R2-D2

Who wouldn't want this?

Sponge Bob

EJP drew a picture of Sponge Bob Squarepants. Pretty cute, huh?

Too bad Spongebob is rude and annoying, and appealing to young boys.

Superstar

SKGP was awarded the Peace Builder of the Month this month. She's also the star student of the week in her class this week.

We are very proud of her.

Disneyland Photos

Pictures that I took at Disneyland.
Pictures that Aunt Erin took at Disneyland.

Roomba (Try #3)

Recently, iRobot came out with a new version of the Roomba, the vacuuming robot. We had an older version last year, and loved it until the cat hair killed it (and its replacement).

It appears that this new version is easier to clean; you can open the cover and get to the inner guts where the old one appeared to get gummed up. I hope that this one survives. However, since we got it at Costco, the risk is low.

We haven't named it yet.

Hot Dog

EJP read his first book today. It is Hot Dog by Molly Coxe.

Dog is hot. Mom is not.
Go play, Dog.

Dog is hot. Cat is not.
No way, Dog!

Dog is hot. Pig is not.
Oh, no, Dog!

Dog is hot. Boy is not.
Too slow, Dog!

Dog is hot. Sheep are not.
Shoo, shoo, Dog.

Dog is hot. Skunk is not.
P. U., Dog!

Dog is hot. Girl is not.
Silly Dog!

Dog is cool. In the pool.
Chilly dog.

Dineyland Astro Blasters

Cat Exchange

Since we finished landscaping the back yard, we've been letting the cats out.

Garbanzo meows constantly in the morning to be let out. If it is a work day, we don't let him out. He can be really loud and obnoxious. Pinto just sulks.

When we do let them out, sometimes only one wants to go out. So we let that one out. A while later, the first one wants back in and the other wants to go out. They pass each other passing through the door, until the next time.

EJP Update

9/5/2007: EJP just counted to 49, with only a little help in three places. Pretty amazing.

Since school began after labor day, his pre-reading skills have really taken off. (RCP: Provide details!)

He is taking a Spanish class after school on Tuesdays. The teacher said that he is doing well in it, which makes me believe RCP that he's got an ear for language. We are plotting on getting him in the dual immersion Spanish/English program at his future school. [M, do you have advice on how to raise a polyglot?]

9/15/2007: Today, we went to the park near our house. SKGP rode my scooter, and EJP rode his bike, and I walked. The training wheels on his bike are a bit tweaked (since I put it together), with one side higher up, so he's got a wicked angle when riding. There is a sidewalk around the play structure at the park, and he rode around and around it. After a while, I could see him balancing for a second or three. When he falls over, he very calmly puts his foot down and stands up and doesn't hurt himself.

If we devote some time to it, I'm sure he is going to be riding a two wheeler soon (way ahead of his sister).

10th Anniversary Cruise

In early August, RCP and I went on a cruise for our 10th (!) anniversary. It was a 4 night jaunt, from LA, to San Diego and then back up to Catalina, then to Ensenada, Mexico and back to LA. If you look at a map of California, you will see that this routing doesn't make any sense -- the harbor is 20 miles from Catalina.

When booking the cruise, I spent some time finding the cheapest fare, and Orbitz won. It was about $750 for the two of us, which I thought made the whole trip a cheap date. Our room was small, but it had a window and we weren't under water.

We left the kids with Gram and Pop, and they seemed to have a good time.

Our dinner companions were nice people. One of the couples was married on the same day as us, so the night of our anniversary was festive. Another couple was from Brazil, which is fascinating because why would someone come from Brazil for a silly cruise along the California coast? (Answer: they were here for a job thing.)

I bought a bottle of absinthe in Mexico, which is banned here. I appear to retain my sanity, so it isn't everything its cracked up to be.

I discovered that I like playing blackjack. I won about $150 on the first night (which is HUGE stakes for me), and stayed about $100 ahead for the rest of the trip.

