The other dog was Lucy, a rescue we fostered for a few days, until she bit Trinket in the nose and we sent her packing.
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Staycation -- CAS
Day three of our Staycation, the third Wednesday of August, we hit the newly opened California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco on their free admission day. We got there right after it opened, and the line was couple miles long. They kept broadcasting on the mega phone that everyone waiting in line would get in, so we waited. The guys found entertainment with sticks and wadded up paper. Three hours was a long time in the cold.
Once we got in it was pretty nice. It took me sometime to study the albino alligator, to make sure he's alive. This shot was taken from the view on the side of the tank, with his reflection hitting the top of the water.
The Living Roof was a big so what. Barely a few plants to call it a garden.
Had to wait in line again for the rain forest exhibit. This time it was much faster and warmer.
There were a lot of cool stuff in this exhibit, I'd say it's the best of them all. Here is a scary looking green Basilisk. To the Potter fans' surprise, he's a lizard, not a big snake.
All in all, CAS is a nice museum, but I wouldn't pay what they charge admission for it, nor would I wait three hours for a free pass again.
Once we got in it was pretty nice. It took me sometime to study the albino alligator, to make sure he's alive. This shot was taken from the view on the side of the tank, with his reflection hitting the top of the water.
The Living Roof was a big so what. Barely a few plants to call it a garden.
Had to wait in line again for the rain forest exhibit. This time it was much faster and warmer.
There were a lot of cool stuff in this exhibit, I'd say it's the best of them all. Here is a scary looking green Basilisk. To the Potter fans' surprise, he's a lizard, not a big snake.
All in all, CAS is a nice museum, but I wouldn't pay what they charge admission for it, nor would I wait three hours for a free pass again.
Staycation -- No Golf
Day two of our Staycation, we planned a day of golf at Peter Hay Golf Course on the scenic 17 Mile Drive in Carmel. To our greatest dissappointment, the course was closed for the month of August. Since we were already in the area, we decided to play tourist and hit a few vista points. A walk from Spanish Bay beach to Asilomar beach.
The Lone Cypress.
I like standing on a step when I talk to the tall person, something about being more equal.
To make up for the lack of golf activities, we closed the day with a round of miniture golf in the dark.
The Lone Cypress.
I like standing on a step when I talk to the tall person, something about being more equal.
To make up for the lack of golf activities, we closed the day with a round of miniture golf in the dark.
Staycation -- Golf
The short cut to an unrealized vacation is to yak about it months ahead of time, and taking polls on blog. As I was able to convince the guys to visit central coast for our summer vacation, we went ahead with the planning, checking out hotels, golf courses, bike trails, restaurants in the area. Couple of weeks before we supposed to pack our suitcases, my mother-in-law was scheduled for surgery on the Thursday before our vacation. We better stay around town for that. So last week we joined this year's fad and toured around town -- call it Staycation.
Monday was golf at Deep Cliff Golf Course in Cupertino. Henry started learning golf earlier this year, after many early morning hours in front of TV watching golf channel. Bill played in his youth and it took the guys only a few months to convince me to join the game. Hey I don't have a job, might as well play golf!
Henry teed off in perfect form.
Hole #7, my ball made a splash. Not to lose second or third or fourth ball in the day, Bill fished it out of the creek.
Flying dirt.
Almost in the rough.
In our family this is called a Bucky Ball (the ball is about three feet in front of Henry, after a full swing). We used to play baseball when Bucky was a tiny 2.5lb baby. A Bucky Ball is a little hit that the 2.5lb baby could manage.
Monday was golf at Deep Cliff Golf Course in Cupertino. Henry started learning golf earlier this year, after many early morning hours in front of TV watching golf channel. Bill played in his youth and it took the guys only a few months to convince me to join the game. Hey I don't have a job, might as well play golf!
Henry teed off in perfect form.
Hole #7, my ball made a splash. Not to lose second or third or fourth ball in the day, Bill fished it out of the creek.
Flying dirt.
