Reflections...

                Tomorrow morning the kids start school.  I am somewhat at a loss regarding all of it.  Where did the summer go?  It started off so strong and has sort of fizzled out at the end.  They are ready, they’re bouncing off the walls and the twins at least are amped to be starting middle school.  Jackson is clueless to the woes that are about to assault him.  We’ve got the clothes shopping done, the shoes have been purchased and all the myriad of school supplies packed up.  All that’s left is to survive the nerves and inability to fall asleep tonight. 

                For me it’s a sad time.  It’s the ending of an era.  On Friday I took the twins to an orientation at their school and as I was dropping them off at the curb I noticed a strange mix of kids.  There were those, very much like the girls, who looked like they were just as ready for a fun time on the playground at recess and then there were those who looked like they were doing their best to bypass the whole middle school ‘experience’ and jump right into high school.  These kids were dressed in the latest fashion, with purses, fancy backpacks and cell phones to their ears.  It was then as I was driving away from the school that I realized by the middle of the school year my little girls will have been irreversibly altered.  It’s good for them, it’s even healthy…for the most part…but I’m not sure I’m quite ready for this.  They’ll survive.  We’ll survive, everyone does but I’m finding it very difficult to let my little girls go.  When I get them back next summer will they still be the same little girls?  Probably not and all I can do is pray that they haven’t changed so drastically that we won’t be able to hang out. 

                Lil J starts kindergarten tomorrow as well and I’m no less sad about this.  My little boy so full of wonder and with an imagination that rivals my own is about to be introduced to the System.  I think this will be less of culture shock for all involved in comparison to the Twins but I have to admit that I’m sort of suffering from a little empty nest syndrome.  The house is going to be empty.  There isn’t going to be anyone to play with or hang out with and I’m having a slightly difficult time with this.  Sure I’ll have time to work out and write a little more but darn it, who is going to help me grocery shop?  I’m not even going to have any reason to cruise through the toy section at Target.   

                I’m not really whining and I know there are positives as we travel forward as a family.  I just can’t help looking back on it all and feeling like we’re losing a little piece of ourselves.  Maybe it’s the innocence that’s being lost I’m not really sure but while I’m excited for all three of the kids I can’t help but feel a little sadness for us the parents as our children continue to grow.  So as this new weeks dawns upon us I’ll shed a little tear, raise my glass to a job well done by the whole family to get to this point and then step forward and embrace this new era with something between a smile and a grimace on my face.  Here’s to the future!

The Adventure continues...

Money?  What Money?  We don't need no stinking money!

             And so we wrap up another summer vacation weekend.   This weekend was a bit of a rest weekend for us.  I didn’t realize just how exhausting it is to keep the kids going on the weekends and to keep up at work and with all the various stuff that needs to be done at the house.  The item I really didn’t foresee when I started out on my quest to fill the weekends of summer vacation with fun was the cost.  I mean seriously folks it’s expensive to expose your children to new wonders and exciting new sights.  Museums cost money, camp sites cost money, the food to eat while at said Museums and camp sites cost money…oh and don’t forget the gas to get there.  I’m not whining really or being overly negative I just really didn’t see the expense involved.  This is probably due in no small part to having the chance to do the above things as a child and being oblivious to the expense on my parents.  I know Boy Scouts helped to lower the cost a bit….or at least I’m thinking it did…but it couldn’t have been cheap, especially on one income for the early years.  I’m impressed with my parent’s abilities to get us to some of the places we were able to go.  I’ve done what I can to get discounts and stuff but it’ll be a real challenge to keep it going for another 7 weeks or so.  Anyone know of a website or two that has discounts for just some schmuck looking to expose his kids to adventure and fun that isn’t an amusement park?

Dad?  Why must you take pictures of us eating?  No Really?  WHY!???