This ship doesn't really compare to the Freedom of the Seas, which is the huge boat we took last year. The crew on this one seemed like they were in training, compared to the amazing service we had on previous cruises.

Take A Gun To Play Day

Early in the summer we went over to my friend Erik's house to have dinner and let our kids play together. They have a 2-year-old son.

That day EJP was obsessed with his toy gun. He has a cool looking Nerf pistol, which he insisted on bringing. So, he's running around pretending to shoot stuff. I felt a little strange, with our big 4 year old kid exposing gun play to a 2 year old. I hope we didn't alienate the parents.

All three of the kids had fun splashing around in a little inflatable swimming pool. They pulled a play structure next to it, and used the slide to slam into the pool. It was funny. It was also nice to hang out with adults for a while.

The next day, EJP wasn't interested in playing with the gun anymore. I hope we didn't turn little Dylan into a psychopath or anything.

Disneyland!

We are going to Disneyland on Friday, October 5th. So if anyone wants to come, see you there!

High School Musical 2 Mania

SKGP is in the grasp of High School Musical 2 mania. She recently had a babysitter and her friend Emily and sister Danielle came over. I downloaded the sound tracks for the first movie and #2 (which she definitely prefers). She's been listening to them constantly and watching the movie on Tivo whenever she gets the chance.

She's kind of like a teenager now, which is sort of cute, and sort of sad.

Apparently, she's not alone in her obsession. At a girl scout meeting this week, RCP asked the girls if they knew about HSM, and they all started screaming excitedly. When she told them the troupe was going to HSM on Ice, they lost it.

Note to Self: Less Squash

Our garden is doing very nicely. We have lots of tomatoes and varieties of squashes. We have made one batch of salsa, and we need to do another shortly.

Today, while doing some lawn maintenance, I decided to clean up the garden area a bit. There were lots and lots of large dead squash leaves buried in the middle of other plants. I hacked them back, and moved a large living plant that had decided to grow on top of one of our tomatoes.

While it is nice to have home grown squash, they are not my favorite vegetables, and they take over the whole area. Next year, remember to plant fewer squashes, and don't put them in the middle. Instead, put them on the edges so they can grow outwards.

Street Naming Committee

We have a project named Amberwood, which will be a very nice residential community with lots of parks and walking trails and good stuff. I need to come up with the names of the streets. Due to location and such, we were thinking of using some sort of fruit theme.

I'd like to do something that's a little more interesting (to me). I'd love to use names from science fiction books that I like. The trick is the names have to fit in enough with each other that the City will let them through.

If you have any great ideas for names of streets, let me know.

On another project, we had an intersection of Sleater and Kinney that I was proud of. I think its gone now, since we had to move the streets around.

Worst Day Ever

This morning, the kids had gymnastics, and after than we went to Costco. Then SKGP and RCP went to Target to do some shopping. SKGP decided that she wanted a new Cabbage Patch Kids, and apparantly threw a giant tantrum that lasted the entire time at Target.

When they got home, SKGP was sent to her room to chill out. RCP had a little talk with her, and SKGP said that today was the worst day ever.

At dinner tonight, as we sat outside on our new patio furniture on a lovely summer evening, we talked about her tantrum. EJP began to chant with an English rock star accent "Worst day ever. Worst day ever. Worst day ever."

It was hilarious.

Phone

I left the phone in the windows of my car while we were at Costco today, and the car got mighty warm. When I got back, I hit the On button, and (magically) the phone turned on.

It is rebooting every half hour, but it was doing that before the pool incident.

Aqua Treo 650

I dropped my phone in the pool yesterday. I've been having lots of trouble keeping my phone functioning, but dropping it in the pool seems really bad. I hope once it dries out, it'll take a battery charge and start working again.

I've got another month on my contract.

Some might ask if I'm sabotaging it so I can get a new, cheaper iPhone. I don't think so, but who knows how the mind works?

