude, probably the mid to upper 70s depending on the depth. At the rockier parts of the shore, thriving coral reefs teem with butterfly and angel fish, wrasses, eels, needlefish, and other amusingly shaped tropical fish. We spent some time chasing after porcupine fish, trying to make them puff up threateningly.

Wendy, of course, neglected to take any pictures of the conference she attended. Suffice to say that the four days of the conference (Western Society of Malacologists' 40th annual meeting) were mostly pleasant, full of friendly academics and interesting science. While she was away Scott and Quinn continued to explore the area and rented a kayak to poke around the mangroves; observing schools of tiny fish, beautiful birds, and more clear water. Yes, that is Quinn hidden in his life jacket below. Safety first! Being on the kayak was his favorite part of the whole trip. He was very helpful paddling the kayak.

By the end of it all we were tired of delicious Mexican food, days spent in the water under beautiful skies, and not being able to get Quinn to take a proper nap. We took our taxi to the airport and the bus to the train and finally arrived back at our car which took us to our loudly complaining cat (thanks for watching after her Ross!) and home.

Girls love horses

It's true. It doesn't seem to matter much whether they grew up in the country or in town and Wendy is no exception. Her good friend, Megan, has a ranch up north of Escondido and the other weekend took her out on a trail ride. It was a lovely day, a lovely trail and although she has no authentic footwear, she managed to stay in the saddle without too much trouble. Of course it helped that Meg had already ridden the "girls" the previous day and had given them lots of food to keep their tummies settled and their demeanor calm. Thanks Meg!

Nor-Cal Trip: Mom's House and Eric and Indiana Visit

Next it was time to head to Grandma Pat's and Grandpa Norm's house for some hangin' out time. After the Medak clan headed home Scott's friend Erich came over with his enormous 20 month-old, Indiana. Quinn definitely needed a nap after that much fun and passed out with moments of his head hitting the pillow.


At last we had to head home; more fun in the airport watching airplanes and trucks and another nap in the air brought us safely home to a little high tide evening glass off. We couldn't have asked for much more in a vacation.

Nor-Cal Trip: Jamie and Casey Baby Shower

We all met up again at Great-Auntie Penny's and Great-Uncle Greg's beautiful Grass Valley cottage for Cousin Jamie's baby shower. Jamie looks beautiful, baby-to-be Estelle kept her squirming to a minimum and daddy-to-be Casey didn't look too nervous. It was great to meet him since we had narrowly missed being able to attend their wedding 2 years ago.

Nor-Cal Trip: Dad and Jean

Memorial Day weekend we all trooped up to Sacto for a family fun-fest. We started out on a good note; Quinn fell asleep on the plane before we reached 10k feet and we cruised up to Grandma Jean's and Grandpa Lee's lovely house up in Lincoln. It's been awhile since I've been in the central valley in the summer and it was hot! Luckily they have a pool and we availed ourselves of its cool water. Quinn LOVED playing in the pool, surfing "in his imagination" and splashing in the waterfalls.
Auntie Steph, Uncle Boris and Cousin Matea came over for lunch the next day and after a little suspicion, the two cousins played Thomas, the piano, and ate grapes together.

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.

Let's Watch Races

Quinn's other new fascination is with race-cars. This is largely due to watching the movie "Cars" far to many times. The local dirt track had its season opener tonight. Wendy was having a "Girl's night" with friends. So, I thought Quinn might enjoy going to the races as a "Guy's night". He was very excited to see the race cars zooming around the close oval. He even wore his ear-plugs after a few minutes of listening to the roar of the engines. After about an hour and a half, the sand at the base of the grandstand became more interesting than the cars. I know that this is our cue to get moving.

The Island of Sodor

Last weekend we drove through the first big downpour in SoCal in several months to go spend a few days in Ventura. The real point of the trip was a DAY OUT WITH THOMAS (as in Thomas the Tank Engine, he's the cheeky one!) at the Fillmore Historical Railway.

We checked into a Motel 6, watched some baseball (Quinn kept saying "Let's watch races!") and the next day dawned beautiful and sunny. The drive from Ventura to Fillmore passes strawberry fields, fruit trees, and small towns. It feels very much like a mix between the area around Rainbow and the Salinas Valley.

Our first glimpse of Thomas on the railroad tracks elicited the expected excited chatter from the back seat. At last we parked, put on sunscreen, and headed over to the tracks. From that point on I think Quinn simply got overwhelmed by all the people, the full sized trains, the enormous tent full of everything Thomas, and the play areas full of the Brio-style trains and tracks where swarms of children rolled the little wooden trains around with varying degrees of politeness. When it was our turn to get on the big train for our ride with Thomas, Quinn was not ready to leave the play area. Oh the tragedy of not being able to understand the significance of a ride on Thomas! Maybe we should have skipped the train ride. In any event after a prolonged storm of tears, Quinn agreed to get on the train and enjoyed looking at all the railway debris piled up around the tracks and we talked about the fields of crops near the end of our trip.

By this time, dude was completely exhausted. We played with the trains a little longer and then packed ourselves back into the car for the scenic drive back. Instead of heading directly back to Ventura, we wound our way over a ridge and down into the Ojai valley, past Lake Casitas, and then around the backside of Carpinteria and Santa Barbara. Quinn slept almost the whole time. We couldn't believe how beautiful the drive was and resolved to return again sometime. Ojai is a gorgeous, artsy little town and the backside of Santa Barbara revealed Rancho Santa Fe-style compounds and beautiful homes with million dollar views. Amazing.

That afternoon we surfed C street and had fun jockeying with the locals while Quinn played in the sand and got to know the feeling of seaweed on his fingers. We tried surfing again Sunday morning by the tide was very low and the crowds had gotten 10 times larger. ah well, better luck next time.