Saturday, November 28, 2015

When you realize that it has been over a year!

Well you can really say that I have neglected this blog for a while now.  Not that there wasn't stuff to post, quite the opposite.  The kids continue to grow, I am back at AAA (where I over four years ago), and have been swamped.


So that said,  here are some random pictures for the last year to illustrate what's been going on.






Sophie went to fifth grade camp and Beth got to join the party!


Grandma and Grandpa visited and Skype the kids every week.

 I returned to AAA, Insurance this time, and visited the different claims centers across the country.


We became a two vehicle family.....and Beth finally got her truck!
 Sophie graduated 5th grade and became a middle school student.





 We rediscovered our love of day trips and visiting places we have never seen, like the gold mining town of Columbia....






 We also did our annual Shasta Lake camping trip which included a ride on a Patio boat up Squaw Creek.

This meant, due to the drought of course, dodging the snags at the mouth of the creek, but there was plenty of water to have fun and relax.

 And also meant a bit of trolling up the McCloud. 


 
And eating greasy but good camping breakfasts!
 

And it wouldn't be a camping trip without a good nap or bike ride.















 Speaking of bike riding.....Emma and I learned the fun of mountain biking.  I have only run one race this year, a 10K, and greatly cut back on my running and bike riding.  However, this has meant that the times I do I get to have a lot of fun with my family!

 We finally, after four years, made it back to Disneyland!

We decided that we take advantage of "California Pricing and Payment Options" to get annual passes.

This was a goal all year for me.  30 years ago, my parents and sisters and I made the trip down to Disneyland, visited Magic Mountain and Universal. I was a sophomore in high school.

Ironically, my wife was with her family the same weeks we were there going to the same parks.  Mind you she was in 2nd grade at the time.  

Well to come back 30 years later with our family, with our youngest in 3rd grade, well, it was pretty wild to think about.

Now we will be making several trips in the coming year!



















 Yeah, I did say I ran one run this year, the 10K.  However, I would be remiss to also acknowledge the "Color Run" we did as a family.

Running along the Embaradero, AT&T park, and having people throw color corn starch at you was fun and after our first big rain of the year made for a really fun and beautiful morning!

Which brings you up to this past week.  We have been busy with hikes, bowling, ice skating, seeing the movie "The Good Dinosaur," and just plain relaxing.   


 So no promises, and basically this might have been a one shot deal, but that basically catches you up on the going-ons.

Oh, one last thing, I have discovered Periscope and Instagram.  I do post on those more frequently so to keep up, you can find us there also.

A sample of Periscope is found here: