Easter Photo Share

Some photos from Easter to share...


Ryan on Easter morning


Nothing to do with Easter, I just like the photo.


Karsyn & Grandpa


Group Shot


Post Egg Hunt

Orioles Finally Play Ball

Karsyn played in her first tee-ball game on Saturday, spending time at three positions (they play three innings and rotate to a new spot each inning), and batted three times.

She started the game at first base, where she took several throws on infield plays. She spent the second inning in the outfield, then wrapped up the final inning playing in the pitcher's spot where she made three plays on ground balls.

I was recruited (as were most of the dads) to assist whenever the Orioles were out in the field on defense. I spent all three innings helping the outfielders with their defense (translation, I told them to stop spinning around in circles chasing butterflies the entire inning).


Karsyn takes a cut
I was pretty surprised with her hitting, considering the little practice time she's had leading up to the season. She's the spitting image of her mother in the batter's box. Pull hitter to third base on every at bat.

It'll be fun to see how well they prgress over the course of the season.

One of my additional duties is to mainain the [Orioles Team Blog].

I thought I'd spruce things up by also including [Photo Albums] of the games as well.

That's a Big Rabbit

The kids got a jump on Easter by visiting the Easter Bunny at the mall on Thursday. Ryan particularly liked the big bow tie. Looks like everyone had a good time. Who knew he was orange???

360 Ready to Bring You Closer to Friends & Family

I thought I would spend some time to tell everyone about a VERY COOL product Yahoo is set to launch on Tuesday, March 29th. The product is called “360”, which is Yahoo’s new way to allow people to stay connected with friends and family. Think blogs + photos + mobile + favorites lists + music + reviews. In a nutshell, this new product will allow you to see and feel what your friends and family are up to (as much as they want to share).

The product also includes controls which allow you to dictate who sees what. If you only want your family to see the things you’re sharing, then so be it. 360 gives you that power.

The launch on Tuesday is restricted to invite only, so if you’re a friend or family and you want to check out 360, be sure to shoot me an email. I’ll probably be sending out invitations anyway, but if you want to be one of the first to see it, let me know.

As is described on the 360 info page (which is public):

Share What Matters to You
Let people know what's interesting or important to you. Post photos. Start a blog. Share lists and recommendations, anything. Show who you are and what's in your life -- all your delights, dislikes, and playful passions.

Control who sees what
You'll have complete control over who sees what. After all, your relationships with different people vary. So we've provided options for you to control access to any and all parts of your page.

For more info, go to: [http://360.yahoo.com/reg/whatis.html]

Play Ball, Almost

The 2005 Orioles
A wet Saturday put a damper on the start of the 2005 Serra Tee-ball Little League Season. Karsyn and the rest of the Serra Orioles got to participate in their first opening ceremonies, but their game against the Giants was cancelled because of the rain.

The team did get to run out onto the field as all of the league's teams were introduced as part of the start of the season. All of the kids sat patiently (no, really) through an hour ceremony which included the dedication of Field 1 to a volunteer who had served 30 years in the league before recently passing away.

The Orioles also had individual and team pictures taken.

Checkout photos from the [day’s festivities].


Our little slugger

Erin Go Bragh!

Karsyn O'Lee wishes everyone a Happy St Patty's Day. Daddy wants a green beer...

Stanley Keg Champs!

I finally won a Stanley Keg playing for the Yahoo Hockey Team. We beat Team Toasters on Monday night with a resounding 5-2 shellacking. It was 5-0 with about 6 minutes to play and we let in a couple of softies. We play in the [Corporate League] at the Redwood City [Ice Oasis] on Monday nights.

We finished the season with a 10-5-1-1 record. The league has a club above the rink, and all league members get to celebrate the end of the season with a buffet and beers. It's some consolation for the absence of NHL hockey.

Ending the Ski Season on a Mountain High

It was a day to remember
We capped off the 2005 ski season with a day trip to Bear Valley last Saturday. Sonya, Karsyn and I were joined by Grandpa Karl for a quick jaunt up to the Sierra’s hidden gem. Grandma Marion agreed to take car of Ryno for the day (yes, an entire day…the woman is tougher than I give her credit for), so the four of us could get in one last day on the slopes.

The Bay Area had record breaking high temperatures all week (including mid 80’s for most of the bay region on Friday), so we decided that it was probably going to be one of the warmest ski days of the year. We were dead on with the weather prediction.

The sun gods blessed us with temps in the 70’s, plenty of great snow and views that would have made John Muir weep. It was the perfect ski day, hands down. It was amusing to hear that those same gods were not so generous with the rest of the Bay Area (60’s and overcast all day? Bummer!)

We dropped Ryan off in Redwood City at 5:00am and picked up Grandpa Karl before making the three hour dry up to Bear. No traffic and dry roads made the drive even more enjoyable. I got to show Karl the iTrip attachment I borrowed from a friend on the way up. We rocked out to Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra and The Platters.

We hit the slopes with a couple of warm up runs on the bunny slopes, since this was only Karsyn’s fourth time on ski and Karl hadn’t been on a pair of sticks in over ten years. Both re-acclimated themselves within minutes, so we caught the next lift up to the top of the mountain.

I guess I should have been a little more patient with the two of them, but they seemed to be comfortable with everything, so to the top of the world we went. The backside of Bear is where the majority of their intermediate runs are, so we headed in that direction. The next run proved to be the most trying of the day. The angles of the slopes got significantly more pronounced, and the morning ice had yet to soften up.


Checkout that view!
Karsyn recognized both conditions instantly and immediately started to talk her way into finding an alternate way back to the bunny slopes. After several falls, and multiple lessons in how to get back on her feet, we made it to the bottom.