Fire

SKGP's New School

SKGP is now in her second week at the brand new Las Animas School. We went back to school last night (9/4/07). Her teacher is not that entertaining as a speaker, but she seems nice and qualified, and it's a nice campus. There's lots of traffic, so it's so hard to get in and out, but SKGP is taking the bus, which she is very excited about and it's a great thing for us too.

The playing fields aren't done yet; perhaps by October. It's a closed campus, so they throw all the parents out before the kids go into their classes, which is a little off-putting. What are they trying to hide?

Its adorable watching her stand in front of our house, waiting for the bus. She's a real kid now.

Coe Fire

There is a large fire at Henry Coe Park, which has been burning since Labor Day. It has filled up the valley with smoke, and the sun is at crazy orange color like an eclipse or other apocalyptic sign.

Last night, SKGP had trouble sleeping because she was worried about the fire getting our house and us. We explained that it was miles and miles away, but she was still freaked out. She was up until around 4 AM, off and on.

Pirate Day Is Coming

Batton down the hatches, Talk Like A Pirate Day is almost here! September 19. Do something piratical.



A pirate walks into a bar with a steering wheel in his fly.
The bartender asks him about it.
The pirate replies "Arrr, it's drivin' me nuts!"

Chowchilla

An article about one of the parts of one of our projects. They confused me with DMP.

Don't Catch Up With Me

You may have gotten an email asking you to join Quetchup.com (or some such spelling). Don't -- its a virus masking itself as a social networking site.

Sorry to all who were infected.

Hyundai Update

Since 8/31/06, I've been gathering data on my car. So, here is a one year summary...

Miles per year: 18,492 (Odometer is now at 22,360)
Gallons of gas per year: 796.695
Average price per gallon:$2.82
Miles per gallon: 23.21
Cost per mile: $0.121
Total Gas Purchased: $2,246.73
Service and other expenses: $506.51
Estimated amount of carbon released: 7.728 tons

I'm still happy with the car. I just washed it and vacuumed out the corn bread that EJP obliterated in it yesterday.

Green Gables

"Mom, I never want to watch Anne of Green Gables again. I hate that movie."

Eva's Song

PS: EJP: "Mom, after I take a nap, if I'm a good cooperator and I don't fuss, can I
watch Eva on your computer?"

Aunt Erin!

News: Give and receive | community, league, volunteer - OCRegister.com

Hey, that's Aunt Erin!

Hangman

Last week, SKGP spent the day in the office, since our babysitter was playing bridge. A coworker Jessica spent some time entertaining her, by playing hangman.

SKGP won more matches. One of her secrets was to put up phrases that no one but a first grader at Rod Kelley Elementary would know.

The best one:

Monkey Bar Challenge

Jessica didn't get it.

Dog Bikini

On a walk yesterday, I noticed this shop where you can turn animal hair into yarn. Amazing.

Star Trek Interrupted

I was watching an episode of Star Trek (TOS) last night, which Tivo had picked up earlier this week. The episode was about halfway over, and we'd just returned from a commercial break. Then, mid scene, the screen changed to the G4 logo, with the message that G4 had moved. That is, they changed what channel represents G4.

Smack in the middle of a show.

Stupid Charter Cable.

New Lambs

As of June 19, my college roommate Jon and his wife Jessica are now the proud parents of Charles Rockford Lamb (6lb 10.5 oz) and Thomas Briscoe Lamb (6lb 5.9 oz).

The new kids share a birthday with EJP.

Congratulations!

Presents Post Script

Today, Nana took the kids up to her friend Wilma's house. Wilma and family had presents for EJP for his birthday, including a very cool bug habitat, like a habitrail for bugs.

Another present from his birthday was a bug catcher box. He opened it today and about half an hour later it was broken.

My Kids Aren't the Only Crazy Ones

Aunt Erin sent this update on Eva's world:

Eva climbed up on her rocking lamb for a ride today as she often does. Her dismount was a little off this time and she landed on her face. It was upsetting to her so we hugged and she told me about it.

Not five minutes later she was climbing back on the lamb and then almost instantly climbing off as if to prove she could indeed do it.

