1st Day of School 2017

Hey kids,
Daddy here. Well it's that time of year again where it's too hot to talk, but it's time to go back to school.

I can't believe Alex has more high school behind him than in front, Jake is in his last year at St Joes and Izzy is already in the fourth grade! I tell you guys it goes faster than you think. I just hope you enjoy your time with your friends, teachers and coaches while you can. Next thing you know you'll all be out. This weekend mom and I are going to the Forty Niner game with Sarah and Dean! So that's enough excitement to get me through the week. I love you guys,

 Daddy

Rudy

Hey kids,
Daddy here. Christmas Eve 13 years ago, we were sitting around the old house with Grammy and Papa and just having a few laughs and talking. Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. Alex, all of three years old, Jake all of eight months old and I ran to the door. We open the door and there was no one there but there was a basket on the front porch holding the greatest Christmas present we've ever got, Rudy.

Alex freaked out and screamed,  "A DOG!!" I was completely at a loss for words, and so excited. I asked Alex what we should name him and he said Rudolph because Santa had delivered him. So I said how about we call him Rudy. For the last 13 years he's been a member of our family. Sometimes he frustrated us, sometimes he made us laugh but he was always ours.

Today, we had to say goodbye. I was hoping so much that he would live just a few years longer, but I knew this day would come eventually.

Thankfully, Papa was available to take him in. Mom always leaves first so she got to say goodbye first. Jake, Izzy, and I said our goodbyes when we left.

 And when Papa came over to take him in, Alex had his chance to say goodbye. I wish I could spare you guys from pain like this, but Rudy was in pain too. He doesn't hurt anymore. He gets to be with his family and a better place.

 I'm getting choked up writing this so I'm just going to say that he will be missed, sorely. He was a good boy. I love you guys,

Daddy

Dad and Dude day-SteveO version

Hey kids,
Daddy here. One of my favorite about Dad and dude day is doing what you guys want. Steve-O wanted to go hit some mini golf

 and the video game store

 and the batting cages

 and the pool table

, even the movies! We saw War for Planet of the Apes. I'm pleased to say we were able to get everything on Jake's list crossed off. It was a great day. I love you Steve-O, Daddy

Dad and Dude Day-Al version

Hey kids,
Daddy here. Round two of the Dad and Dude day was for Al. Al and  I went to the movies and saw Atomic Blonde.

It was totally awesome! We were starving so we headed over to Dill's to get a Dirty Pig.

After lunch we hit the links and played 9 holes at Allen's Golf Course and I let Al drive the cart.

I have not played golf in so many years at Alex and I had an absolute blast.

Even if we didn't do so well.

We have to keep going back though if we plan to hit the Marilyn Monroe house in Hawaii next time we go. It was a full day and totally awesome, I hope we do this even when you're grown up dude. I love you Al,

Daddy

Daddy and Daughter Day

Hey kids,
Daddy here. It's time for the annual dad and dude Day celebrations and for the first year ever the first one up is the Foof. It's Daddy and Daughter Day.

I asked is what you wanted to do first and she said she wanted to go to Target and try on clothes. So we headed to Target to try on clothes, we walk in and I say, "Okay, what do you want to try on?" and she says, "Mom says I need to look at training bras." I'm like, "Nope, nope, I'm out. You can do that stuff with Mom but you are not doing that with me." So she looked at some cute clothes for a while and then we decided to head up to Oasis and play some mini golf.

After all Races we have worked up a bit of an appetite so I asked her where she wanted to go for lunch and she said I want to get a Costco dog. That's awesome, so we headed to Costco and got us a Costco dog and is he put so many onions on her Costco dog that they actually ran out. What a Foof.

Next, we headed to the movies to see Despicable Me 3. There weren't very many people there so we got to be our own ticket agent.

And there was no one in the theater so we got the best seats in the House.

Then we headed over to Barnes & Noble to look for books.

 While we were there we played guess what's behind my back with the hand puppets, I had so much fun with you, Iz.

 I love that we got a whole day together just you and me. I love you Iz,

Daddy

XVI

Hey kids,
Daddy here. The past week has been quite the adventure. We took a few days off and headed down to Santa Cruz to celebrate Al's 16th birthday. 16. As in almost old enough to drive a car. What!?
Anyway, the road trip was awesome as always. We camped at a place called Portola Redwoods State Park. It was out in the middle of nowhere, so we got a pretty good camping spot. The hill down to the bathroom did not seem very steep walking down but boy howdy on the way back up did it! One of the days we headed out to do some sightseeing we saw a totally cool Lighthouse that you guys were not interested at all. But I thought it was pretty awesome. Eventually, we headed to the beach. One of the days we went to the mission. The boys were very put off that we had to be there but Mom and I thought it was really cool again period after the mission we did one of the coolest things that the entire trip was too which was to hit the Mystery Spot. I still don't know how all that gravitational stuff works in there but it's pretty neat. After the Mystery Spot, we made time for another beach trip. On Al's birthday we headed for the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. While we were parking Alex got a legendary on Clash Royale, but it turned out to be another Inferno dragon. The boardwalk however it was totally awesome we had some great rides we got a giant turkey leg, Alex got a fried Twinkie and even found 10 bucks on the ground. For dinner we went to a place called stagnaro Brothers. It was Italian seafood. Alex and I ended up getting the calamari steak for dinner and it was one of the best meals I've ever had. I wish we could do tricks like this more than just a handful of times a year. There Is No Greater Joy for me then when we all get to be together and go on adventures like this one. I hope when you guys grow up we will always find time to spend with the five of us together on your birthdays doing fun stuff. I love you guys, Daddy

