Dad and Daughter Do DC!

In my new role I have responsibility for recruiting Full-time MBA students to the Graziadio School.  As this is an area I have very little exposure to as a faculty member, I’ve decided to join our Recruiting Director on a trip to DC.

Of course, the side benefit is that my folks still live nearby.  So I brought my daughter along to spend a few days with my family while I work.

Quick update on the MISERY of flying in today’s world…

• While a R/T non-stop airfare from LA to DC is only about $250, to get a similar ticket with frequent flier miles was 60K miles!  So, I went with a 20K mile award ticket instead.  Of course, this ticket has us departing and arriving from different airports in both LA (depart from BUR, return to LAX) and DC (arrive at DCA, depart from IAD).  Plus, it had a 90-minute layover in DFW on the way.  Ugh.
• The day we departed, there were morning storms in DFW, which delayed the plane’s arrival at BUR, so we were delayed by 1-hr from departure.
• It was 104 degrees in BUR when we left…which is apparently too hot for a fully-loaded plane to have sufficient lift to clear the San Gabriel mountains.  So, they drained the fuel on our plane, and flew over the mountains to the Ontario airport to refuel.  The total flight time was 19-minutes from ground to ground. 
• We stayed on the plane for another 30-minutes in Ontario while they refueled.
• By the time we arrived at DFW, we were about 2-hours late, so many passengers missed connecting flights.  And, they had run out of food on board. So, I had to go out and grab some food at the airport and bring it back to me and Madi.  Of course, if both of us went to get food, we would have had to take our luggage and everything with us, even though we were getting right back on the plane.  So, I left Madi on board and ran to grab some food.  Sadly, I didn’t know this was the case when I got up to ask the attendant about food availability.  Thus, i was gone for about 35 minutes without Madison (or the flight attendants) knowing where I was.  There was general panic that a parent had left a child unattended on the plane.  Madison’s helpful response to the crew members questions about her parent’s status was…  “I’m not alone. I’m with my Daddy.  He got up to ask a question, and didn’t come back.” :-)

Flight Attendant:  “Are you alone?  Where is your daddy?”

Daughter: '”I don’t know!  He got up to ask a question and never came back!”

• When we finally arrived at DCA, it was 1am.  Due to the late arrival, I had reserved a rental car rather than having family come pick us up.  Of course, the rental car counter closed at 12:30, even though they knew we were on flight 318 that was delayed.  So, we spent an hour at the airport trying to figure out a way to get a rental car or public transit.
• We finally took a $112 cab ride from DCA to my parent’s house and arrived at 3:00AM. 

Ugh…what a trip. 

But, when we arrived, it was wonderful to see my folks and my niece waiting for us.  Tiny and Bopper went right to sleep and got plenty of beauty rest before church.

Gadget geeks gone wrong…

You all know I’m a total gadget geek.  I love all kinds of gadgets…phones, computers, game consoles, you name it…we’ve got it.  Xbox, 360, Wii, PSP, DS, DS light, iPhone, iPad, in-car-MP3… All of it.

I love all that stuff.

But today on the way home from church, I saw the dark side of our collection of goodies.

On the way home from church this afternoon I was driving through the canyon with a car full of gadget geeks…

• Michelle trying to get the maximum score on Words With Friends on the iPhone
• Marcus squishing the pigs with Angry Birds on the iPad.
• Madison playing with her newest PSP game

All of us, driving in silence all the way home while each was immersed in their own little world.

It sort of reminded me of a trip a few years ago when a group of my buddies and I drove to Vegas in my van.  As we were in the car several of us were on our phones/email/facebook chatting back and forth WITH EACH OTHER in the same car. 

What a strangle little socially connected, and simultaneously isolating world we are creating.

Yes, I’m ignoring you!

 

Tonight as Michelle and I were downstairs reading the newspaper and relaxing, we called up to the kids…

Time to get ready for bed!

Of course, our perfect children all responded “OK” and we went back to reading and relaxing.  About 10 minutes later, we realized that we hadn’t seen any of them actually heading down to get ready for bed.

So, we repeated…

Time to get ready for bed.

And again, they replied with the familiar consent. 

But a few minutes later, there was still no movement towards the bedrooms.  So Michelle called up and asked…

Are you guys ignoring us? 

To which, our first born said, unsurprisingly, “No.  Sorry, Mom… I’m just finishing this level. (on the xbox, of course).

Our third-born, unsurprisingly said,

Yes.

But he said it in such a sweet, and kind way that we laughed rather than actually disciplining him or explaining that it was not OK to ignore instructions from Mom & Dad.

Ahhh… the life of the youngest…

Boys weekend at Joshua Tree

Last weekend was one of the highlights of my year for the past few years.  The Hilltop Church sponsors an annual guy’s trip to Joshua Tree’s “Sheep's Pass” campground.  We’ve gone the last few years and had a blast!

This year our dear friends Caleb & Brian came along with us.  It was wonderful to spend some time with our friends in the familiar environment of Sheep’s Pass (and A&W on the way to the desert).

Here’s Brian right after we got the tents set up.

.  You can see the enormous barren desert behind him.  The view from where we put our tents is really amazing.

It was about 100 when we arrived (but it’s a dry heat). It was about 3pm on Friday.  By the time we got the tents up, we only had about an hour before dinner. 

We spent the whole day Saturday climbing around on the rocks…well almost the whole day.