I marveled at this visual statement of her developing personality and wanted to share it with you.

Presents

Uncle DMP returned from Australia the other week. He brought a neat, hand painted boomerang for SKGP, and a petrified shark tooth for EJP.

This tooth lived in a pre-historic shark, then survived for 60 million years, then a trans-Pacific flight. It was broken the next day. Kids, don't put fossils in plastic boxes and shake them.

For his 4th birthday last week, Gram's friend Robin gave EJP a neat bug specimen in a viewing box. That night, EJP dumped the bug outside. We have a "no bug in the house" policy, and we encourage him to let the bugs go before they die, so I guess this should have been an expected outcome.

For his birthday, he also got his first Nerf gun (I made sure it works by shooting Uncle DMP), and a helmet that looks like Optimus Prime (the Transformer) that modulates his voice, and a bike, and some other cool stuff. Boys get more fun toys than girls. I can't wait until he's a little older.

PS: My editor informs me that the bug specimen was from last year.

Singing Rabbits

As I was driving the kids to Nana's the other day, we were listening to a kids mix CD. The children's song "Wynken, Blinken, and Nod," performed by the Bee Gees, was playing.

EJP said, "These are rabbits."
SKGP said, "They are?"
EJP said, "It sounds like it."

I thought it was cute.

Paypal Mobile

If you are ever out, and you end up owing someone for dinner or something and you don't have cash, you can use PayPal Mobile to text message money to them. How cool is that?

So I haven't actually tried it yet, but it seems like a very cool thing. First commenter gets a $1 sent to their phone...

Baby Talk

This weekend, we were in La Canada to see baby Oliver, RCP's cousin Sarah's 4 month old son. We got to spend some time playing with Uncle John, Aunt Erin, and Cousin Eva, along with Gram and Pop and Uncle Gavin.

We were talking about things that Cousin Eva, who is around 1.5 years old, is saying. When she wants more, she says "moy", which is something that SKGP used to say.

We also remembered that a younger SKGP would say "May I both be excused?" when she meant "May I please be excused?"

(What else did the little darlings used to say? Comments welcome!)

EJP the Giraffe

EJP, looking at the picture of the giraffe in his bathroom this morning, told me, "That was me when I was a giraffe."

Aunt Mycki is moving back to Morgan Hill

Jott:

Aunt Mycki is moving back to Morgan Hill. Hooray!

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She put an offer in on a place fairly close to my parents house. She has buyer's remorse right now, but my father tells me that is very common for her. Growing up, Aunt Mycki and Uncle Jim moved a bazillion times, and I guess she always second guessed herself.

I think its cool she's coming back, after being in Santa Barbara for quite a few years.

Recurring Nightmare

I just had my nightmare again.

I've enrolled in a non-major course, as well as my computer science stuff. Perhaps it is for GE credit or something. It is some sort of Indian mythology or history. I went to class once, and the professor said there was a giant research paper due at the end of the quarter. Then I stopped going, but I never dropped it.

When I realize I'm still in the class, I try to find when and where the lectures are, and what the texts are, and what the giant paper is on. I also try to figure out how to drop it.

Its very disturbing.

[Jott from James Pace] Hi, my journey has been successful, I am enjoying fine beer on a [...]. Tom is ...

Jott From James Pace

Hi, my journey has been successful, I am enjoying fine beer on a [...]. Tom is on his way to have a beer with me, life is good.

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[Jott from James Pace] I have found down old town Pasadena. I am now looking forward Garden Beer(?), g...

Jott From James Pace

I have found down old town Pasadena. I am now looking forward Garden Beer(?), get myself a beer, see how I am going to get out of here.

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[Jott from James Pace] I am now in Pasadena and I am wandering and looking for old town.

Jott From James Pace

I am now in Pasadena and I am wandering and looking for old town.

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[Jott from James Pace] I am now on the gold line heading Volta City(?).

Jott From James Pace

I am now on the gold line heading Volta City(?).

