Fun, Fun, and more Fun!

Thank you to our family and friends for keeping us busy over the last couple of weekends. Baseball game, golf outings, camping, bike riding, the list goes on and on!

Kaya's first Giant's game. Thank you Desiree and Chaz for taking us!







Camping at Sugar Pine.

Mea Culpa! Mea Culpa!

Only two months between posts, not bad but definitely furthering my deadbeat status.

I am not going to say I have been busy. Everyone gets busy. One of my biggest pet peeves is someone telling me they are busy. EVERYONE is busy unless you are leaching off the government and sit around the house all day long eating bon bons Peggy Bundy style.

I have just been LAZY!

Kaya is growing like crazy, in height, weight, and awareness. Both Erin and I have decided to go ahead and keep her. I can't say it enough she loves being outside. Whether on a hike or now in her new trailer, being towed behind dad.
She is babbling now, even says Da Da and Ma Ma. It is really cute to hear her singing and cooing. My new favorite sound!

So here are some photos from the last two months. Some have seen these on Flickr already but some don't know how to get to Flickr (Chris you know who you are!). Enjoy!































And some of my Artsy photos:

Walking with the Boss

Went walking with Kaya and Grifter today. Over to Connolly Ranch and then we planned on heading down Thompson Avenue to Old Sonoma and then home. But a little ways down Thompson I noticed an entrance to Westwood Hills. I was under the impression that dogs were not allowed in Westwood Hills but the sign posted said as long as the dog was on a leash under 8' long it was allowed. So we headed through the park. Kaya loves being outdoors. Her head was swinging back and forth, it is like she cannot take it all in fast enough. I started the GPS function on my phone too late but at least I got some of the walk. Total was over four miles.

Miscellaneous Goodies

Some stuff I am finally getting around to editing. Although hurriedly.

Kaya has found her Tongue and loves to show it off!



Hey You....Look at my Tongue!



Kaya trying her best to catch Momma's tongue.



Sweetie baby playing with her woobee.



Baby Kaya hanging out.



Went out last week with Allen up to Timber hill for a little mid day photo fun.



Weed.



Graffiti up on Timber Hill.



Forsythia in my back yard.



Another shot of the Forsythia.



Taiwan High Speed Train. Aki and I rode this to Tainan, almost all the way to the southern end of Taiwan.



High speed train power.



Busy bright corner, Taipei.

Goodbye Lucca Girl..

Lucca you will be missed. Thank you for being patient with Grifter laying all over your beds and stealing your toys. He did not mean to bury them in your yard, he just wanted to play hide and seek with you.
We will miss your protective bark and the love you had for your family. Rest in peace, we all love you.

Quickie Sunday Hike

Sunday Kenny called and asked if we wanted to go for a quick hike just off the side of the road up in Rutherford. I have been wanting to try Kaya's new hike backpack so it seemed a good of a time as any. We did not see a whole lot of wildlife surprisingly. But it was fun!



Me and the Bug!

Back from Taiwan

As I get older the jet lag from traveling overseas keeps getting worse! I have not gone to sleep earlier than 3am since I have been back. I had a great time in Taiwan this year. Good business and fun wise. It is awesome watching your close friends eat street food when you are too much of a wuss to try! Thank you again Aki for hanging in there with me and my strange eating habits. So who wants to go next year? Pictures in no particular order, I am a bit faded sorry!



View North from the top of the 101. It was crazy how on every side of the 101 I got different weather in the shots.



Aki tearing up his grilled yummy street cuttlefish.



The view from the vendor that served Aki his mouth watering cuttlefish morsels.



Mystery food.



Crazy Shilin night market action.



More Shilin action.



Yummy cuttlesfish. Who would not want to eat a creature that has eight limbs PLUS two tentacles, all of which come out of their head and whose tentacles are “furnished with denticulated suckers, with which they secure their prey.” That’s right — “denticulated”, as in, “toothlike”.



Snuck a photo of this guy in the Night Market. I did not want him to see in case he thought I was stealing his soul.



Fresh trucker hat.



Lots of clothing that specialized in using the F Bomb.



Bridge on the way to the Miramar shopping center.



This one was such a disappointment for me. I want to learn how to shoot night shots better than this. Although to my credit we were on a moving ferris wheel and this was shot at 0.4 Exposure and 400 iso. I tried bumping the iso up and increasing the exposure but the shots came out way noisy.




Aki and the 101 Wind Damper. We almost had to wrastle with some ole folks to get this picture.



Flowers in the courtyard at the CKS Memorial.



Pot of nasty smelling eggs. You find these in every convenience store. 7 Eleven, Hi Life, and the like.

Almost Through It

Man I am ready to come home. If I were not working I might be more inclined to want to stay.

Anyhoo this year Aki made the trip with me to good ole Taipei. First couple of days I got to hang out with him and share my intimate knowledge of the island of Formosa. We rode the HSR (Bullet Train), checked out the 101, and did a lot of escalator riding. After Taiwan Aki is heading over to Japan for nine days to check out the scene there.

Until I am home here are some pictures from the trip so far.

PS. I miss and love you Erin and Kaya! Daddy will be home soon!

















Photos from Aki:

Hail + Motorcycling = Ouch

I ran out to drop off some packages today when the rain broke, so I decided to take the moto. Grabbed my Camera as well because there was some great overcast grey light. Went back on Old Sonoma snapped a few shots and noticed a huge dark cloud moving closer and closer so I put the gear away and started heading back. Once I hit Congress Valley I was getting pelted by pea size hail going 40 or 45 on my bike. It hurts!







Sunday Erin had some friends over for a class reunion meeting. Kaya had a major melt down which is very out of the ordinary. But we made it through without harming her!



Desiree, Richele and Griffen, Erin and Kaya, and Melissa. The Napa High Class of 93 Reunion squad.

What is Next?

I am done with Kitchen hole project finally! Barring a little paint touch up it is finished. I think it came out pretty good. Erin, Margie, and I have all put the new bar to good use already. After bring the home computer back in from the office we can now get on the internet without having to look at our tiny iPhone screens.
Today I layed down some more plywood up in my attic and straigtned up a bit up there. I would really like to finish the attic one of these days. It would not make a liveable space but it would make a great storage / child cage for when Kaya is bad.
Next on the list a few much smaller projects. Turning the old built in Ironing board into a spice / storage cabinet, installing a water line to the fridge so we can make ice, and making sure Kaya does not drown the house with her drool.











Friday Erin and I drove over to Walnut Creek to visit with Wendy and Kai. It was my first time meeting Kai. He was born almost a month after Kaya. He is super cute. His eyes are gigantic. I tried to take a few photos of him but low light and fast baby again. Time to change to six shot bursts.



Look at those eyes. I had a bunch more photos of him smiling but they were all a little too blurry.



Baby Bug and Mama.

Other than that not much else going on. Kaya, Grifter, and I went on a walk today. I figured it was so warm and the rain looked like it was still a ways off so better take advantage. A real test is ahead for Margie and Erin. I am off to Taiwan in a couple of weeks, we'll see how it goes!



I swear I will be good for you Grandma when Daddy is in Taipei!