Go Cubs

Jack in his new Cubs hat - blurry but too cute to not post.

Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

Fire on the Mountain

You may have heard there are brushfires in our area - I snapped this in the Trader Joe's parking lot near our house. Not to worry - the affected area is like two towns over, and there's been no damage or significant injury yet, though we have had a fair amount of ash blow our way. Unsettling to see the orange glow of fire on the mountain after dark. It will be several days before it is contained, they say.
Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

Birthday Boy

Jack's big third birthday weekend kicked off with a bang! We had great seats for the Angels/Mariners game on Friday night and were joined by my friend Ryan and his son Ulysses, who's a little younger than Jack. They are great pals and they are always very cute together, as you can see.

Jack was half focused on the game -- he loves watching baseball and cheers for any event, no matter which side benefits, a point of much bemusement for the Angels fans surrounding us -- and half focused on the row of pretty girls behind us. At one point he started flashing them his belly -- I couldn't get a clear pic -- but he had them cracking up with his shameless flirting.

For Jack's birthday we went, you guessed it, to Disneyland. We were joined once again by Ryan and Ulysees and had an excellent day overall. First up was a character breakfast at Storytellers Cafe, our favorite breakfast spot. In truth Storyteller's kind of has some b-list characters, but they are fun and always nice to Jack, ever since he was really really tiny.

First to visit was Terk, who's quite appealing if you can forget she was voiced by Rosie O'Donnell in the Tarzan movie.

Then there was  . . . Chip? Dale? I can never keep them straight.

Then it was off to the park. First stop was at City Hall for the requisite birthday phone call from Goofy and his Birthday Pin!

Then it was off to Fantasyland, for Birthday Boy demanded a ride on Dumbo! The park was extremely and unusually busy and the lines for Dumbo were long so I gave Jack's little legs a break . . . at the cost of several compressed vertebrae.

Look at all that grey, huh? I look like I have been out in a snowstorm.

Along the queue for Dumbo was a little fountain, and like every body of water in Disneyland, it is home to some ducks who the kids loved checking out.

Then it was time for Mickey's Birthday Party which was a bit of a bust and our last one for a few years, I am afraid. Jack's first year he had a great time at the little party and we got a great picture of him with Mickey and Minnie (and Mommy) but last year he flipped out at picture time and this year it was so close to naptime he didn't do much except eat all his cake toppings with a real intensity and completely refuse to have any part of the picture-taking ceremony.

Unfortunately this picture kind of sums up his attitude during the little party:

But a nap soon restored him and we went over to California Adventure for lunch. Both the boys had bananas. We always refer to them as "The Crazy Monkeys" since they love to run around so thought this was an awesome photo:

Jack has always been a bit of a ham. Sometimes he will just get on a roll doing a nutty little dance and then freeze making some kind of peculiar funny face. During lunch these were some of the offerings:

And at breakfast:

Later that night I picked up some popcorn, foolishly intending to eat it myself. But while we were in line for the Carousel, Jack and Ulysses (he had never had popcorn before!) went on a binge and literally crammed their mouths full of it non-stop. I think I ate like 1/4 of it.

A carousel ride and a spin on the teacups and that was it for our monkeys, and we headed home.

The next day was present-opening and this task Jack took to with deadly seriousness. With the focus of a ninja, he would pick a present and say "Hmm, what's in it?" and sit in his little chair. The he would shred the wrapping paper off a little piece at a time and fling it over his shoulder without taking his eyes off the present. Then it would be (matter-of-factly) "Oh! Wallace and Gromit!" (or whatever). Then he would put the toy down and go "What's Next?" and stomp over to the pile and do it all over again.

Naturally one of the most popular presents was the box some of his "real presents" came in:

Talk about a special delivery.

This Saturday we are having Jack's birthday party at home -- which is really kind of an excuse to invite friends over and make good BBQ Ribs. More to follow . . .

Car wash day

Spent Saturday saving a little coin by washing our cars. Jack was a big help, of course.
Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

Truth in advertising

The shirt reads "Mr. Mischief," in case you can't read it.
Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

Hi all -- sorry as usual for the dearth of posts but this one was too cute not to get up here right away. Genevieve took Jack to the Farmer's Market/Family Fair they have each Friday in Monrovia, right down the street form our house (one of the many things we love about living here). Jack took his first pony ride! And if there's a happier cowpoke in the West, I'd like to see his picture!