9 months

I tried to find some similar pic's, and this is the best I could do. My mom says Booch looks just like me. It may not be that close of a resemblance, but it's pretty close. He's a handsome guy. :-)

4th in CA

We planned to stay in Phoenix for the 4th this year, but decided to go to CA for the funeral of my colleague's father. I met him last year and had a chance to talk and get to know him. A Marine Corps pilot, engineer on the Apollo Program, and owner of his own business, he was quite a guy. The funeral was on Sunday the 5th, so we left for CA the night of the 3rd. I had a great round of golf with Dennis, my dad, and Uncle Jack, along with a swim, before we took off. Mark and Jess were still awake, thankfully, when we arrived about 9pm. We had stopped at our usual place, Brownie's, in Yuma.

Mark and I did a nice run first thing Sat. morning, then MM, Will, and I went for a bike ride around the neighborhood. (We had brought MM's bike with us.) Will is quite the rider. He cut through a front yard at one point, then got way ahead of us (and in trouble with Uncle Doug).

I had wanted to hit the beach that afternoon, but it wasn't to be. It was too crowded downtown, so we diverted to the man-made lakes in Santee. We squeezed into a patch of grass and set up Mark's grill. Jess's mom and and sister stopped by on their bikes to join us in the BBQ. After a couple hours we packed up and headed to Jess's mom's, where there was a pool. Another fun 2 hours of hanging out, and Booch got in a decent nap.

Sunday was the funeral up in Orange County. We had a nice Mass at Mark & Jess's church, along with breakfast at home. S and I left about 2 hrs early, which was good, because an accident made for a long traffic delay. The service was nice and short. There was good food after. It was a good occasion to think about our own mortality and plans for funerals and after-death details, which S and I discussed on the way back to Mark's.

Monday morning Mark and I again had a good run, then it was on the road for the long haul to Phoenix. In Yuma this time we tried a new place, Copper Miner Kitchen, which was affordable and delicious. We entered just as many of the old timer regulars were finishing up and let Booch stretch his legs a bit.

The old folks loved him as he walked around to each table waving. They started calling him "the Mayor of Yuma." Bobbins and the kids especially enjoyed the chocolate pie. There was an accident on the 8 at Gila Bend, so we had to go all the way to the 10. We pulled into home about 4pm.

Will and Otto have this car as a toy, and Booch and JoJo loved it.

 

JoJo's Golf Lessons

For her birthday, and to cultivate her interest in the game, I got her lessons with Jacobs Golf over at Orange Tree. At $50 for two sessions, the price was a little steep, and they also started at the very early time of 7am, but I think she had fun. The lessons themselves weren't all that great, so I probably won't put her in them again until she's older, when it looks like they give the kids real instruction, not just babysit them on the course. My dad got to be there for the second lesson. I benefitted a lot from him getting me lessons when I was a kid, so wanted to do the same for my child.

Backsplash Complete

After the demo in May, Bobbins' dad put up the tile and grouted it for us, while I did some finishing touches, in June. Turned out nice and is MUCH lighter in the kitchen now.

 

 

JoJo's Birthday

Not quite the event as last year, but we did a nice little "star" party for JoJo's 5th b-day at home. Just family and one friend, Brynn. Made good use of our pool.

 

 

 

 

 

School Golf Outing

The Friday after Palm Springs, two of my buddies from work and Jack came out to Orange Tree for a charity golf scramble for MM's school. There were a lot of fundraising gimmicks, so the winning score was 20 under, if I remember correctly. I was pleased with our 9 under. We had a fun time despite the prospect of rain, and thunder that scared Sean.

Palm Springs Hike

Our penultimate day we went for a hike nearby. It ended up a lot of fun, even though it was quite hot. We saw a herd of wild mountain sheep. At the end of the trail was a running creek and waterfall, which the kids promptly stripped down to jump in and play around. Bobbins didn't have shoes, so she stayed at the visitor center. Booch slept most of the way on my back. The girls and I had a nice talk about God on the way home.

Up Mt. San Jacinto

Probably the best part of the trip was the tram ride up Mt. San Jacinto. It's a cool ride and very pretty up there. Quite a contrast from the desert below. We did a bit of hiking, then had dinner. Riding down at night was neat, too.

 

  

Around Palm Springs

The girls got to get a pedicure one day.

We ate most dinners and spent a lot of time lounging at Mike's condo.

The kids spent a lot of time in all the pools, of course.

One night we walked down the main drag, which was closed for a street fair. Lot of interesting characters. At one point we lost Anna and Mikey, which was scary. The kids got balloons from a lady walking around. They lasted about five minutes with the boys.

In Palm Springs

The first night we all just hit a nearby Subway for a quick dinner.

Sunday we all went to Mass, then breakfast, then played around at the pool. On Monday I took Bobbins and the kids to Fontana to see my mom and Coach and family. We had some great food and socializing.


(Anna isn't in this photo, and Paul and fam hadn't arrived yet.)

On Tuesday the men took all the kids to Wet n Wild. It wasn't very crowded, as schools were still in session there, so we got to do a lot, even though they didn't have enough workers to open all the rides all the time. My girls' favorite was this red slide, which you could do a three person raft down. Here's Uncle Jack taking Dominic and JoJo.

The moms, meanwhile, got a full day of shopping in.

To Palm Springs

In May, Bobbins' parents took us all on a vacation to Palm Springs. And by all, I mean Bobbins and each of her four siblings and all their families. The best part was that each family had their own condo with kitchen at the resort, which also had many pools. Some of the units, including ours, even came with a garage. It was awesome.

We set out on a Saturday wearing our green family shirt. Bobbins was green when she was kid, and her brothers had their own colors. It was an easy three hour drive over. The kids were great and didn't use the ipad the whole way, just sat there patiently.

 Booch did escape at one point.

 JoJo sure loves that doll, which she calls "Baby Daddy."