Living the dream baby!

Tuesday, May 31, 2005

Memorial Day - Manresa Style



We spent Memorial Day at Manresa Beach, which is tucked away from all the weekend Barneys, 15 minutes south of Capitola down Highway 1. You won’t find a cleaner beach, and if you get there before noon on most days, parking is a short walk to the sand.

Sonya has mastered the Manresa experience. We’re out the door no later than 9:00 a.m., and sprawled out the sand by 9:45. We play in the sun for a few hours then high tail it back home before 3:00 p.m. Not a spec of traffic on either leg.


Ry Ry, Chick Magnet

Watching all the fools heading into Santa Cruz at 3:00 p.m. on a holiday is almost as entertaining as the beach itself. We saw bumper-to-bumper traffic from Highway 1 all the way to the summit in Highway 17. For those familiar with that route, we’re probably talking 15 miles of road.

Karsyn loves the beach, and as it turns out her little brother seems to be taking a liking to it as well. Karsyn’s routine consists of:

1) finding some new kid to play with
2) finding some random adult to explain all things beach related to
3) building sand castles
4) hunting for sand crabs
5) boogie boarding
6) hunting for more sand castles
7) throwing a tantrum when we tell her it’s time to go home


Shredder Girl

It was low tide when we got there, so the sand crab hunting was exceptional. There were mongo sized crabs all over the place. You didn’t even to dig. Just wait for a wave to come in and watch them go skittering across the sand as the wave rustled them up from their hiding place.

Ryan experience REALLY cold water for the first time in his life, and his initial reaction was what you might expect for a 1 year old who’s swallowed up by a 50 degree sea of water for the first time. Well, it wasn’t exactly a sea of water, but rather a puddle-filler that wrapped around his ankles. You would have thought it was a tidal wave by his reaction.

I’m guessing it was the temperature, because after I would swing his feet into each oncoming wave (think 8 inch swells here folks), he figured out that playing in the water is actually sorta fun. He’s not ready to take on 8 foot waves on a boogie board like his sister, but he figured out the whole wave thing.


Huntin' for Sand Crabs

My lone mistake of the day was allowing my five year old daughter to apply sunscreen on my back. Let’s just say that full coverage was not part of the equation. I have a nice burn down my left shoulder that looks roughly like New Jersey (as if anything could look softly like New Jersey).

Sonya got to try out her new wetsuit, so we now have two surfer girls in the family. She and Karsyn boarded for a good hour, while I Ryan and I checked out all the bikinis on the beach ;) All in all, a great way to kickoff summer.

Thursday, May 26, 2005

Happiest Homecoming on Earth



Sonya and I decided to take a mini vacation before the end of the school year, so we took Karsyn and Ryan down to Anaheim this past weekend to pay a special visit to the Magic Kingdom. Disneyland just kicked of their 50th Anniversary celebration on May 5th, dubbed the Happiest Homecoming on Earth. Walter Elias Disney opened up his dream theme park in an old orange grove just outside of Los Angeles on July 17th, 1955, and we decided to help celebrate the golden anniversary of the event. Festivities are scheduled to go on for the next 18 months.

This visit was Karsyn’s 5th trip to a Disney park (four trips to Disneyland and one to Disney World in Orlando), and the 1st for Ryan. For those that think that it’s too tough to take a small child to Disneyland, that’s nothing farther from the truth. Karsyn made her first trip when she was 19 months old. Ryan is only 13 months old and he had a blast.

We all had three-day park hopper tickets, which allowed us to jump back and forth between Disneyland and California Adventure. The majority of our time was spent at Disneyland, because they have more rides for the little ones there.


All of us & Pooh

Karsyn took a major leap on the thrill ride scale this trip. She’s tall enough to ride just about anything, and she didn’t miss out on much. She rode everything from Indiana Jones to the Tower of Terror (twice). She loves the Matterhorn, so she managed to squeeze in three runs on the world’s first steel roller coaster. She also loves the Big Thunder Mountain railroad and the Grizzly River Run ride.