                Any who, on to bigger and better things,  like I said above; this weeks was an R&R weekend, a ‘dad catch your breath’ weekend but I wan’t just going to sit idly by and let us settle into the same ol routine of ‘Play DS, watch TV, play on the computer…repeat’.  So yesterday was an errand running day and today we got out some hiking gear and hit up the Santa Rosa Plateau.  The weather has been pretty darn near perfection and I was hoping it would hold out for another day or so and it did.  We hiked in cool weather (couldn’t have been more than 75 degrees out) with a nice breeze.  It was quite lovely.  We parked at the Hidden Springs Trail Head and hiked out to the little Adobe house.  We had a little bite to eat and walked around the Adobe.  There was a small nature trail that we walked along to.  I was a little unsure how well my son would do but Captain J pulled through with flying colors.  All in all we covered 4.1 miles in about an hour and a half (we spent about a half hour resting at the Adobe) with 500ish feet of elevation gain.  The only time Lil J whined was towards the end on a pretty good incline in the last .3 miles or so.  Like I said on FB I think we may have a hiker on our hands.  After that we went into town and hit up DQ, always a nice way to end a ‘mini-adventure’.

                So far we’re doing pretty well with keeping the adventure going for the summer break after a month.  This is technically Adventure #4 and I’m thinking a trip up to Palomar for an overnighter is on the books for next week maybe.  In other personal news I’ve kept up with my exercising and have been pretty steady with the two rides/two runs a week.  This combined with an increase in portion control at meals and a cleaner diet has meant that I’ve dropped about 15 pounds in the past couple of months.  I’m feeling better and was only slightly embarrassed to have the hip belt on my day pack wrapped around my fat…errrr….gut….errrr…waist.   I’ve got a ways to go before I can settle and be happy with my weight but so far I’m feeling pretty good and clothes are fitting well again.  Oh and I’m still off of the soda!!!!  Yay me.  Unfortunately, I did just kind of take a hit at work but that’ll work itself out in the end I hope.  So with that I say ado and wish you all continued Adventures for the Summer of 2012.  Anyone want to share what you’ve been up to so far?  I’d love to hear about it.     

Captain J & the Giant Oak...title of my first childrens story?  I think so!

mmmmmm gear....love the gear!  Best part of the outdoors.  Wait? What!?

Summer 2012 - Week 2: Balboa Park Adventure

                Last week was a great introduction to the summer for me and the kids.  My problem this week was how to keep the momentum going.  It is very easy to lie around ‘relaxing’ and ‘doing nothing’ only to find yourself at the end of the summer having completed none of the goals or tasks you had wanted to.  On top of this, the past week was pretty hectic at work and I worked some long hours that I’m not used to.  On top of that, I had to attend a meeting up at Hurkey Creek and was unable to do much with the kids on Wednesday except get them to karate and stuff. That also meant a six day week for me.  It’s been a fairly hectic one and I was left with the question last night;

                What to do this week?

                For the past several years I’ve wanted to get the girls down to some of the museums in Balboa Park.  We used to go to the zoo a lot and usually we took the time to go to the San Diego Model Train Museum (which is quite cool) but never to any of the other zoos.  So I decided to finally cross that off the Bucket List.  First though I had to get up and summon the energy to load em up and head on down the road.  This was far more difficult than you’d imagine.  I got a solid seven hours of sleep but my bed did not want me to go.  A friend of mine recently posted the question, “Why is it that the bed is most comfortable just before you have to get up?”  This morning I was wondering the same thing.  It was tough but I did finally drag myself out of bed and did my best to gather a head of steam.

Flowers from Balboa Park

 I’m not sure if I mentioned it last week but we ate out twice on our camping trip and boy was it expensive so this week we packed a lunch, snacks and few things to drink.  (this was a good thing cuz educating your children by visiting Museums is not cheap…not at all) We loaded up and hit the road.  Eagle Eye didn’t want to get car sick so she took some pills and fell asleep which meant that Lil B and I actually had a fighting chance to play the license plate game.  Lil B crushed me but came up 10 plates shy of Eagle Eyes record.   (On the way home Eagle Eye didn’t take meds and also crushed me….and nearly got her PR again!!!  That girl can spot them from a ways off, it’s uncanny) The trip down was traffic free and dare I say relaxing. 

