Vacation Pics - Day 1

So, these are some of the pictures from the first day in California. Travis and Kristi, our friends, had been staying at Huntington beach for the whole week. We met them there at 0-7-early on Sunday and hung at the beach from almost 12 hours. Whew.

The last one of Wyatt is his Jedi mind trick. Be careful even with the picture or you'll be under his control.

I know a guy

If you take a gander at "websites of choice" section, you'll see California John. John has been a great friend of my since my birth in the AF. I was training to be an F16 mechanic, he was to be an F15 mechanic (a.k.a crew chief). Though the AF tried hard to keep him in, he was determined to follow his passions. His passions led him to Full Sail college in Florida. It's one of the best schools in the country for all things film and media. He completed that and made his trek to California.


Since there he has done photography and film for several different productions. Here is one example of his work. It's for Car-buffs. He showed me the graphics and video last year when we were on vacation. While the original idea was pitched for a TV series, it ended up being a website/blog instead. (The graphics are awesome, though, John!) He's currently writing his first feature film and I'm anxious to see the finished product.











We're pumped that we'll see him again next week.










Nice background pic, John!

Day 6

Well, I fell behind on the last day of vacation and couldn't post the days events. Actually, it's because I was driving from 7pm until 3 am.

So this is how that day went. We left my cousins late, around 9:30 or 10, after an unusual dead battery experience. I'm glad God took care of us there. I would have hated for it to be the alternator or something worse.

Then we drove to Bible John's abode in Burbank. After surveying his pad and seeing some of the work he does in the Hollywood business we headed out for some fresh air. Our first stop was to eat. But our second stop was IKEA. This was our first time there. I had heard a ton about it from our friends but never felt the desire to go in. John said the place is cursed - no one enters without buying something (actually, he said one cannot enter without buying a lot more than one actually came for). I have to say that IKEA was one of the vacation highlights... I'll leave it at that.

Our next stop was a railroad engine museum. We expected Wyatt to really like it, but in reality that was an understatement. He loved it. There's pictures below.

Finally, we went to Griffith Park, which actually has a lot of things in it, but we played at the playground.

Overall the day was awesome. Any time I get to spend with John is good time. The weather was beautiful. The kids had an great time.

In closing, Nori and Christian made me so proud. They had somewhat of an allowance on our vacation and they had both saved most of it. Nori decided to buy Wyatt a $10 Thomas the Train toy and Bubba asked out of the blue if he could buy Wyatt ice cream at the park. I'm cheesing now just thinking about how proud I am that they would consider others so much.

Day 4

Well, we had no more to do in San Diego besides visiting the beach so we decided to drive up to my cousins, Pat and Burle's home, in Malibu. I know it sounds kind of funny to be staying with a 4th cousin, but they are extremely welcoming and gracious. We left SD around 10am and drove to the famous Zuma beach in Malibu. Bible John, as Nori titled him, arrived at the beach from Burbank around 1pm.

 

John, Candi, Wyatt, and I dug holes and swam. In fact, John has been in California for two years and until today has not been in the ocean. He's been to the beach, but never got in. We couldn't let that crime continue. Peer pressure can be an awesome thing.

 

Nori pretended the day away and occasionally got in the waves. Christian practiced balancing on his boogie board the entire day. I think he's working his way to a professional career. I can't wait to see him ride the tube!

 

We stayed until 5:30 and then ate at Subway - they have 'em in Malibu, too; weird! It was an awesome day. I'm overcome by how beautiful the weather is in California. And I thought we had it good with the AZ winter!

We finally went to Pat and Burle's around 7pm, washed up, put the kids to bed, and then visited and watch the Olympics until 10:30.

Here are some pictures of the day.

Old friends

I got in contact with a long, lost friend recently. I met John in the AF at my first assignment - Shepherd AFB, TX. He worked on F15s and I was training on F16s. We had a lot in common and had a close friendship with until life took us apart. We've kept in contact enough to know where the other is. I'm really excited because we're going to California next month for vacation (I'm super-duper excited about it in general) and he lives in L.A. now. It'll be great to see what he's been doing. He went to Full Sail in Florida for movie directing (I hope I didn't simplify that too much John!) and now he's putting it to the road in Cali. I added a link on the right to some photography that he did and pics of some of the cool stuff he did at school.