We forget that she’s still only a five year-old kid, and some of the attractions can be a bit trying, but she was a trooper and humored her dad. She’s not a big fan of spooky stuff, but she was willing to tag along on my favorite rides, the Haunted House and the Pirates of the Caribbean.

We caught every parade and every show in both parks, including the Aladdin musical at California Adventure (a must see if you plan a trip there), and the Snow White musical near Toon Town.

Any attraction that was present on the original opening day back in 1955 had a commemorative gold vehicle. Dumbo, the Carousel, Mr Toad's Wild Ride, the Jungle Cruise, Peter Pan and the Mad Team Party are some of these originals.


We got to ride in the golden Dumbo

Our hotel was within walking distance of both parks, and they had a swimming pool which served as a great viewing area for the evening fireworks. The fireworks would go off right next to our hotel, and were close enough that you had to cover your ears.

Ryan was fantastic, even though we dragged him around all day and made him go on several attractions. The little guy is as rugged as they come, and his cheery personality makes traveling with him a real treat. You can’t help but smile when you’re around him, because he’s such a great kid.

He was very much a fan of all the characters that were roaming the park. He took a very keen liking to Mickey Mouse, Winnie the Pooh, Chip (the chipmunk), and Minnie Mouse. He would walk up to each and give them big hugs. Most kids his age are terrified of big fuzzy characters, by Ry got a kick out of all of them.


R is for Ry Ry!

Disneyland has always been a very special place for me. Sonya and I have come to love it as a place that we can share with our kids. It’s always been a very sentimental place for me. Some of my fondest childhood memories are linked to the place they call the Happiest Place on Earth, so I guess I return to try and relive some of those memories with my children. We make the 6 hour drive, because that’s the way we did it when I was a kid. I remember the excitement in the anticipation during that drive. It’s part of the whole experience. I chuckle every time I hear those all too traditional words, "Are we there yet?"

I dread the day that they no longer have any interest in making the trip. Disneyland will stop being cool someday, just like it was for me when I was 15 or 16. They'll be too cool to go to a kiddie place like Disneyland, but then they'll have kids of their own and the whole cycle will repeat itself. I hope they group up to be sentimental saps like me, so they can treat the next generation of Lee's.

Mosaic Magic

Finally, I wanted to mention this great undertaking that the folks at Disney unveiled this month. Over a year and a half ago, they got the idea of creating huge Disney character mosaics, which are made of photographs of their guests. They allowed visitors to submit some of their favorite photos of past trips to any of the Disney properties via email in the Winter of 2003. These photos were reduced and blended together to make the massive works of art.


The Alice in Wonderland Mosaic

I submitted three photos back in 2003, all of which were utilized in the project. The entire family got to see our pictures melded into these treasures. It just so happens that the Disney folks emailed the exact destinations of our photos on the eve before our last day at the park. I brought my laptop with me so I was able to access my email and get the exact locations of our photos. If you get a chance to visit the park, be sure to atop by the following mosaics and see if you can find our photos.

They are:

The Fantasmic Mosaic in New Orleans Square (Row 60, Column 78)

The Sleeping Beauty Mosaic on the back side of Sleeping Beauties Castle in the center f the park (Row 28, Column 8)

The Alice Wonderland Mosaic in the Mad Tea Party planter in Fantasyland (Row 4, Column 19)

These photos are also incorporated into the following mosaics (all near It’s a Small World):

- Mulan
- Beauty & the Beast
- Cinderella


Guest submitted photos create the mosaics

The mosaics are all very cool, and our family is a part of them. Very cool stuff.

Checkout our [2005 Disneyland Photo Album]

Saturday, May 21, 2005

Mini Vacation

We're off to LA for four days to take the kids to Disneyland. It's the park's 50th anniversary, so we're trying to get down there before all the schools get out. We'll driving down today, then will spend Sunday, Monday and part of Tuesday at Disneyland and California Adventure.

I'm really looking forward to seeing Ryan's reaction to the whole thing. We took Karsyn there when she was 18 months old, and she loved it! Hoping he has teh same reaction.

