Memorial Day Weekend

Well we had a busy, fun and pocket emptying Memorial Day weekend.

To kick the weekend off early my Brother-in-law, his wife and the Nephew flew in Friday morning. It's been since the shower since we've seen them. They came down to check out their nephew. After they got here me and my BIL went out for some shopping chores. First up I needed his help with looking at TV's and Blue-ray disc players. With his help I got a good idea of what to look for for when we decide to got that way. Then it was off to Lowes to pick up a Barbecue. After doing some looking and deciding we picked one up and then had the fun task of trying to load it into the Trailblazer! Well after some trial and error we got it in. Then got it home and hooked up! Whoot now we can barbecue! As they had a long day with getting up early and traveling down here with an almost two year old they headed to the hotel to call it a night.

The next day they came over in the morning and we hung out for a bit. Then they kicked the Wife and me out for some alone time. So we headed out for Lunch at Over the Border, a Mexican restaurant we go to down here. After that we went over to Best Buy to look for movies, games and such. Well we get there and while I'm looking for a game that my friend gave me a gift card for the wife comes over with a bunch of Blu-ray movies. I'm like you're already buying Blu-ray but we don't have a player. That's when she got that smile I know oh so well. Well needless to say they didn't have the game I was looking for but we did pick up a new Samsung Blu-ray player. Got home hooked it up with the BILs help and watched our first movie in HD! Whoot! That night we christened the BBQ with a London Broil with Corn on the Cob! Hmmmmm delicious!

The next day we had to head over to Sacramento to have a Baby Shower with my family members down here in California since it didn't make sense for them to go to the one up in Portland. My two Aunts put it on. Not to worry my BIL and family had some family and friends to visit as well that day. Back to the party. My Son got to meet his last Uncle, another Grandpa, two great-grandparents, some great-aunts and great-uncles, and many cousins of some type or another! The whole cousin thing gets confusing. Like what is my Mom's Cousin to my boy or my Cousin's kid to my boy? Very confusing so we'll just stick with Cousin for all! Well it was a great get together and no shortage of people willing to hold the boy! So he had a great day. Plus we got some good stuff for him as well. Afterwards we drove home and met up with the BIL and family for some Pizza and to bid farewell as they had an early flight in the morning.

Well the shopping for the weekend wasn't quite done. I was looking in the paper and found the Best Buy ad and noticed they had one of the TVs my BIL suggested while we were there for like $620 off. Plus they were doing 3 years no interest. Well since we had jumped in and picked up the Blu-ray player figured we needed a bigger and better TV for it! Well since we had also recently gotten our tax refund we felt that we deserved the upgrade as well! So we now have a new TV stand and 52" LCD Samsung HDTV! Whoot! Man things have never looked this crisp and clean before even normal TV jumps out at you with better image quality! Putting the new TV stand together was a nice long project! But well worth it!

Well below are some pictures from the weekend. Enjoy.


Me with Son and Nephew

Brother-in-law, His wife with my Son

My Brother with my Son

Wife and Family

More Family, Son with his Grandma

Lego Mania!

On the Gamecube a few years back a game was released called Lego Star Wars. I bought it for being a Star Wars game more so then for a Lego game. I had some worries that it would be too kiddie of a game. But was that further from the truth. It was such a great game I'm not even sure where to begin describing the game.

Lego Star Wars is set in Episodes I-III of the Star Wars movie franchise, of which I'm a huge fan of all the movies. So you start out with just two playable characters of Obi-Wan (Padawan) and Qui-Gon Jin aboard the Trade Federation ship. Oh and you are the Lego version of them! Sweet! When you blow things up in the world, oh by the way did I mention everything on the screen is made of Legos, they shatter into their the core Lego pieces and spit out collectible Lego studs. As you progress through each chapter of each episodes you unlock more playable characters and earn studs to buy things with. Also, after completing a chapter you can the go back and play in free-play mode which allows you to switch between more characters then the story play mode. And you'll need to in order to find everything you need from a chapter some things are only reachable by certain characters.

A few months later they released Lego Star Wars for Episodes IV-VI for those who like the classic better. It's game play was the same with maybe some upgrade character interaction stuff. But still a great game! For the Wii they released both games as a combined game. I haven't picked it up as I don't know if there are any changes to the games I have and can play via my Wii.