 

After a few hours of climbing Marcus slid down so many rocks that his pants were ripped all the through…so were his undies!  Half his bottom was hanging out for all the world to see (I have a photo, but he says I can’t put it up here.  If you SMS me, I’ll send it to you though. Andrea-just wait until your boys start voting on which of their photos you can post.  I’m sure the naughty mat photo will be a goner!).  So, the boys and I climbed into the car and headed the 10-miles back out of the park to Yucca Valley, CA to get some new clothes for Tater Tot.  It actually worked out great because it was like 105 degrees from noon to 3 and we were hanging out in the AC at JCPenney’s, Albogordos’ Cantina, and GameStop. 

Sunday morning we always volunteer to help out with breakfast.  This year I decided to let Marcus sleep and just signed up Matt and myself.  It was a good choice.  Matt made me so proud…he rose at 6am with no problem and worked hard for three hours preparing, serving and cleaning up breakfast for 100+ guys. 

Here he is cutting up a watermelon with our dear friend and King’s Kamp Director, Mr. Bruce.

He sliced all the watermelon.  It was his first time to slice a melon by himself.  He did great.  (You’ll have to ignore the Angels cap.  We got it free at an Angels game a few years ago.  He’d be happy to receive an Orioles or Dodgers cap for Christmas…hint, hint).

Once we had breakfast all prepared, we started serving.  Sunday’s breakfast tradition is “omelet-in-a-bag”.  It’s a fun meal where we put egg-beaters and leftovers from the last few days into a zip-loc baggie and boil it for seven minutes.  Sounds weird, but it works great.  Matt’s job was to pour the egg-beater into the bag, and I filled up the rest of the goodies. 

Brian also volunteered on Sunday and he handled the cooking. 

After breakfast, we just had a little devotional and then packed up and headed out.

Of course, one of the highlights every year is stopping on the way home to wash our hands and faces (there’s no running water within 6 miles of the park), and get something cold to eat.  This year Matt went a little overboard with a soda, a blizzard, and an ice cream cone at DQ.

Here’s a photo of all of us together near where we put our tents.  A wonderful weekend for sure.

 

Nashville with Matt for CSC

Last week I took at trip to Nashville for the Christian Scholars Conference.  I wasn’t planning on going since I have so many other travels this summer.  However, when Provost Tippens called with an opportunity to respond to a paper by David Miller, I knew it was an opportunity I shouldn’t pass up.

David Miller is on the faculty at Princeton University where he directs the Faith & Work Initiative.  David’s paper was a summary of his book God at Work along with an announcement of a new phase in his research where he is further refining “The Integration Box” model with an instrument development study.  I will be paying attention to his work over the next few months and would be interested in joining in the conversation.  If you are interested in the topics of faith/spirituality and work/life balance from an academic perspective, you should check out his blog…http://faithandworkblog.com/.  It’s not updated often enough, but it’s a good start.

The conference was engaging and enjoyable.  I always enjoy my visits to Lipscomb University.  It’s a beautiful campus in a lush, green, pastoral quarter of Nashville.  There are many things about Nashville that are appealing.  One of the highlights of the trip was seeing so many old friends.  I had lunch with Ted Thomas (formerly minister of the Silver Spring CoC in Silver Spring, MD) and Gayle Crowe (former minister of the Chatham CoC in Chatham, NJ…and father of one of my best friends DMC). 

 

These two guys are so special to me because it was in conversation with them many years ago that convinced me it was time for a career change.  I’m so grateful for their influence in my life.  Without them I would be Lord knows where… but almost certainly not here.

But the big highlight, was that Son #1 was able to come along for the trip.  We had a blast.  We spent the first night on the plane at DFW… and didn’t arrive in Nashville until nearly 1am.  But the second night we did a double-feature… Iron Man 2, followed by Prince of Persia.  What fun.  I preferred IM2, but he liked PoP better.  Both were fun. (Ironically, last time I attended CSC I took in a Double Feature at the same theater!)

We also made a stop by the Parthenon…

And then had the most amazing burgers at Five Guys…

Day 3 we had to fly back to LA.  But before leaving, we made a few stops.  Like at Krispy Kreme for some hot, fresh donuts.

 

On Legends Corner in downtown Nashville… 

I think Matt only recognized Johnny Cash from the guitar face.

Then we stopped by the Ryman Auditorium, home of the Grand Ole’ Opry…

And finally, we wondered by GameStops, Targets, Best Buys, and Walmarts looking for a PSP Bundle Pack.  With the bundle you save about $30, but Matt really wanted to buy a PSP for the plane ride home.  So, we finally picked up a new PSP and the Prince of Persia game and headed to the airport.  It was a terrific trip for both of us.  I really enjoyed having Matt with me.  I look forward to having him with me again.

Long, Boring, and Quiet

Yesterday as I was tucking in Tater I asked him something like “what would you change if you could”.  He said he would get rid of school.

:-(

I said, “Really?  School is so fun!  You get to see your friends, play lots of games, read…”.

To which he responded…

Yeah, but it’s SOOOO long, and boring, and quiet.”

It makes me wonder how on earth we are supposed to develop a love for learning, if this is the way 1st grade is perceived.

Madison's Can Can at the Talent Show

Marcus' Preschool Party

Lots of neighbors are starting preschool with Marcus next week. Here's a photo of them all together getting ready for preschool socialization.

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Madison's First Design Project

Madison is very creative. She loves to draw and make things (like the hand-knitted scarf for my birthday!). The other day, they were cleaning out her close and she had a great idea...rather than give old tights and a pants to Goodwill, why not use them to make a new line of clothing for her American Girl dolls. Viola!