Almost in the rough.
In our family this is called a Bucky Ball (the ball is about three feet in front of Henry, after a full swing). We used to play baseball when Bucky was a tiny 2.5lb baby. A Bucky Ball is a little hit that the 2.5lb baby could manage.
Monday, August 24, 2009
Audio Books
Henry and I listened to a few audio books while field tripping. Here are some of the good ones, with comments provided by Henry:
1. On the Course with Tiger Woods by Matt Christopher -- This book is about golf superstar Tiger Woods. Matt Christopher, the best sports writer for kids, gives us the inside on Wood's life. This book is a must-read for young fans of legendary Tiger Woods.
2. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl -- This is a masterpiece about a boy named Charlie and his love of chocolate. One day, the mysterious Willy Wonka sends a note saying he will be admitting five children, and only five, to tour his factory. There are five Golden Tickets under five Wonka candy bars, anywhere in the world. And so, the race begins......
3. The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid by Bill Bryson -- Autobiography of the author's childhood in the Midwest in the 1950s. Like millions of his peers, Bill Bryson grew up a superhero, in this case with a old football jersey and 'laser' vision that will hold you to your seat. This book is laugh out loud funny!
1. On the Course with Tiger Woods by Matt Christopher -- This book is about golf superstar Tiger Woods. Matt Christopher, the best sports writer for kids, gives us the inside on Wood's life. This book is a must-read for young fans of legendary Tiger Woods.
2. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl -- This is a masterpiece about a boy named Charlie and his love of chocolate. One day, the mysterious Willy Wonka sends a note saying he will be admitting five children, and only five, to tour his factory. There are five Golden Tickets under five Wonka candy bars, anywhere in the world. And so, the race begins......
3. The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid by Bill Bryson -- Autobiography of the author's childhood in the Midwest in the 1950s. Like millions of his peers, Bill Bryson grew up a superhero, in this case with a old football jersey and 'laser' vision that will hold you to your seat. This book is laugh out loud funny!
Friday, August 21, 2009
More Field Trips with Henry
Week two of field trips with Henry. Monday the 3rd was Carmel to visit my mom and beach. Thursday we went to Steinbeck Center in Salinas with Sarah and her kids. Henry really needed the kiddie time, obviously hanging out with me was a bit more boring than I realized.
Rocinante, the converted pick up truck that Steinbeck drove across the country in Travels with Charley was on display. Even with a life size Charley in the cab.
On Friday we made the two hour drive up to Santa Rosa for the long anticipated visit of Charles Shultz Museum. I've been wanting to visit it since its opening in 2002, when Henry was small enough to enjoy all the little kids things. It took me only seven years to plan it.
I left my drawing in the visitors book.
This is one of Henry's favorites.
Rocinante, the converted pick up truck that Steinbeck drove across the country in Travels with Charley was on display. Even with a life size Charley in the cab.
On Friday we made the two hour drive up to Santa Rosa for the long anticipated visit of Charles Shultz Museum. I've been wanting to visit it since its opening in 2002, when Henry was small enough to enjoy all the little kids things. It took me only seven years to plan it.
I left my drawing in the visitors book.
This is one of Henry's favorites.
In two weeks, we made two long trips (Sacramento, Santa Rosa), two smaller trips (Carmel, Salinas), and assorted other local trips to the libraries, book stores, etc. On the longer trips Henry almost got car sick more than once, so on the way to Santa Rosa we decided he's big enough to sit in the front seat. Heading home after the Shultz Museum must be one of his best trips ever, sitting next to Mom, like a big shot. On the other hand, my trusty little green engine gave out after we got through Friday evening traffic jam in San Francisco. Turned out there was a part in the power steering system had to be replaced. I had to drive the last twenty miles or so on city streets, but we made it home.
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Trinket Gets Wild
Trinket is a hot tempered little guy. When he gets excited, he loses his mind.