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[Jott from James Pace] I have now arrived in Union Station in Downtown [...] looking to find train to P...

Jott From James Pace

I have now arrived in Union Station in Downtown [...] looking to find train to Pasadena.

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[Jott from James Pace] I have made it on to the bus.

Jott From James Pace

I have made it on to the bus.

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[Jott from James Pace] Wish me luck. I am beginning my adventure using public transit to get from LAS ...

Jott From James Pace

Wish me luck. I am beginning my adventure using public transit to get from LAS to as close to Lakinyada(?) as I can.

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Notes from the Birthday

Adult: Is Ethan your boyfriend?
Emily: Yes, but I don't tell him, because he says "No."

Pictures available at http://picasaweb.google.com/jepace/EthanS4thBirthday

Crabby Dance

Admire Uncle DMP's fancy video skills.



We call this the Crabby Dance.

Last Day of School

Today was the last day of school. That means SKGP is a second grader, and EJP is only a year away from going to kindergarten.

I am flabbergasted at how fast time has passed for them.

SKGP got some awards, such as homework and reading and citizenship. She's a good kid, especially when we're not around.

Baby with the bathwater

Today EJP dumped a bunch of shampoo or bubble bath on the floor of the bathroom.

Toylet

EJP filled the toilet with toilet paper, and tried to keep it secret.

We made him pull it out himself....

Memphis

RCP went to Memphis to give a talk this week. I was in charge of the kids, and we all survived. We went to Costco, and we had spaghetti with Uncle DMP.

Her talk went well.

`Jericho' fans win

San Jose Mercury News - `Jericho' fans win; CBS may bring back show

This article says that the CBS show Jericho, which I watch, may not be canceled as was previously announced. Fans sent 19,000 lbs of nuts to the network executives because one of the characters said "Nuts!" on the show once.

So your weekly dose of post-apocalyptic drama will return sometime next year. Yay!

SKGP Frees The Fish

(I went on this field trip, too! -JEP)

GilroyDispatch.com of Gilroy California

Classes Go Swimmingly for Students at Rod Kelley

2:04 PM
By Christopher Quirk

		Rod Kelley teacher Eric Martin explains to a first-grade class how to release salmon fry into the San Lorenzo River in Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park recently.

Gilroy - When future hikers glimpse a steelhead trout darting upstream, it might be hard to imagine the threatened fish could have been wiggling around in a corner of a Rod Kelley classroom this past spring.

The first-grade class at Rod Kelley Elementary School released more than a hundred baby steelhead trout - a species in the same family as salmon - last week into the San Lorenzo River. The release, done on a field trip to Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park in the Santa Cruz Mountains, ended a year-long study of water and marine life that featured more than a month of rearing the trout from eggs.

"They looked like eyed eggs,," said 7-year-old Jose Laneros, describing the steelhead fry when his class first received them. "Like they have one eye on them."

The eggs were primarily clear with one black spot in the middle where the growing fish floated. They became a treasured part of the classroom soon after the Salmon and Trout Education Program - a regional organization that encourages hands-on lessons on the importance of healthy watersheds - delivered them in mid-April. Needing darkness to grow properly, the eggs were kept in fish tanks covered by heavy towels or cloths - students were only allowed the occasional peek.

"They're all excited when they can see all the eggs," teacher Meghan Osborne said. "I'd have to hold them back some days."

When the eggs hatched, the class took fry out to the river to let them go. It was a bittersweet activity for the students, who had grown attached to the fish.

"We had them in our class for a long time," 6-year-old Lanai Garcia said.

Still, almost all students said the river was the best place for the fish.

"That's where they live and that's their home," said 7-year-old Gabby Avila.

"They want to see their friends and their family," Laneros added.

Personifying the animals does not trivialize the learning process, said Christel Morley a literary facilitator who brought the program to Rod Kelley 10 years ago.

"Six-year-olds have a great capacity for learning and they learn well when its concrete," she said.

Rearing and releasing the fish helps the students build a connection with local rivers and parks, and adds an emotional dimension tolessons about the effects of pollution.