Well just this last week the released Lego Indiana Jones for the Wii. I naturally picked it up. It's great just like the Star Wars versions. Here Indy's got a whip instead of the force and a lightsaber. But the game still rocks especially running form a big Lego ball that's rolling at you! I've only played the first chapter and ran around the holding area a little bit so far. Tough to get too much grinding in yet with the little one! But I'll try!

Wii Excitement

Well as many know I was one of those fools who waited for hours in the wee hours of the morning to pick up a Wii when it was released. The system is an absolute blast and I have seen even the youngest of children having fun with the basic games that come with it. Bowling is a blast as is the golf game driving range. Since the release I have bought a few games here and there. Of course the classics Madden, Zelda, Metroid made it into my larder of games and all are fun. I'm a big golf person so Tiger Woods made it too and it is fun, and frustrating, to swing the controller in a mostly realistic golf swing. I played that game almost everyday for months on end. Ever since the first Tiger game came out I've been hooked. Well now just recently a new game has come out that is also a classic good time Mario Kart! For the Wii the game comes with a wheel that you insert a Wii controller into to give you a better driving feel then trying to just turn the controller. Man is it a blast!

The game is much like all the other incarnations in that you have the standard 50cc, 100cc and 150cc selections. And so far I've only done the 50cc you have your standard circuits of Mushroom, Flower, Star and Special. with at the start only Mushroom and Flower being playable. These are new tracks just like with the past versions they always update and create new tracks. However, there are also two other circuits available Shell and Banana with two to be uncovered. These circuits have tracks from all the old versions. They have been updated graphically of course but take you back in time to learning all those old tracks.

On top of the new courses and being able to relive the old courses you now have your choice of three vehicles when you make your character selection. This is cool as you can pick a type that works better on certain circuits and tracks. Each one has different stats. Also outside of the old classic carts there are now motorbikes to race too! I haven't gotten to those yet as they are for 100cc and 150cc. But can't wait for it.

The coolest feature of all is the ability to play online! Yes that's right you can race against people in your friend list, regional area or even world wide! I've only done this a couple of times and have gotten my ass handed to me but it was loads of fun to race against 12 other people instead of computer controlled opponents. You can also do timed events that you can then see how you rank versus your friends, regionally and globally. There are even tournaments you can enter. Online play allows up to 2 people per console to play online. This make it an even better game for me since I've moved away from all my friends who play vids with me. Now if I can just get them to pony up for the system and game! Come on guys and girls you know who you are!

Well that's it for now.

Been awhile but...

Well it's been a while again since my last post but this time it's with good reason. On April 13, 2008 at 4:23 AM the wife and I welcomed our Son into the world. The weeks leading up to this big event and after have prevented me from doing any posting. Things are settling down around here again so there should not be as many interruptions as there have been recently.

Anyway back to the exciting news! He weighed in at 8lbs even and measured a length of 20 1/2 inches. The birth process went rather smoothly I think the wife might have a different view. She started having contractions around noon or so on the due date. We ended up in the hospital around 8pm or so. Then at 4:23 am he joined us out in the real world kicking and screaming. Boy did he kick. He kicked the nurse while she was trying to do his initial checks. He also loved grabbing on. There was some tubing on the table which he reached over his head to grab and then reeled in hand over fist. Also, when they brought him over to mom he grabbed her IV which sent a few hands darting in to make sure he couldn't yank it out. After a couple of days in the hospital it was off to the house. Below is the first family picture taken on our way out.



My Mother showed up about two weeks before he was born and stayed two weeks afterwards. She was a big help before, during and after. It was all greatly appreciated. My Mother-in-law made it down a week after he was born and between her and my mom they were able to help us out immensely that second week. If it wasn't for them not sure how well we would have made it through those first two weeks.

We also got a visit from my Father-in-law and his wife the same time that my Mother-in-law showed up. So the little man got to see many of his grandparents very early on which was great.

All in all the whole birthing process was not so bad but the weeks afterwards were real tough with the lack of sleep that was going on. It's gotten better and better as time has gone on. The last few days have been good for the most part. He's taking to sleeping on his own a little better now. But he's just a bit more crankier then he's ever been in between feedings and sleep.