This was what we had when we got home yesterday. He was jumping and barking all over us. When Dad picked him up, he was panting so hard we thought he might have a heart attack. Took a few tries to get a clear picture cause he was wiggling so much.
What does he look like here? An ancient wild dog? A fox? A coyote? A hyena?
This was what we had when we got home yesterday. He was jumping and barking all over us. When Dad picked him up, he was panting so hard we thought he might have a heart attack. Took a few tries to get a clear picture cause he was wiggling so much.
What does he look like here? An ancient wild dog? A fox? A coyote? A hyena?
Sunday, August 09, 2009
Carmel Beach
My mom lives a few miles from the scenic Carmel beach. Sometimes if we have extra time after visiting her, I take Henry to the beach to walk about. I love the ocean. I love the sound of the waves, the salty smell, the endlessness that brings me peace and calm. Henry likes throwing things into the waves.
Here he is throwing a rock into the ocean during Christmas break.
This was last week. He found a big stick on the beach.
Throwing.
Gone.
This was last week. He found a big stick on the beach.
Throwing.
Gone.
Wednesday, August 05, 2009
Charity Knitting -- Ideas for Patterns
Henry and I went to visit my mom in Carmel on Monday, and harvested a big box of charity knitting. She never knits from patterns, and I've had quite a few people asking me if I could help her put together some of the baby sweater and vest patterns that she created. I asked her in our last visit to start writing down some of the numbers, like cast on, arm hole decrease, cast off, etc., and she did a little bit of that. This time we went through each item together and I took lots of notes. There are a few vests in a basic pattern. The only things she changed were colors and the motif on the front. I can write up the notes I took for the basic pattern, but really any basic baby vest pattern would do. The motifs are mostly found in magazines, pattern leaflets, or pattern-a-day calendars.
I took notes for these little pants. But do people knit baby pants? Do babies wear pants without opening for diaper?
These two fish vests are very cute and quite complicated. She drew up the motifs herself and I took notes for the pattern, including stitch pattern for the back. There are also crochet edging on the collar and armholes.
The stitch pattern in this little sweater is what I named "starry sky" when I was a small child, and my mom had used it in many of her baby items. It's a slip stitch "knit one below" type of stitch, but I haven't seen it written up anywhere.
This vest has an interesting cross over knitted-in V neck. Otherwise it's a basic pattern.
This is the most complicated pattern in this batch. It's similar to argyle but the decrease is in the center line. It will take me some time to test knit and write up the pattern, but I think it will be very interesting.
No pattern for this vest! My mom is working on recreating the stitch pattern, since she didn't take notes and couldn't remember how she knitted it.
I'm at a bit of loss at what to do next. I never wrote a pattern before, and I would like to keep the pattern as close to my mom's original as possible, which means I will need to test knit, which will be time consuming. There are lots of quick and easy and basic patterns out there. On the other hand, would the complicated, intricate patterns be useful for other charity knitters?
I took notes for these little pants. But do people knit baby pants? Do babies wear pants without opening for diaper?
These two fish vests are very cute and quite complicated. She drew up the motifs herself and I took notes for the pattern, including stitch pattern for the back. There are also crochet edging on the collar and armholes.
The stitch pattern in this little sweater is what I named "starry sky" when I was a small child, and my mom had used it in many of her baby items. It's a slip stitch "knit one below" type of stitch, but I haven't seen it written up anywhere.
This vest has an interesting cross over knitted-in V neck. Otherwise it's a basic pattern.
This is the most complicated pattern in this batch. It's similar to argyle but the decrease is in the center line. It will take me some time to test knit and write up the pattern, but I think it will be very interesting.
No pattern for this vest! My mom is working on recreating the stitch pattern, since she didn't take notes and couldn't remember how she knitted it.
I'm at a bit of loss at what to do next. I never wrote a pattern before, and I would like to keep the pattern as close to my mom's original as possible, which means I will need to test knit, which will be time consuming. There are lots of quick and easy and basic patterns out there. On the other hand, would the complicated, intricate patterns be useful for other charity knitters?
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