                Our first stop was REI.  I know, I know, not the most exciting for the kids…but it’s better than Disneyland for me!  I’ve been looking for a slightly bigger pack for some of these trips and had done some internet shopping.  REI had what I wanted plus an interesting looking book written by a NPS Ranger.  I bought it as well.  I could’ve stayed in my favorite store of all time for at least another hour and spent a ton more money but the kids were getting antsy and hungry.  We split pretty quick.  (although I did take the time ogle as much as I could.  I could live in that place and be quite happy).

                My original plan was to visit the museums and then do a little picnic but my propensity for sleeping in and my foray to REI killed that idea.  We ate in the car en route to the museums.  The kids kind of dug this too because I hardly ever allow them to eat in my car. 

Future Pilots

                Our first Museum was the San Diego Air & Space Museum.  I loved this museum as a kid and its pretty much the same way I remember it.  The place is broken down into ‘zones’ which cover things like WWI, WWII, Space Flight and the ‘Golden Age’ of flight between WWI & WWII.  It’s a tight space but I’ve gotta say they do a pretty good job of setting up dioramas and really making you feel the change in time.  Lil J liked all of the little models best but probably because he was hoping to play with them.  The girls seemed interested which was what I was hoping.  On a side note, it brings a bunch more realism to this museum with the big passenger planes rumbling overhead while on approach to Lindbergh Field.  This is always one of the highlights whenever we’re down at the Zoo/Balboa Park. 

Look at the Floating Ball....

         Our second Museum was the Ruben H Fleet Science Center.  It’s been years since I’d been in this museum and from the web site it looked interesting.  When we got into it…not so much.  It didn’t help that half the place was a little torn up as they were swapping exhibits (and we did get a 20% discount because of this).  Kind of an odd time to be doing it what with the beginning of summer happening…like right now…but what can you do.  The place looked and felt and smelled a little old and worn out.  I will admit that I was a little disappointed as I followed the kids through the place.  We played with solar energy, saw how water gets to our homes, saw how the body works (this was actually pretty neat as they played up the ‘grossness’ of it), and played with a few tricky cool science’y things.  As we were leaving one of the girls said, ‘That was really fun.’ And the other one said, ‘It was kinda better than the air museum’.   As I followed them down the side walk and past the giant fountain I had a wry smile on my face; guess you never can tell what kids will and won’t like…go figure.

The View From the Bridge

                The last part of our week two adventure was simply wandering around the whole area.  I love Balboa Park.  I love the architecture, many little flower gardens and the way the park has let the wilderness grow in and around it all.  In the midst of a sprawling city is this little oasis of palm tree, brush, and dirt paths.  If I lived down there I’d spend all of my free time exploring this awesome park.  I tried to let the kids experience all of this as we wandered down some paths and went through a Butterfly sanctuary, we meandered through a flower filled ‘veranda’ and we hiked down a trail through the Balboa Park Palm Canyon.  We also wandered over past the Old Globe Theater.  I love the architecture on the tower that houses the Museum of Man.  We also walked half way out on the Cabrillo Bridge which is the cool bridge that crosses over highway 163.  The kids liked the view and now they can say they’ve walked on it every time we drive under it. 

Captain Eagle-Eye

                Finally we had a snack, made our way back to the car and promptly began the cut throat license plate game.  Like I said, with Eagle Eye un-medicated she was on her game.  Lil B and Lil J gave up and fell asleep.  I tried to compete but it was a lost cause.  We made it home in pretty good time, avoided any serious traffic and wrapped up our afternoon fun with some laughter and flipping on of the AC at home.  (It’s over 90 here and closer to 71 down in San Diego.  I voted for returning to San Diego but their bellies needed filling so we stayed home). 

               It was a nice afternoon and maybe a little light on the serious adventure side but it was an activity and we had some good laughs.  What’s up next?  I’m not really sure…but I’ll bet if you keep checking back it’ll be a blog post before long!  Happy Adventures everyone, hope your summer is going as well as mine.

For the children...

