Summer Vacation Day 2

What a wonderful day!  Many fewer miles today, but just about as many hours in the car.

We rose early from our hotel in Salt Lake City to get an early start to Grand Teton.

We piled into the car and spent the next hour or so trying to get out of SLC (don’t even ask about it.  I’ll just say lost pillows and confusion over the GPS instructions were a frustrating way to start the day).

An hour or so later, we crossed over into Idaho for the first time . I remember spending a little bit of time in Idaho when I was a kid, but haven’t been back since.  We all liked Idaho quite a bit.  Beautiful land and so green.  We would like to go back and spend some time there.

 

We finally arrived at Grand Teton about 4pm and just couldn’t believe it.  It is so beautiful it defies description.  Despite the fact that we took almost a hundred photos, we couldn’t do it justice.

We spent the first few hours driving around the park and admiring the wildlife.  For instance we found a dead woodchuck, a half a leg of a deer, and we personally killed a snake.  There were plenty of living animals too…

We ended with a picnic of chili/Frito Pies beside Jackson Lake.  Wow…what an amazing day.  We’re looking forward to some fishing, canoeing, and hiking tomorrow.

The sunset over the lake was breathtaking.

Photos from San Francisco

Holy moly!  We had a great time in San Francisco this week.  We spent five days there... two nights at the Hyatt Regency, and two at the Hilton.  Both were wonderful hotels and we did so many fun things.  Here are some photos...

The plan was to stay in NorCal and head up to Redwood National Park.  But the weatherman called for severe rain the rest of the week and maybe hail in Redwood. So, we headed back to Cozy Malibu to sleep, refresh, and start over.  We may be heading to Joshua Tree National Park instead for some camping and outdoor recreation.  Or maybe to Long Beach for a few days... Stay tuned...

Father-Daughter Dance at Malibu Pres

Madison and I had an absolute blast at the Malibu Pres Father-Daughter Dance.  We danced until we were exhausted.  She taught me the swing, the meringe (sp?), and another one I didn't know the name of.  We had so much fun. 

Before we left I made two promises to her:

1. I would try my best to do the dances she taught me.
2. I would not embarrass her (she made me promise this one!)

Well, after those two promises you can imagine my surprise when the DJ asked for "four fathers with great moves to come up to the stage" and Madison forced my hand up.  I said, "Madi!  I don't have great moves... this will be embarrassing!", but she wanted me up there.  Of course, the DJ chose me and 3 other hopeless looking dads to come up and get our groove on.

Our challenge?

The Chicken Dance.

Oh man, was it fun.  I clucked and got down as well as I could and came in a solid second-place.  Madi was so proud!  It was one of the best nights I can remember in a long time.  Truly magical.  You can see a few photos on my flickr page (see the photos on the right side of this page).

I love my little girl.  She is really a sweet, kind, intelligent, and funny person.  I'm very proud.

OKC Trip Slideshow

Here are some photos from our recent trip to OK to see relatives.

Photos are here.

2008 Holiday Card is posted...

Rather than mailing Holiday Cards this year, we posted a few pages on our website. If you have the time and desire, check out...

http://shortlinks.m5williams.info/2008XmasCard

Holiday Cookies by Madison

I told Madison I'd pay her $20 for some holiday cookies for my party this week. She got a bit carried away with the frosting, but you have to admire her spirit!

Daddy, don't let your babies grow up to be Code Heads...

As I mentioned last week, Matt and I have started learning C++. Here we are working on our "Hello World" program (which is the first program you write when learning a new language).

So far we're having a blast. I guess this is a good time for me to explain to Matt that he should spend this time learning how to calculate derivatives and costs of capital rather than structured loops and object inheritance?

The DPW's Festival of Lights ended its pedestrian-friendly period today. We took it in on opening weekend. It's a good time. If you haven't made your way to Griffith Park to see the lights...it's a fun LA experience.

I guess I spoke too quickly...

Doh!  Michelle is officially down with the nasty stomach virus.  She's been sick a half-dozen times since midnight.  Ouch!

Another reason to love ca. 81 deg on thanksgiving weekend.

Happy Birthday, Tater Tot

We had a wonderful time celebrating Tater's Sixth Birthday this week.  Chuck E Cheese's and home for presents.  His "friend party" is next week.

The Marching 100

I spent the weekend in Indiana for the Christian Business Faculty Association meeting and to see some old friends. The conference was good and time in Bloomington with CBC & BCW was even better. On Saturday we went to the IU/Wisconsin game. The first half was close, but it was COLD! The second half we didn't really watch, but chose to go visit some friends in the (warm) luxury box.
The game highlight was definitely the Marching 100.  Final score...55-20.

Apple Strudel - DELICIOUS!

We had a big "Root Beer & Apple Strudel Festival" today at church as a fundraiser for the youth group's trip to San Felipe.  Well, after 48-straight hours of Halloween parties, birthday parties, and sleepovers, Kids #1 & 2 were too pooped to go.  But I had already bought all the stuff to make the strudel (the recipe is here).  I did make one change though... I soaked the raisins in Bourbon and microwaved the bourbon & Raisins for about a minute to soak up all the juice.

Holy-moly!  It's so good.  The only problem?  As you can see from the recipe...500 calories a slice!

Choctoberfest

Photos from the Cruise

We went on a 3-day cruise to Ensenada last week. My parents came out and joined us. None of us had cruised before and we were a little unsure what to expect. It was WONDERFUL! We're already looking forward to our next cruise. We just can't decide between Alaska, Hawaii, or the Caribbean.

Here are a few photos of the trip...

The Obligatory Malibu Seafood Photo

The clams at Malibu seafood in prep for the cruise.

It's so beautiful out here in the mountains. But it sure is cold.

Our first surfing adventure...

My friend Samurai took us surfing today and got all three kids up on the board within 90 minutes! Here's a photo of Tater Tot on his first wave. Matt and Madi did equally as well.

Wrapping up the MotoTour

Mark and I made it home safe from our CA MotoTour.  Wow.  What a wonderful trip.  I seriously can't remember the last time I had so much fun.  In summary, we rode back roads up to Ojai, over the mountains to Bakersfield.  Across the South Central Valley up to Sequioa National Forest, through the forest and across the Central Valley to Monterey.  Then down the PCH from Monterey to Malibu.  950 miles in all.  Absolutely incredible.  Both our bikes handled flawlessly and we had such a wonderful time.  Mark created a neat slideshow here (beware... it's long).

Here are a few of my favorite things about the trip...

3 - The joys of being on the open road on a powerful bike for days at a time.  It's a great feeling just being out in the world with little traffic, comfortable cruising speed, and no interruptions.  I listened to "Guns, Germs, and Steel" by Jared Diamond, and "The Long Tail" by Chris Anderson, as well as a few great NPR podcasts (check out this interview from Fresh Air).

2 - The amazingly diverse scenery of Southern and Central California.  As you can see from the slideshow link above, CA is an amazing state.  From breathtaking Alpine Forests, to vast agricultural plateaus, rocky, sea otter filled coasts to barren deserts, we have it all within a few hundred miles of our house.  It was amazing how much we saw in 950 miles and 30 hours of riding.

3 - Quality time with the most faithful and steady friend of my life.  Those of you with close siblings understand this, and those without...I don't think I can explain it.  My entire life Mark has been my best friend, trusted advisor, and playmate.  I'm so grateful to have had this time with him.

Crossing the Central Valley

In front of the millions of fruit trees near Fresno.