Her first response once we reached the lift was that she, “didn’t want to do that again and can we go back to the easy lift in the front?.”

“Sure,” I said. “We’ll head back once we get to the top of the mountain.”

We lined ourselves up to jump on the next lift back up, but the chairs were set a little higher than Karsyn’s fanny. The chair smacked in the back, dragging her up the hill. Thankfully I had one glove off, so I was able to grab her jacket and pull her up on the lift. Needless to say, we practiced the “hop up” chair mount method the rest of the day.

Once we got back to the top, Sonya and I told her to follow us so we could head back to the front of the lodge, while skiing straight for the run we had just labored to finish. You have to face your fears if you’re going to conquer them. Karsyn didn’t realize it was the same run until we were half way down, but she was tearing up the hill, so it was only a mild objection!

We made it all the way to the bottom without incident, which set the tone for the rest of the day. Karsyn didn’t have an issue with any other runs the rest of the day, and her ability to maneuver on the mountain progressed with each passing run. [Checkout the video] I shot while chasing her down one run.

Turns out Grandpa Karl is also a decent skier. Pretty good considering he wanted to bring a set of skis that may have pre-dated the mountain itself. He followed along without a complaint and never held us up. Considering my patience (or lack thereof), he’s welcome to ski with me anytime.


Karsyn the Shredder & Daddy-O
The only event we would encounter the rest of the day was when Karsyn got a little too cocky and decided to point her skis down hill and see how fast she could go. I was prepping my camera for a picture so I had no opportunity to stop her. She ended that run with a pileup at the bottom of the run. All giggles I might add.

We wrapped up the day with one last run after Grandpa decided to take his rental equipment back to the lodge. Sonya and I saw a black diamond (advanced) run that we thought she could handle, but chose to let Karsyn ski it without telling her is was an advanced run. She attacked it like an old pro, but her reaction after learning that it was a black diamond run was worth its weight in gold. She was grinning from ear to ear.

Thinking back now, it may have been one of my favorite days on a mountain ever. I can’t wait for Ryno to be old enough to join us.

[Checkout the photos I took]. Be sure to checkout the sunset shots I took while driving back at the end of the day.

Where are the comments?

Did you know that you can leave comments on this blog? See the "comments" link at the bottom of each post? Click on it and start leaving comments for crying out loud. You can start by commenting on this photo that I took of Ryan. The kid is crawling all over the place!

Batter Up

Batter Up!
Sunshine, the smell of fresh cut grass and the crack of the bat means only one thing….baseball season! This year we’ll have another member of the family lacing up their cleats and tipping a cap on the ball field, when Karsyn kicks off tee ball for the Orioles in Sunnyvale’s Serra Little League.

We went out and bought her a new glove, an aluminum bat, a batting helmet, some baseballs, whiffle balls and a tee. For those not familiar with tee ball, a softer version of a baseball is placed on a “batting tee” (or a pedestal if you) which allows the ball to sit at waist level for the kids.


Tell it Goodbye!
Each player is allowed to hit the ball of the tee, rather than face pitching. This is entry level for little league, so the goal is to teach the kids the game and to have them work on basic skills, like catching a ball in a glove, basic hitting technique, base running and the defensive positions.

Karsyn had her first practice this past Saturday at her school. The kids got to hit off a the tee for the first time, and they were introduced to the four bases on a baseball diamond. From the looks of their first practice, this should be a pretty entertaining season. These are 10 five year-olds mind you (8 of which are boys), so the attention spans of the players can be calculated by multiplying the average age of the players by the number of kids on the team (in seconds).

Opening Ceremonies for the 2005 Season will take place at Serra Park in Sunnyvale on Saturday, March 19th, starting at 9:00 am. Karsyn’s first game takes place later that morning at the same park (10:30)

Her complete schedule looks like:

3/19 – 10:30 a.m. vs. Giants
3/26 – 11:30 a.m. vs. Red Sox
4/2 – 2:00 p.m. vs. Athletics
4/9 – 9:00 a.m. vs. Royals
4/30 – 2:00 p.m. vs. Cardinals
5/7 – 9:00 a.m. vs. Giants
5/14 – 11:30 a.m. vs. Red Sox
5/21 – 2:00 p.m. vs. Athletics
6/2 – 5:30 p.m. vs. Royals (Thursday night)
6/4 – 2:00 p.m. vs. Cardinals

ALL GAMES AT SERRA PARK – POND FIELD

Happy 10th!

Yahoo Celebrates 10 Years
Yahoo! celebrates its 10th birthday on Wednesday. Pretty incredible evolution considering the dot-com bust and all the trials and tribulations that the company has been through. I can't think of any other place that I'd rather be working frankly. It's hard to believe that this company is already 10 years old. I remember talking to Jerry Yang at an internet trade show back in 95 at the San Jose Convention Center. He was there promoting his soon to be formed company. He had a piece of paper with the words "Yahoo" scribbled on it, hanging from the meager table that he used to pitch his wares. Ah had I only asked him for a job 7 years sooner than I did.


Sugar Ray performs
Anniversary Update
Yahoo threw a great party on Wednesday to celebrate the company's 10th anniversary. A really cool video was shown recapping the evolution of Yahoo, complete with lot's of photos from teh early years. Be sure to checkout the Yahoo Netrospective, a graphical view of the internet and it's evolution over the past 10 years.

Several Yahoo users gave their perspectives on the products that we provide our customers. It was really cool to hear their views on the things that work so hard to present to the world. Mark McGrath and his band Sugar Ray played after all the formal festivities. It was yet another hoedown of opulence...


Jay, Drew and Randy

[Click here] for more photos of the event