Birthdays (and silly songs)

As we celebrate our nation's birthday--an impressive 232 years since the signing of the Declaration of Independence--with the usual mix of summer parade and picnic fun (see photos above), we also will be celebrating tonight the one-week birthday anniversary of our new nephew/cousin: Nate. Congratulations again to my sister, Kari, and brother-in-law, Eric, and buon viaggio to them both as they embark on the amazing adventure of parenthood. How long before Nate and his cousins start singing this unforgettable diddy?

Thanks, Wikipedia! You can learn even more here and here. Funny this song is indeed, especially to the Captain Underpants crowd. But I have to confess I'm still partial to the only slightly more subtle stylings of Benny Bell:

Sorry for the digression; this started out as a sincerely joyful post. So let me at least end on a relatively high note: Happy Fourth of July everyone! And welcome to the world, Nate!!

The Year in Pictures: July 2007

Summer! We started the month with our annual visit to the Manhattan Beach Grand Prix bicycle races. I'm indefinitely "retired" from the road racing scene, so only the two boys represented the Morris family in competition. And both did themselves proud. Here is a rather serious looking Tony awaiting the start of his heat:


Just a few days later was another landmark of summer, the Westchester Fourth of July parade.


Then it was time to travel. First it was a few days up in the Sierra Nevada visiting Pappy and otherwise frolicking in the woods while avoiding the poison oak. (Plus there was the annual waiting for the garbage truck.)



Upon returning to Southern California, we then headed further south to North County San Diego, where we mixed in visits to Legoland and the Wild Animal Park with visits to local brewing landmarks Pizza Port in Carlsbad and Stone in Escondido.



And if that was not enough, we took off at the end of the month for our main vacation, a two-week camping trip through central California, up to San Jose and back. We took the coast route up north, first camping for a night in Ventura at McGrath State Beach, followed by a night above the crashing waves of the Big Sur coastline at an old favorite of mine, Kirk Creek. We were fortunate to be treated to ideal weather, and also to snag a perfect campsite where the boys were able to scooter to their hearts' delight.

The Year in Pictures: June 2007

OK. I guess I better finish this year in review at least before the end of January.

In most families, I suppose, the month of June is celebrated as the long-awaited end to the school year and the start of summer. While that's not completely untrue for us, it must be admitted that an even bigger reason we look forward to June is the annual open house hosted by our local garbage truck drivers at the West L.A. District yards of the Bureau of Sanitation. Garbage trucks are just the start, as all sorts of heavy equipment are on display and the burgers, hot dogs, soda, and chips are all free! (It makes the perennial increase in waste-collection fees a little more palatable. A little.)


In addition to the school year (including Tony's first acting performance), June also saw the culmination of the spring sports season (including the presentation of Everett's first trophy!), scouting, and guitar and ice skating lessons.


We also found time to squeeze in a family outing to the beach and some good quality time on the bikes.

The Year in Pictures: May 2007

The month of May began with a weekend camping trip to the Temecula Valley, for a rendezvous with my mom and Woody, Lisa and Jon, and a large and rowdy contingent of fellow homebrewers from throughout Southern California. The occasion was the annual SoCal Homebrewers Festival, and it was our first year in attendance. The weather was on the cold (and windy!) side, and the camping at Vail Lake resort was disappointing--neither appropriately rustic/picturesque nor especially luxurious. But the beer fest itself didn't disappoint. During Saturday's festival, I intentionally left the camera behind, so as not to lose or damage it in a drunken stupor, nor come home with any embarrassing photos. But I did at least get a couple of nice shots of the boys playing with their trucks around the campsite.

The rest of the month, at least photographically speaking, revolved around Tony's school and cub-scout activities. One weekend it was a trip to the tide pools at Abalone Cove on the Palos Verdes peninsula, where we were treated to a bright sunny day and lots of wildlife and other photogenic natural features, such as Sea Stars, Marbled Godwits, and ocean-sculpted Altimira Shale.

Later in May, Tony and his den officially earned their Tiger badges, and crossed the bridge toward a second-grade year as Wolf cubs. Never has a sense of pride shined more brightly across Tony's face, and it was a moment to reflect on what truly had been a very busy and productive 2006-07 school year.



Speaking of school, May was marked by the annual Ocean Charter's annual Spring Faire. This is a huge event for the school, both a "Waldorfy" celebration of the changing seasons and the major fund raiser of the year. The latter more or less consumed Audrey's spare time and energy during the preceding months, and it was nice for all of us to get that task complete (at least until next year!). But the celebration was also much enjoyed by all, beginning with a traditional Maypole dance by Tony's class and followed by a day of play. Combined with the regular routine of school/work and weekend t-ball and ice skating, May was a busy month indeed.

Strawberry Field Trip

The bounty awaits
Originally uploaded by petemorris.

Another week, more family fun, and more photos. Saturday was the usual busy spring fare, with T-ball and music class for Everett and ice skating for Tony--as well as the always popular tree-mulching party down in El Segundo. Then it was an afternoon of chores around the house, with Audrey especially working hard to get all the silent auction items for Tony's school entered into the computer catalog. Today offered something new, with a trip down the 405 to Irvine and the Tanaka strawberry farm. Organized through Tony's cub scout pack, the trip included a tractor-pulled tour through the Tanaka produce fields, with samples of peas, carrots, and other fruits and vegetables along the way. The highlight, of course, was a 15-minute free-for-all picking and eating all the field-fresh strawberries we wanted. Then, back at the start, both boys received packed containers of even more strawberries: quite the bounty. Since nothing goes with strawberries quite so well as beer, we concluded the day with an early dinner down the road at the Steelhead Brewing Company, which is across the street from UCI. The beer, quite frankly, was mediocre at best, but the pizzas were quite good and so was the boys' root beer. A good day all around, and we are eager to return this summer for the watermelon tour! As always, there are plenty more pictures at our Flickr site. And I just can't resist adding another action sequence below: