The Move

Hey kids,
Daddy here. In October of 2002,  Mom and I bought our first house. A quiet little house on a quiet little street called Mercury Drive. At that time we had a little baby boy who was a little more than a year old named Alex. Suffice it to say a lot has happened since then. We now have a SteveO,  a beautiful little Izzy, a Rudy and 14 years of memories.  We've tried to move numerous times because the Mercury house just got to be too small for our family. It would seem, that the Lord knew what he was doing and waited for this time for our house to successfully sell. He wanted us to be in Louie and Carmen's house on Riverside Drive. The first time we saw the house, Mom and I liked it immediately. So after months and months of escrow hell and our trip to Hawaii thrown in the mix we have finally closed escrow and get to move in. Kristin, Cory, Sara, Dean, Grammie and Papa helped us move all of our stuff into their garage. Monday, I had to go back to work but you guys went with Mom over to the new house to get moved in. You were unable to do so however because Louie and Carmen were still there. While talking with them and walking around the house, despite the fact that he was expressly told not to open the door as the cat would get out, Jake let the cat out and he ran away. This has been known has the Mr Shitters incident. After much frustration, Mom decided to head back to Grammy and Papa's for one more night. I'm very grateful for Grammy and Papa to let us stay there while going through this moving debacle. Tuesday morning I headed to work and you guys crossed your fingers and headed over to the new house to find that they were gone! We can officially begin the move in. Before we get working too hard, Let's test the pool!

It was awesome. I'm so glad that we finally have a pool living in this town. I didn't really love the Mercury house but I did love who I shared it with. Love it or hate it, it was a big part of our life for the last 14 years. All I can think about now is what kind of adventures and memories we will make in this house which we all love. I love you guys,

 Daddy

Hawaiian Vacation Day 11

Hey kids,
Daddy here.

Hawaiian Vacation Day 10

Hey kids,
Daddy here. Today was a Sunday, and there happened to be a Catholic Church right across the street from our hotel, Saint Augustine's by the Ocean. It was beautiful.

Hawaiian Vacation Day 9

Hey kids,
Daddy here. Today we have to get off the ship (BOOO!) We don't have to go home yet tho (YAY!) So, we got up and headed up to the Aloha Cafe for our final meal on the ship, a good breakfast with the family. We all filled up our bellies for the last time and headed to the room to do a final check for anything we may have left.

We grabbed what was left of our stuff and headed to the Hollywood Theater on deck 5 to meet up with our tour peeps. We were eventually lead out to the final card swipe off the ship and said Aloha to the Pride of America, she took great care of us.  We got on the bus and met the awesomest driver ever. Kaleo'olani, the voice of heaven. He took us to the Pearl Harbor Memorial site. The first thing we did when we got there is go to the USS Missouri Memorial.

Hawaiian Vacation Day 8

Hey kids,
Daddy here. Today is our second (and last) day in Kauai.

Hawaiian Vacation Day 7

Hey kids,
Daddy here.

Hawaiian Vacation Day 6

Hey kids,
Daddy here.

Hawaiian Vacation Day 5

Hey kids, Daddy here. Today, we awoke to out first trip to Hawaii island. We got some breakfast and headed off the ship.

Hawaiian Vacation Day 4

Hey kids, Daddy here.

Hawaiian Vacation Day 3

Hey kids, Daddy here. Today was the first day we woke up on the cruise ship. We docked in Maui, so the plan is to rent a car, since we know what we're doing on Maui.

Hawaiian Vacation Day 2

Hey kids,
Daddy here.  after a wonderful sleep with the hotel how about we got our stuff packed up and left it by the door and made our way downstairs to catch the bus to the ship.

Hawaii!!! Part 1

Hey kids,
Daddy here. Well, we've been talking about it for months and it's finally time to get our vacation to Hawaii started! Last night, when I got off work, we drove down to Sacramento and stayed in a hotel. We didn't get there till 11 o'clock at night and were almost too excited to sleep. We finally got to sleep a little after midnight and the alarm to wake us up went off about 4:30! Al says that he wasn't able to sleep at all because he was so excited. We all wiped the sleep from our eyes and got to the shuttle by 5 am. We got to the airport, got through security (ugh) and made it to the gate by 6:10. A few minutes later, they told us that the flight was delayed by an hour and a half! Ugh! So, eventually we got on the plane and since they managed to set us together, we got the first row behind first class!

We played cards, we played on devices and Alex and I tried to get Cody to eat that stupid gumdrop, but eventually, we made it! We got off the plane and immediately saw Tutu, smiling and waving. We all hugged and kissed her. I have to tell you, it's kind of a weird sensation to not see your mom for two years, but we're here now and I'm so very happy.

We decided to take a taxi to the hotel rather than pay $140 dollars for a shuttle. We got checked in, and decided that we needed to eat. We walked down the street, past St Augustine's Catholic Church to....Cheeseburger in Paradise.  As we waited in line, Alex and I talked.  Jake and I got a Kahlua pork an Al got a seared Ahi sandy. After lunch, we headed back to the hotel to get settled in our room. We changed and headed straight for the pool. We splashed around for a bit and I decided to take the kids for a little excursion to the beach. We walked down to the beach and hung out in the ocean by the pier and behind this little cement wall. The boys jumped off it a few times and even Izzy jumped off! After a little bit, we headed back to the pool and met up with mom and Tutu and headed back to the room. We decided, after not finding anything easy, to get Pizza Hut. We rented Zootopia and ate pizza. It was awesome. We all fell asleep, and after a few minutes mom woke us up and Jake, Mom, and I headed back to our room for a well deserved night of sleep. We had been awake in total for about 20 hours. We all fell asleep in about 2 seconds. I can't wait to see what tomorrow brings. I love you guys,

Daddy

Houseboat

Hey kids,
Daddy here. This weekend, we went to the houseboat to hang and escape the heat. I'm very grateful the Grammy and Papa have a houseboat that we can escape to but it's so hot. Houseboat weekends are just about one of my favorite things in the whole world. Relaxing with the family, eating some good food, having a few cold drinks, splashing around the lake and laughing. I'm also thrilled to announce my return to the bolo victory circle. It would seem my losing streak is over, for now. Nothing like a great weekend with the family out on the houseboat to recharge my battery for Monday. I love you guys,

Daddy

Colt 45's Game

Hey kids,
Daddy here. Last night, we went to see the Redding Colt 45's with the Reagan's. We had some burgers, Cory and I had some beers, and we all had a great time. While I was standing in line to buy Izzy a hot dog, the guy in front of her got some nachos and is he said, "I love nacho!"  So the guy looks at her and said,  "Go ahead and grab one." She grabbed the biggest chip on the whole plate and said thank you. The guy whispers to her, loudly enough for me to hear, "It's a good thing your daddy talks on the radio." I may not be a doctor like so many Mikes that I know, but if occasionally my job gets Izzy a free nacho, it's totally worth it. We had a great night with great friends. I love you guys,

Daddy

Weekend Recap

Hey kids,
Daddy here. This weekend we went to see the new Pixar movie "Finding Dory" with the Reagan's. It was another great Pixar movie. In the opening when we see Dory with her parents, Andrew looks at Jake ans asks, "Are they gonna die?" Legit question, little dude. We had a great time and headed home to have a lazy afternoon.
Sunday, after Mass,  we went to check out the new exhibit at Turtle Bay. It's called Rock University. It had instruments you could play like guitars, drums and all kinds of other stuff. It was totally awesome!

I hope you guys have a deep connection to music like I do. A song can help you remember people, events, all kinds of things. Music can trigger memories like crazy. We all had a great time and many laughs. We spent Sunday night enjoying each other's company before I had to get to the nonsense tomorrow. I love you guys,

Daddy