It's "more than just the life cycle of fish," Morley said. "They learn about ... being stewards of their environment."

The release also brings the lessons out of the classroom, showing the applications of the year's education to not only the students, but also their parents and the community.

"Along with what (students) learn, they teach their families," Morley said. "And many of their parents don't know what they're learning. I just now talked to a parent and she said, 'We can no longer eat salmon.'"

---

Christopher Quirk
Christopher Quirk covers education for the Dispatch. Contact him at 427-7240 or cquirk@gilroydispatch.com.

What Should Faith Do?

My friend Faith is at a crossroads in her life. She is a widow at 34 and her life is completely up in the air.

She had most recently been teaching elementary school, but now isn't sure that's what she wants to return to. She has a law degree from Duke, but she stopped practicing law due to lack of interest and to get married. She also has some sort of degree from UC Davis. She is one of the smartest people I've ever met.

Does anyone have suggestions for a career path for her?

SKGP: My Brother

I like to bug my borther. My borther is mene to me that is why I bug him. He is not nios to me. I do not now how to stop buging my little brother. But eventhowe he is mene to me I oways will love him.

Teacher's comment: I understand how you feel!

The New Backyard

The rules of our community require that landscaping for front and back be completed within 2 years. When buying a house, cash for such frivoloties as a yard is scarce. However, the time has finally come for us to do our backyard.

We had Gabriel, who did our front yard and several of our neighbors yards, start working a couple weeks ago. His team worked tirelessly and very quickly things took shape.

For more photos, check here.

Picnic Day

Picnic Day is the annual open house at our alma mater, UC Davis. Yesterday, we packed the kids in the van and made the trip back to Davis. It rained. A lot. On the road and on campus.

Highlights include the Doxie Derby, the race of the wiener dogs. Also, lunch at the Coffee House is still very good. EJP got to pet a tarantula, some snakes, and a scorpion. We tried honey based on several different plants. We saw cockroaches race.

We met up with Jon and Jessica, and it was, as always, a pleasure to see them. The twins are coming! It seems I'm really missing out by not watching Battlestar Gallactica.

We had dinner at Dos Coyotes. Yum. Then we drove home in more rain.

Ant Farm

The ants for the ant farm finally arrived on Thursday. On Friday, the kids got back from spring break in La Canada. So that night, we opened the tube of ants and dumped them into the life sustaining gel that is the heart of the ant farm.

A pile of rolled up bugs plopped out into the colony. I quickly put the lid on, so none would escape. After a few minutes, several of the ants were crawling around confusedly. At the center of the space was a pile of carcases. I remained hopeful that they were in some sort of ant suspended animation. One of them twitched.

A day later, only 5 ants were moving. The twitching one twitched occasionally, but no real motion. Today, I removed the "sleeping" ants, since they slumbered very deeply.

Five lousy ants! I thinkI sent a check for $6 for shipping, back in January. And I get 5 lousy ants in April.

These ants don't seem to want to dig the fabulous ant tunnels that the box promises, either. They just congregate at the end and try to climb out.

They better get organized and do some tunneling, or they might get to meet some local ants and see which are the better fighters.

Premium Only

What are the ethics of fueling up a rental car?

The car I rented for my trip to southern California demands premium fuel only. I don't want to spend more money than I have to on a rental, but I don't want to damage the car.

I went with the medium grade fuel. What am I supposed to do?

Dragon Tales

I was just cruising through the stuff that Tivo has stored for us, and I noticed a bunch of episodes of Dragon Tales. It occurred to me that SKGP doesn't watch it anymore, and that made me sad.

So, future S, remember that you used to really like watching the show Dragon Tales. Max and Emmy (and the new guy, Enrique) have a magic dragon scale that takes them to Dragonland, where they play with Zac and Wheezy (conjoined dragons), Ord (the big one), and Cassie (the smart one). Quetzal is the dragon teacher.


EJP is really into the Curious George movie. He watched it at least 4 times this week. Both of them really enjoy the PBS show.