               Recently it seems that the state of California is determined to shut down seventy-one of our state parks in an effort to stem their hemorrhaging money loss.  I could go into all of the politics behind it but in all honesty I’m not a political guy.  I’m just a guy who grew up going to some of these parks and has found myself working in the industry.   One of the parks closing down was the site of my very first camping trip with my family way back when I was around seven.  I’ve been to a few of these others but really why are we denying our future generations the opportunity to see these parks?  Why are the parks the thing to suffer here? 

                The parks systems of the states, local counties and cities are the backbone of our history and it blows me away that a state can simply close the doors and walk away.  The parks allow the future generations to experience things that are quickly being gobbled up by the fast food mentality, video games, Wikipedia, and apathy.  If we close these opportunities off to a generation that only got to get its collective toes wet by seeing images on their latest Wikipedia search there will come a time when no one in a given generation will ever set foot in a park. 

                The invention of GPS has already made the map reading skills I learned as a child obsolete.  Kids nowadays wouldn’t be able to find their way out of a paper bag without their GPS.  Parks give girls and boys the opportunity to learn about some of these ‘ancient’ ways.  Parks allow them to touch and see and experience history.  Those who do not understand history are doomed to repeat it.  Parks give a family the opportunity to come together and for a few hours, a day or longer be together. 

                “Alice algae and Freddy fungi took a liching to each other and now their relationship is on the rocks”

                Funny right?  I learned this from a park ranger at a park when I was around 10.  I have never forgotten it.  Why would we look to deprive our children on this sort of education?   I’ve used the saying in my Environmental Science class midterm essay.  I’ve used it to teach my own children and at least a few other times while working.  Seriously though how do we expect our kids to keep from paving over the entire continent if we don’t instill in them a love/appreciation of the outdoors?

                This love doesn’t have to be developed through nights out camping or even a hike.  The municipal park is just as important as the big national forests or state parks.  Locally, our municipal parks have been shut down due to funding.  Kids can’t even go to a park to play.  That is simply insane and wrong on so many levels I find myself speechless.   Have the politicians forgotten what it was like to be a child and go to the park with the family to enjoy a picnic, a romp through the playgrounds, or rolling around the grass? 

                In my work world I experience some really baffling behavior towards parks and while at times it can be exasperating I also see it as an opportunity to educate the public on what being a User of the park system entails and the responsibility they have to keep it clean and ready for the next User to come along.  I think that this is probably the most important aspect of my job and the jobs of everyone who works in the Parks, Recreation, or open space field.  Education.  We need to educate those who are to follow us.  Whether this is done through the parents or in our individual interactions with the children as they run through our parks is not the concern, the education is the important part.  I recently spoke to an individual who drove onto the grass at a park.  At first I was angry because I know how much work goes into the maintenance of that grass.  I spoke to driver of the car and treated them with respect while I explained why driving on the grass was not a good idea.  The driver hadn’t realized and was respectful and apologetic when he left.  My cynicism hasn’t quite grown to the point that I think he’ll just ignore me and do it again.  I feel like I got through to him and hopefully he’ll pass his education on to a friend or two and to his kids. 

                If we want to keep the Parks and Open Spaces of our cities, counties, and states open to the public and available to future generations we must make sure that the future generation understand what it means, enjoys it and wants to bring their children to the park.  That means we ALL must work together to keep them open.  Get involved on a local level, pick up bits of trash you might see lying along the path you’re walking on, find out if there are trail building days, participate, participate, participate.  Only by doing this and bringing your kids along will we be able to continue to enjoy the outdoors for generations to come.

Gettin' my geek on at Wondercon...

                I love comic books!



Emperor's Royal Guard



                That probably comes as no surprise to those who know me but to those who don’t I’ll give a brief background.  I’ve been collecting comics in some form or another since I was about 8 or 9 (that’s around 1982 or so for those of you keeping track) and trading GI-Joe issue #25 (along with a gazillion other comic books) back and forth with my best friend on the front porch of his house.  Back then we were quite upset when the books went from sixty-five cents to seventy-five cents.  Comic books were my gateway drug to the science fiction and fantasy books I took up in my late teens and continue to worship at the age of 39.  There was maybe a year or two around 18 that I stopped but it wasn’t all that long of a period of time.  I read them, I read about them and I listen to podcasts about what’s going on in the industry.  I’m hooked. 

