Christmas Can't Be Far Away

Today is the day before Thanksgiving and that means it must be getting close to Christmas. This afternoon Dianne pulled out all of our Santa Claus, snowmen, stockings and other such ornaments to put in the living room.

I think that every year another half dozen or so Santas appear out of nowhere, hence these photos. Next year I'll take another set of pictures and compare...want to bet that a few more appear on our already crowded shelves?



No sign of Christmas lights, presents, eggnog or even a tree. Stay tuned, more things will show up in the next week or so I'm sure.

Now it's rest time before tomorrow's feast begins.

McDonald's and Mount Diablo

Today we had two firsts for Bew; her first visit to a McDonald's in the United States, and her first trip to the top of Mount Diablo to see the Bay area.

According to Bew, McDonald's are the same in Thailand, just that they use a lot more ketchup than we do.

Our trip up to the top of Mount Diablo was a pretty quick ride. We needed to get back fairly quickly to pick up Kira after work. Unfortunately it was fairly cloudy making the visibility poor. We couldn't see San Francisco or any of the Bay area bridges. It is always nice to get up there though and see the sites. Bew took a bunch of pictures and we've attached a few to the blog.

We wandered up to the observation area and then through the little store/museum (what exactly is it??) and then jumped into the car and headed back.

The next visit is on a clear day and we'll bring binoculars!

And One More Makes Five

Finally, tooth number five is gone. Look at that hole on the bottom left hand side of his grin; nothing but air!

Weeks of threatening to attach another string and yanking it out have come to and end. This Saturday Conner sat in the car, wiggling the tooth forward and backwards, then a little sideways and back to forward and backwards. The weapon of choice to loosen the tooth? A Nutter Butter cookie! A little more pushing, pulling and prodding and then; "Dad, I need something to wipe up all this blood, my tooth is out!".

That evening Conner decided that the tooth fairy should bring ten dollars for the effort. Conner was disappointed the next morning
:(

Bew Has Arrived From Thailand

Parker has been waiting very patiently for his new big sister to arrive. He as been very excited and talking for a week about our foreign exchange student coming to stay at our our house for the rest of the school year. He was beyond excited all day Monday and had to wait until almost 8:00 p.m. to meet her. I believe she is his new best friend. (I'm not so sure she feels the same way!) Parker insists that she sit next to him, he sits in her lap whenever possible and is thrilled that she is here.

Monday night was pleasant greetings and then hanging out with Kira and friends to watch everyone's favorite television show "Heroes".

Today was school registration; picking classes, checking out the school, getting supplies and lockers. Tomorrow is the official first day of school, for the second time this year. Bew has spent the first half semester at Oakland High School and will be finishing the year at San Ramon High School.

Lots more news to follow.

Paper Airplane Extravaganza

Today was the inaugural paper airplane "Make and Throw" contest. Winner covers the greatest distance. Of course this is just a warm up to the official competition during the Thanksgiving holiday week. Official rules and other such stuff to be decided over the next week. Details to be determined; how many planes, throws, designs, what course, inside/outside. So much planning, so little time.

I believe I need to Google "how to build a paper airplane!"

Friday Night Bingo

Friday night was bingo night at Conner's school. The event was used to raise money for various organizations at the school. For $10 you got pizza, salad, a drink, a cookie and 6 or so bingo cards. It was a great way to spend the evening.

Eating and socializing happened the first hour, and then it was on to serious bingo. There were lots of prizes for each game and they usually let 10 people or so win each of the 6 games played. You got two cards per game, so you had to pay attention and think fast.

On the very first game I managed to get the very first "Bingo" and handed the card to Conner. He jumped up and got a prize. It was our very first win after attending several of these events last year. On the second game of bingo I was the first with "Bingo" again. I handed the card to Conner and up he went again. Most of the 200-300 people did a double take when he strolled by.

Game three went to his buddy Theo sitting beside us. Game four was Dianne's turn and when Conner bolted up to claim his third prize, there was a bunch of groaning in the audience. The 20 or so people at our table were pretty happy though, because Conner won so many times, the whole table was awarded popcorn.

Our luck promptly ran out. Parker melted down and then we went home. A fun time indeed!

Nice Hat!

The water temperature at Lake Del Valle is dropping weekly. According to boaters at the launch, it was about 60 degrees today, meaning it's a few degrees cooler 50 yards out.




Roberta and I are the last of the swimmers according to the marina personnel. We now have boaters and fishermen coming up to ask us if we are the same people coming out every week (we are!). I think we've become famous as we jump off the dock and gasp/holler as we hit the water. I've now got a thermal hat, and it's time for some booties. Surprisingly the hour thirty to hour forty minutes in the water isn't that bad after three or four minutes. The first three minutes get the heart rate up pretty fast. We figure the swim is somewhere over three miles.



Not sure if we'll make it all year, but we are trying!