Princess Battle

Wired just added a blog called GeekDad which has fun posts about things to do with kids that use some geek skills. One of the posts was about stop motion movies.

(Another was learning how to say your name backwards, which I'm working on.)

Father & Daughter Dance

Last weekend was the Girl Scouts Father Daughter Dance.

We got dressed up and we danced. SKGP's friends Keily and Emily were there. SKGP followed Keily around all night. It was lots of fun.

Afterwards, we went to Baskin Robbins and had an ice cream.

Dream

Last night, I had a dream that I was tired.

Student of the Month

For your unfailing willingness to regularly go above and beyond for others, we hereby recognize SKGP as an example of citizenship worthy of emulation by us all.

Congratulations.

Rod Kelley School
February 27, 2007

Signed: Luis Carillo, Principal and Ms. Johnston, Teacher

The River Is Rising

I drove home last night by Christmas Hill park. The river is rising. I think Silva's Crossing will be flooded out again soon.

Faith

My friend Faith was in a car accident in December. A drunk driver ran into her. Her husband, Pierre, didn't survive. She is in a rehabilitation hospital, mending her many broken bones.

She and Pierre were at our Christmas party; he introduced us to a South African drink.

I feel so bad for her.

First Hike of 2007

Last Sunday, Andrew and I went for a hike at Henry Coe. Neither of us had ever gone in from a Gilroy entrance, so we parked at Hunting Hollow and started up. We walked about 12.5 miles, in about 7 hours.

Coe is well known for its brutal trails -- they don't mess around with switchbacks on hills, they just make you go straight up. So, in a short time we went from the parking lot at 860 ft to 2600 ft.

On the top of the ridge, near Mount Wilson, we had a nice lunch of Triscuits and salami, and home made cookies.

The most interesting place on the trek was Wilson Camp, which is an old house, an outhouse, two ramshackle trailers, and a broken down barn.

It was very nice to get outside and spend some time with a friend, and leave stress behind for a while. My feet got a little stressed, but by Wednesday, I was walking fine.

I carried my GPS with me, so I was able to import the trip into Google Earth. I'll try to post an image of it... You can see the pictures I took on the trail here.

Boys Night

Yesterday, SKGP and RCP (and others from the troop) were standing in front of WalMart, shlepping Girl Scout Cookies. EJP was helping them, too. I went over after work to see how they were doing, and to pick up EJP. We decided we wanted to go out to dinner, so we headed over to La Hacienda, our local yummy Mexican restaurant.

After an enjoyable couple of burritos, we headed home to watch Star Wars (Episode 4) and eat Girl Scouts Peanut Butter Sandwich cookies.

EJP was a great dinner companion, and enjoyed the movie.

[JottCast] EJP just got up this morning, washing his hands said I like space and...

Jott to Blog on Thursday, February 22, 2007 7:06 AM

EJP just got up this morning, washing his hands said I like space and dinosaurs, I like bugs, space and dinosaurs.

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Speed

I didn't get a speeding ticket today.

I did get pulled over by the Highway Patrol coming down into Casa de Fruta on 152 this afternoon. I was in the car with my father and our attorney. I will be hearing about this for a long time from one of those passengers.

But I didn't get a ticket today.

Names of SKGP's class

Alex
Aeja ("Asia")
Andy
Khoi
Jazzlyn
Yvonne
Mark
Itzel ("It-sell")
Omar
Tyler
Alex
Tyler
Richard
Ronnie
Jacqueline
Shyanne
Kayla
Elizabeth

Names of Gilroy

I imagine this is the first in a many part series.

One of SKGP's classmates is named "Shyanne". If your mind refuses to parse the word, it is pronounced like Cheyenne, Wyoming. Fonetik speling.

Hey potential parents, if you are going to name your kids after cities, at least google the word and use the "Did you mean..." spelling.

Holy cow, Shyanne is ranked 620 for girls names, according to Social Security!