                Over the years I’ve gone to about seven comic-cons in San Diego.  (Once I went to a Star Trek convention but that’s another story for another blog post) Back in the 90’s the San Diego comic-con was a fairly humble affair but really fun with great deals to be had and new products to ogle.  Slowly it has gotten to the version we have now; a large four day orgy of pop culture.  I took the family two years ago and while it was fun and filled with eye-candy galore it was PACKED!!!!  The San Diego International Comic Convention has reached epic proportions, which is cool for the industry and awesome if you have the time and patience for it.  I have neither. 

                So along came a new year and a growing desire to check out a comic-con.  I didn’t really care if it was San Diego or not.  I just wanted to attend one.  I did a little research and came up with Wondercon 2012.  The Wondercon is a yearly affair but usually held up in San Francisco.  Due to some construction on the hotel it’s usually held at they decided to move it down here.  (According to rumors running rampant there is a more sinister reason for the move but I won’t go into that here) For twenty dollars a single adult could go. (kids under 12 are free which as a father of three I think is just awesome…great way to take a relatively inexpensive family day)  So we got two tickets and the time off and prepped to venture out into the unknown.



Our Badges and Lanyards!



                The con ended up being on the one weekend this winter that Southern California has had a ‘real’ storm.  It rained, and it rained hard and, though the walk from the car to the convention hall was relatively short, we got soaked!  All was not lost as the kid’s flagging enthusiasm regained momentum at the sight of about a dozen stormtroopers in full regalia just inside the convention doors.  I believe I read they are from the 501^st but don’t quote me.  Whoever they were the costumes were simply awesome.  There was also a volleyball tournament and a cheerleading competition going.  It was quite the site to see all of these people mixing in the foyer.  Cheerleaders sharing a hallway with geeks made for some pretty hilarious looks.  The Geeks seemed shy and unsure how to look at cheerleaders and cheerleaders looking at the cos-players (people who wear costumes of their favorite heroes/heroines) as if they had some sort of skin disease.    



Bumblebee & Optimus Prime anyone?





Blair Butler from G4



                We got our badges and headed into the Con and let me tell you, I was excited.  The best part of the day?  The convention didn’t let me down.  To be honest it was pretty much perfect.  I’d have liked to see a few more of the comic companies there with slightly bigger displays but everything I wanted was there.  We had stars (I saw Blair Butler, Kevin Pereira, Jim Lee & a host of lesser known comic book artists), we had cool cosplayers (I already mentioned the 501^st but there were also some other really awesome costumes like the Baroness, Bumblebee, Optimus Prime, and Han Solo), and there were the deals.  It was nigh on perfect.  It really took me back to some of my first San Diego cons where the aisles weren’t totally packed and the dealers were friendly.  Artists were smiling and generally everyone seemed to be having fun. 



                I have to admit I’m a little bummed that this is a one-time deal because if it wasn’t I’d already be planning my trip for next year with an extra day to attend so I could go by myself one day and really get into the artist alley.  With the kids it was a little difficult to do much more than skim the surface which was fun, but getting deeper and chatting with some of them would’ve been the icing on the cake.  There were also a bunch of panels that I just couldn’t get to because the kids would not have wanted to sit still that long. 


                In the end though the Twins had a blast and I think even the Five year old enjoyed himself.  My wife is always supportive of my comic book love and I think she too had a great time.  She doesn’t read the comic books but we’ve been married for nearly 19 years and she’s picked up a nugget of information from me over the years.  All in all Wondercon 2012 was a roaring success from this comic book loving fathers point of view.



A very cool nearly life size Hulk sculpture from Gentgiant Studios



Some replica props from the upcoming Avenger movie.



A very cool Shadow Trooper from 501st



Zantana (Zartan's Sister), The Baronness, & a Cobra Soldier (I think they might've been looking for the Joes)