Chicago Weekend.

I'm too tired to post much, but ...

I had an AMAZING weekend in Chicago and Libertyville: thanks to Avery, Eric, Ian and Sarah - you guys are wonderful!

After a decent red-eye to Chicago, Eric graciously picked me up on Friday morning around 5AM (actually a bit later, thank you SF fog.) I got a quick pre-school and pre-work visit in with everyone, before a good ole Corned Beef hash skillet (I packed my belly with meat this trip ... Wii Fit was confused what happened to me; I tried to explain Chicago to it, but it did not understand.)



First off was a Bleacher Cubs game with Eric, Dave and Herb. Cubs Win (and sneak into first)! Lots of beers during and post game. It was a good Chicago day.

Saturday was full of Ian and Avery play! I got some nice visits with Grandma Kathy and Uncle Mike and Aunt Kathy, plus a duel-meat dinner from the fancy new grill.


Sunday was Cubs game with just Eric and Ian. Cubs Win! Ian was a champ.


Monday, a sad goodbye, a bit of brother time with a fun walk before making it to the airport ...

Monday night - happy reunion with Mary and Sam!

I am very lucky to have all these wonderful people in my life! I can't begin to describe how incredible playing with Avery and Ian is. Serious, serious love and fun. Check out my Flickr Set here. Eric's post and some Flickr fun can be found around here.

What's happening over here.

Hello everyone .. both of you.

It continues to be a fabulous summer for Mary, Sam and me. I forgot to mention this but we celebrated 4 years of marriage and 3 years of California living last month. The time is flying. I am incredibly happy about both decisions.

Although I do miss Chicago and time with the family, but I am returning on a red-eye tomorrow to make a bleacher game at Wrigley on Friday and get some sweet, sweet kisses. Can't wait!

We've been having fun here. Sam loved kayak camp AND Devil's Gulch Ranch camp AND now Acrosports camp. He is ready for some free-time though, I think. When I drove the kids to DGR camp on Friday, I took some time to hike 7 miles down and up about 1,100' of Mt. Vision at Pt. Reyes. Trying to get some long hikes in before our vacation up north.



Sam is currently reading The Way of the Shadows, by the way. I had trouble getting into my last batch of books; I did finish The Last American Man, but wasn't feeling any of the others at this time. I get asked where I get the time to read the books I read, because I am not a fast reader (seriously it is embarrassing). I think it comes from not reading things I am not feeling. I am not one of those people that keeps reading because I already started something. I get foolishly slow in my reading if I am not dedicated.

So, I've been enjoying Walter Mosley's Easy Rawlins' mysteries - you may remember my love for Mouse. I've also been picking through Tribes, which has been inspiring me for work. I am looking forward to reading Rosie, The Serpent and the Rainbow and The Hunter right now. Oh, I just finished Sin City and can't wait to devour the final book of 100 Bullets. (Although there is a part of me that wants to wait and enjoy the anticipation.)

Mary and I spent 7AM - 6PM Sunday working on the home - first serious dedication since we moved in! There are things on the walls!

A couple things we have enjoyed from Sam's birthday have been Quirkle and the Wii Fit. Yeah, we've all been on it every day for the past 5 days ... we'll try to keep it up and let you know the results! Sam is looking forward to geting some Guitar Hero time once camps are over.

OK, just wanted to say Hi and say the summer continues to rock. I'm exhausted! Peace.

Not the no-no

Mary and I had a date night while Sam was kayaking to Angel Island for an overnight stay (yeah, that's right ...) She was nice enough to grant us a trip to the ballpark so I could watch Tim Lincecum pitch. I'm still not a Giants fan, but I am a pretty big Lincecum fan; he started with the Giants our first year here, so it has been a part of my SF baseball experience.

We had 2nd row seats right in front of the Giants' bullpen, so we got to watch him warm-up. It was pretty cool.



He pitched a no-hitter through 6, but he wasn't remarkably sharp and got banged a bit in the 7th. Little did we know the Giants no-hitter would come the next night!

Sunsets have been beautiful lately.


OK, time for a hike. More later?

Another wonderful weekend.

+ Happy to see Mary and Sam back!
+ Playing games.
+ Preparing for kayak camp.
+ Fireworks on the bay
+ Wishing mom a Happy Birthday
+ Seeing Georgia O'Keeffe and Ansel Adams Natural Affinities @ SFMOMA (Very cool by the way, you SF peeps should check it out if you haven't. Get the audio tour, as always.)
+ "Best Ramen in SF" @ Katana-Ya
Good, good fun!

A few pics, but more hanging out on Flickr:




Oh yeah, Sam no longer has hair. OK, time to go back to playing with Sam before the weekend is gone!