Hasbro recalls almost 1 million Easy-Bake Ovens - Engadget

Hasbro recalls almost 1 million Easy-Bake Ovens - Engadget

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Girl Scout Cookies!

SKGP is a Brownie, which means she gets to sell Girl Scout Cookies.

I am making a shameless plug. If you would like to buy some, let me know. Don't tell RKCP (the den mother) because she doesn't think the parents should do this kind of thing, and she doesn't believe in the power of the internet.

I am so looking forward to my thin mints. Mmm .. thin mints.

Family Movie Night

Last night, we decided to have a family movie night. We popped some popcorn (which RCP laced with mini-M&Ms) and put on Cars. We watched it upstairs on the kids' small TV, since our family room TV has the habit of collapsing into a sigle line.

It was a nice experience that would make a nice recurring event.

SKGP Christmas Wish

The kids came by work for our Christmas open house. While they were here, SKGP wrote on my whiteboard:

For Chrictmas I want a Aril hair slon and I want a Amaricin Girl move with a pritty nekles.

For the record, she did not get the Arielle hair salon, an American Girl movie, or a pretty necklace. Now I can erase the board.

Citizen Kane II: Rosebud's Revenge

"It's the Citizen Kane of talking pig movies. " - Review of the (great) movie Babe.

Over the holidays, we took the kids to see the new Charlotte's Web. It was really good. I had recently read the book with SKGP, and the movie was pretty faithful (except the addition of a couple of funny crows that worked well). Your kids will love it.

Not much to say; I just wanted to tell everyone my movie review quote.

Family History: Eric Pace

My Uncle Eric sent the book Glen Margaret by Anita Crathorne Legalley (Glen Margaret Publishing, 2004) to my dad.

It has a short chapter on the Pace family, including a family tree back to Thomas Pace, born in 1775. The Paces originally came from England to the USA and then on to Nova Scotia.

Thomas begat Ebenezer Pace [b. 1/28/1809]. Ebenezer begat William T. Pace [b. 1834] . William begat Joseph Lawson Pace [b 6/9/1863]. Joseph begat Eric Bleasdale Pace [b. 1897]. My grandfather (who we called Granddad) had (Uncle) Eric William Pace and GMP (who is now known as Granddad), who had DMP and yours truly, who had SKGP and EJP.

Here is a passage that talks about my grandfather's life:

Eric Pace was born in 1897 in Glen Margaret. He left school at 13 to help his father and brother run the meat business in Halifax. I don't think they had very much of a childhood; there was no time to play as their father was very strict and they had to work very hard as times were tough. Eric would drive a team of horses with the wagons filled with meat along the old road by Woodens bridge and out to Hubley on the Bay road. Their father would go to Antigonish and buy carloads of cattle and ship them to Richmond station in Halifax. I cannot imagine those boys driving the cattle through the streets of Halifax, ducking trolley coaches, dogs and heavens knows what else to get them to the Bay road and home. In 1921, they bought a truck and said goodbye to the old horse and wagon.

When Eric was 29 years old he moved to the United States, first to Walthrom and then to Taunton, where we worked as a meat cutter for four and a half years. He returned to Nova Scotia in 1930 and bought out the Dauphinee business in Hackett's Cove.

Eric's brother Bruce continued with the butchery business in Glen Margaret and had a truck that delivered meat to this area from the Head of St. Margaret's Bay to Dover. I remember going up to the butcher shop to buy meat for my mother and stopping to talk to Mrs. Pace; she made the best sugar cookies I've ever eaten.

There is a picture captioned "Hon. Leonard Pace, Nova Scotia Attorney General (1974)".

The book also has a chapter about the Crathorne Dance Hall, where my parents met. For the benefit of Google Earth version of my family history, it was "located across from #10369 Peggy's Cove Road."

My mom (you know, Nana) has done lots more research on the family tree. Mom, you should start a family history blog, and tell all the stories you know.

I wanted to copy this section of the book, in case this book goes out of print and becomes lost to time. Apologies to the author.