One and Done Ducks

Well the NCAA Tourney is up and going strong and my braket couldn't be in any more disarray! Very strange tournament so far we had 2 games in the second round of 12vs13 seeds. That's just insane! Way to go Villanova, Siena, Western Kentucky and San Diego. All four number one seeds are still alive but UCLA and Memphis had tough second rounds. Hopefully for UCLA my champion pick it was just a fluke and they'll run over the rest of the way to the Final Four. Two 2 seeds both lose. Too bad Duke was one of them I was really looking forward to two freshmen from the state of Oregon to face off for the right to reach the Final Four.

As for my Ducks nothing new to report yet again they have a double digit lead in the second half of a game only to lose yet again! Both UCLA and USC games were that way and we couldn't pull those out either. They just don't seem to be able to put people away when they should! Oh well now it's waiting time for the Maui Invitational next season for which I'll be there to root them on! Go Ducks!

Baby Shower PDX Edition

My Wife's good friend threw a baby shower for her and many of our family and friends in the Portland, Oregon area.

My friend Dawg picked us up at the airport and we started the weekend off right with a great meal at Fat City. Hmmm do I miss the food from back home. Note the food will be a common thing for the weekend not as much as I wanted but enough to satisfy me of some of my cravings. The Wife then went to her hair appointment with her stylist up in the area while the Dawg and I headed back to the house to relax a little. The Dawg and I went and saw the movie No Country For Old Men. I was really disapointed in this film. While cinamatography for the film was elegant and epic the story and acting was just so sub par I don't even know where I'd begin bashing this flick. I don't see why it's getting such a huge response. But did provide some levity in the sense when talking to my friend Bar trying to plan out the next day we told him that we felt that Rambo had a chance at being the better film. So bad but it just might be true.

The day of the shower the Dawg and I waited with his son for Bar and Wrench to show up. After that Bar, Wrench and I went to stop by the shower so I could make sure to see my Mom, Grandma and my old co-worker. I also got to see a few other people that made it totally worth sticking around until the shower was about to start. Then it was off to Fire On the Mountain in order to get my fix of their heavenly wings and especially their Spicy Peanut Wing Sauce. Hmm just thinking about it is making me go all Homer Simpson on the keyboard! Hmmmmmm Spicy Peanut Wing Sauce........ After an evening of some game action back at the house Bar, Dawg and I went off to see Rambo. And yes after coming out of that movie the Dawg and I both agreed it was better then No Country For Old Men.

The next day we met up for some breakfast with the Wife's Father, Step-Mother, Brother, Sister-in-law and our Nephew. Man he's getting so big now. Hadn't seen him since Thanksgiving and boy has he grown.

Weekend Getaway to Whistler

In January the Wife and I went on a nice Weekend Getaway to Whistler, BC. This was our last big Excursion before the baby comes, well other then the Baby Shower in Portland, OR. We flew up to Vancouver, BC on the 25th and took a bus up to the Delta Whistler Village Suites. The bus trip was a great way to get up there. No rental car to worry about driving in the snow conditions. You could just sit back and relax for the 2-3 hours it takes letting someone else who does it on a regular basis deal with the road conditions.

We spent the next couple of days doing some shopping, eating and I even got in some runs down the mountain. Boy was I out of shape so wasn't able to get much in. The first day I got in one nice long run but was so worn out by it I was done. The second day I got in the same run and felt like I could have done it a couple more times but with the Wife being alone felt I should get back and do some stuff with her instead. I've got to get in shape so I can do more snowboarding then this.

We flew back home on Monday. The whole trip was quite refreshing and relaxing. Nice to just get away. This will have to serve us until our next trip. For right now that isn't until Thanksgiving week when we'll be off to Maui to try and attend the Maui Invitational with some good friends and their family from back east. The Ducks and Tar Heels will be attending so it should be great as I'm a Duck along with a friends wife and everyone else will be pulling for the Tar Heels as that's where the family is from.

Some Pictures from the trip:


Me in the Gondola Ready to hit the slopes


View from our room's patio
(Mountain in picture is Blackcomb)


The Winter Olympics will take place in Vancouver, BC but some events will be held at the Whistler/Blackcomb area.


Our third trip to Whistler happened to be the most snow we had seen before. This is a picture in the Village.