Not looking forward to the 9+ hour drive and having a one year-old tied down in a carseat for that long. Should be an interesting drive.

Look for photos of the trip. Here are pics from past trips:

[2002 Disneyland Trip]

[2003 Christmas trip to Disneyland]

Tuesday, May 10, 2005

One to Go


Scott & Christine

My friend Scott is getting married this Saturday. That’s a significant occasion in my life, because it just may be the last time I’ll have to participate in a wedding for a VERY long time. Scott is one of my oldest friends, but he decided to wait until he was almost old enough to collect social security before settling down. He found himself a good woman, who knows how to push his buttons.

I’ve known Scott since I was eleven. We were on the same swim team when we were kids and ended up going to high school together after I transferred to Independence way back when. I can name every car the guy has ever owned:

- Ford Cortina (red)
- Fiat X-19 (avocado green)
- Honda CRX (red)
- Acura Integra (white)
- Nissan Pathfinder (grey)
- Nissan Murano (which he doesn’t actually own…it’s his future wife’s…I haven’t told him about the “you don’t own squat anymore” part about being married).

With every car, there’s a story or two. His Cortina was stolen by one of his pot-head buddies that we went to school with, who ended up rolling the thing on the front lawn outside Aloha Roller Palace. He thought his X-19 was a chick magnet, whereas most women thought it was a chick’s car. His CRX had a license plate that read “IMONFYR”, in honor of Bruce Springsteen. The girls all thought it meant he had the clap.

His Integra doubled as a toilet on my 21st birthday, when HE puked in the back seat (his birthday is the day before mine, so his 21st birthday got to extend a day to help me celebrate). He tried to throw me and Sonya out of his Pathfinder on Hwy 80 after a ski trip, because he went nuts in bumper to bumper traffic. We told him no, so HE jumped out of the car!

I have yet to really experience anything with the Murano, because, well, it really doesn’t belong to him (did I mention that already?). I’m sure those stories are just around the corner.

While I’m sitting here thinking of some thread that binds my experiences with him, I seem to come up with something related to his cars or cars in general. We both like cars enough that we’ve traveled to Indianapolis together to see a car race. I’ve driven with him on so many ski trips there's no way to say how many mountain miles we've put in together (including a trip to Mammoth Mountain in June to go snow skiing). In high school, we “cruised” the El Camino in his CRX. My God, can you image two teenage guys cruising in a CRX. I never did understand why we never really met any girls that way.

I’ve driven more miles with the guy than you can imagine. Now he’s making me drive to Timbuktu to attend his wedding. So the binding glue in our relationship is the automobile. For god’s sake, have you seen how much a gallon of gas is going for these days? He better make this whole wedding thing work, because I’m not driving to outer Mongolia for a second marriage.

Bachelor Party Update

The boys got together last Saturday and took Scott to the Giants game in the afternoon, and then we spent the rest of the evening counseling the homeless on the streets of San Francisco. It was heartwarming to see a group of grown men put so much into extending compassion and charity to the city’s downtrodden.

Scott was particularly taken by a young woman who was so poor, she could hardly afford to keep herself clothed. His compassion came in the form of dollar bills, destined to get the poor woman back on her feet.

Tuxedo Update

I went to pick up my tuxedo for the wedding earlier this evening. It’s a black number (Scott couldn’t talk Christine into the powder blue jobs), with a lilac vest and tie. At least, I am told that it is “lilac”. It looks purple to me.

The tux is not flattering on me. I actually looked good in a tuxedo once. That time is not now. I'm hoping there are no papparazzi at the wedding.


Me & Ry at the last wedding I was in

Thursday, May 05, 2005

Look who's walking



Ryno took his first steps this week! Houston, we have a walker! Let the parades begin.

Actually, he can take nine or ten steps in succession before plopping on his butt. He looks like a little Frankenstein. No knee bend whatsoever. It all about the waddle.

He'll be running around in circles, driving us nuts before we know it. I can't wait :)


Run for your lives, it's RyRy-stein!