Recap

Hey kids,
Daddy here. It's been a busy and active summer for the MansClan. A few weeks ago, mom had some meetings in Chico so I took Al to the weight room for football and then Izzy had piano lessons.

After we were done with piano lessons, we headed back to get Al. We had to wait for a few minutes for him to finish and it was starting to get hot. When Alex got to the car Izzy said, "We've been waiting for almost 10 minutes, I'm hot!!" He, being completely drenched with sweat and red-faced from heat exhaustion, was like, "Really?!" Lol.

We've had to say goodbye to Father George and Father Lawrence. Jake even got to serve at their last Mass here. They've been such great spiritual leaders for me and for this community. I'm really going to miss them. Father Lawrence heard my very first confession and I always tried to go to him when it was time for confession. Father George was the first priest I was fortunate enough to call my friend, and I will miss my friend and my spiritual leader very much.

Izzy and Mom got some fun color in their hair for the summer. Iz had to get a swim cap so the pool doesn't strip the color out.

Mom has been doing such a great job clearing out the garage we were able to get the car in too!

For the 4th of July weekend, we headed out to the houseboat. This time there was no driftwood and there was an island for us to play bolo on. Although, there were no hot twins for Al. There was however peninsula that stuck out the end of the island we were on and we watched people get stuck on it. The funniest one was when we were having breakfast and a guy came in too hot and got stuck. Papa was laughing out loud and when he finally started to calm down, from downstairs on Jason's boat we heard, "What a dumbass!!" and we all cracked up again.

We went tubing until the two broke and just had an all-around great time at the boat, like always. My bolo skills were on par this weekend and I cleaned house. We even stopped in the middle of the lake so we could swim.

We came home on Monday because we had a big Fourth of July party planned. On Tuesday, the 4th of July, I went to the firecracker 5K in the morning and saw this nonsense.

 When I got home, we got everything ready for the party. To our great surprise Sara and Dean were actually able to make it! Everyone had a great time, I sure love getting all of our friends together. Although my bolo skills somehow robbed me of corn-hole skills and I got killed by multiple people.

A few weeks later, Greg and Brenda were in town for their yearly visit and we were finally able to schedule a river trip. Alex had football camp on the weekend we went to Chico, so Doc, Greg, Nathan, Jake and I went and saw Spider-Man. That evening, all the adults actually got to go out for dinner which is always great. I took Wednesday off work to give Alex a few days to rest and we finally made it to the river.

I can't tell you guys how much it means to me that you enjoyed the river as much as I did when I was your age. It's still a little trippy for me to think the first time I went down with those two guys was almost 30 years ago!! You guys did a great job down and back and Alex even jumped off the main jump! I can't wait to get another river trip in, hopefully before the end of summer.

In addition to all the great fun we've been having, sometimes just real life stuff sneaks up. Izzy wanted to go with me to the doctor so I said okay. I love so much that you still love spending time with me, you foof.

A few weeks later we drove up to Greenville to meet up with the Tuckers.

It was time for us to make the trip to the mountain and spread GG's ashes. I'm so very thankful for Ken and Centella, for their generous hospitality and for knowing where we had to go on the mountain.

Great grandpa Al always loved that place, which is why he wanted his ashes spread there. The second time I went there was to spread Grandpa's ashes. This is the third time I've been there, to complete a loved one's final wishes. I'll have to go one more time, when Tutu's ready.

I'm very glad we decided to make a family trip of it, it would have been much harder to do without all of you there. Especially Alex, who walked down to the spot through the spiky manzanita with me and helped spread the ashes. Thanks for doing that dude, I really appreciate it.

We headed back to Ken and Centella's house and visited and had lunch. Had Jake not had a miserable ear infection we probably would have stayed a little longer. As it was we had to head home.

DeanO turning 50 this year, so Cory and I made him some Kansas City Chiefs corn-hole boards. I hope he likes them.

It's been sunny and hot all week, and mom wanted to throw a Shark Week party this Friday, calling it Shark Week brewhaha. That's just plain clever. So, I'll have to recap that party and our long weekend next week. We're going to go to Santa Cruz and celebrate Alex's 16th birthday. I always love that we have something fun right around the corner. I love you guys,

 Daddy