Tuesday, May 03, 2005

A new Emma photo



A photos share of my new niece Emma. Isn't that one of the most adorable pictures you've ever seen? She is one week old. I haven't decided if I'm going to call her "Emma-C-Hammer" or "M-ah" (as in "M" for Uncle Mike!). I need to pick something that will annoy my sister. She and Chris call Karsyn, "Kar-stone", which annoys Karsyn to the nth degree, so it's payback time.

Connor's middle name is Michael, so I wanted to call him C-Mike, just to let everyone know that he was named after me. I see now that M-ah was my sister's way of naming her daughter after me as well. Seems only fitting. I am a cool dude. These kids will go places with an association like that!

I'm posting this picture at 2:00am. I can't sleep either M-ah.

Monday, May 02, 2005

On to the next project


Two Peas in a Pod

My dad reached a monumental achievement on Friday, when he left work for the last time to start his retirement after 39 years and 8 months working for the same company. It’s really hard to imagine that anyone could work in the same physical location for that amount of time, but he did and like many of his other accomplishments, he did it well.

His company was called Litton Industries back in the day. It actually held that title for the majority of my life, later to be acquired by Grumman, which in turn sold it to L-3. Regardless of the name, it was still always “dad’s work”. It is a rarity in this day and age of mergers and failed ventures, especially here in the Silicon Valley. A business that has withstood the test of time and downsized military spending (a majority of business has always been defense contracting), it stands as a non-assuming white building in San Carlos that had two gates and a guard shack.

I have visited this place for as long as I can remember, but every time it seemed different. It was the place that my dad had invested so much of his time, so that he could invest in his family.

It’s been a staple in my life, so it’ll be hard to fathom not having a reason to go back and visit. Not that electron tubes (the product that Litton manufactured for as long as I can remember) are all that glamorous in the first place, but it was always cool to meet the people that my dad spent the majority of his day with. I always felt like a special person when I visited, because my dad loved to show off his kids to his co-workers.

"I think you've grown six inches since the last time you were here Michael", was something I had grown accustomed to hearing during my visits. I often catch myself telling my friends or co-workers kids that when I see them now. It made me feel like I was important to them, so perhaps I'm making one of those kids feel important too.

I think about how Karsyn reacts to visiting my work, and how excited she is to see me in the middle of the day at the place that I earn a living. I wonder if I had the same enthusiasm at five years old? I wonder if she’ll remember the pictures that I keep on my desk of her and her brother, much the same way that my dad had of me and my sister?

I remember this glass paper weight that I made in kindergarten, adorned with a goofy picture of me set in the glass. He used to keep it on his desk, and I would chuckle every time I visited and saw it there. I would ask myself why he wanted to keep that old thing. It’s funny how you figure out those kinds of dumb questions after you have kids of your own.

After almost 40 years, my dad has earned a little r&r, and I fully expect him to now invest a little time in his short game. He’s got to be tickled with the fact that he can get out of bed whenever he wants (his alarm clock has been set for 4:30am for 40 years), and has all the time in the world to visit the million or so golf courses on his list of places to see. So I guess, I’m having a harder time with his retirement than he is. Probably for the simple fact that something which has been a part of my life since the day I was born isn’t going to be there any more.

I got the family together for dinner on Saturday night to celebrate dad’s milestone at a Korean restaurant that he likes. We all sat around talking about the time he had spent at Litton, and when I asked why he didn’t just make it an even 40 years (39 years & 8 months sounds so incomplete), he simply replied that he had “qualified for social security.”


"Mooma", Karsyn and Dad


In reality, he qualified back in December, but he hung around for a few months because his boss was having health problems, and he didn’t want to leave him hanging while all that was going on. Even after 39 years, he exuded the same professionalism that he had been teaching to me since I was old enough to understand. That’s the kind of person my dad is. Whether I’m a model citizen in the business world or not, I can’t ever say that I didn’t have a great teacher.

Congratulations Dad! You are a role model second to none.