Baseball Trip

We headed out to Arlington yesterday with Silas and Kathryn to see a Red Sox/Rangers game. Aidan is still pretty obsessed with Johnny Damon (with a certain amount of encouragement from me, no doubt), and Aidan was really looking forward to seeing Johnny play some ball.

The first thing out of Aidan's mouth after we were through the turnstiles was, "Where's Johnny?" Then Aidan started to notice all of the Bs on everyone's hat ... "Hey! He has a B on his hat! Hey, he has a B on his hat, too! Hey ... wait a minute ... he has a T on his hat!"

As luck had it, Johnny had a pretty good game, helping the Sox win by hitting a home run (turned out to be his first of the year), an RBI double, and a bases-loaded single in what was an exciting game (at least from our perspective).

We had very good seats (section 19, row 26 ... for those not familiar with the Texas Rangers's home stadium, that's 26 rows behind the visiting team's dug out). There were a ton of foul balls hit in our direction, and if we weren't just a couple of rows under the deck above us, they would have landed directly on us. Since our section was behind the visitor's dugout, there were plenty of other Red Sox fans to share the joy. There were plenty of "Let's Go Red Sox" chants to the point that a Rangers fan in the area said to his friend, "We're at a home game, right?"

Aidan got lots of compliments, and was eventually picking up on the "Let's Go Red Sox" — he designated himself as the chanter and I had to do the hand claps. After Johnny hit his home run, Aidan was comfortable enough with everyone that he started to give out random high-fives. Pretty cool.

At the end of the game, a Red Sox fan (about my age) was walking up the stairs and passed us, saying to Aidan, "Good game, little guy." Aidan replied, completely unprompted, "No, Johnny had a good game!"

Camping: Inks Lake

Another birthday, another camping trip. This is the third consecutive year that we've headed out to Inks Lake State Park for my birthday. This time we headed out with quite the troop, as the Sanders family came with us (Robin, Allen, and their kids Reid, Morgan, and Avery) along with the Triplet's grandmother. Our mutual friend Johnny was able to join us as well, while on a short visit from Colorado.

There had been a threat of rain in the forecast leading up to the weekend, but upon our arrival (late Friday afternoon), all was sunny and clear. And it was getting a little hot (highs near 80). Friday night got a little cold (based on records I could find, it got into the upper-40s), but it never did rain. There was moisture in the air, to be sure (we were able to see a gigantic halo around the moon — Johnny said that it was only the second time that he's ever been able to see one).

After breakfast the next morning, we headed out to the lake, where we rented a few canoes. We were able to see a bunch of turtles sunning themselves on rocks, some fish, and we made it all the way over to Devil's Waterhole were we saw some kids jumping off the cliffs into the water!

We headed back to our site, ate some lunch, and I took Aidan out for a ride on the back of the mountain bike. We've been watching a lot of Bambi lately, and all Aidan wanted to do on our bike ride was "find Bambi and his friends."

After our return, and after all of our activity, I was looking for a nap. As I was drifting off, I heard what I thought was some thunder. I eventually got up, only to find that everyone was setting up a little birthday party for me, complete with cake. The kids, of course, were quite enthusiastic.

Instead of joining in on the fun, however, I headed off on my bike to the ranger's station to see if I could learn anything about the thunder (and the quickly forming ominous clouds that were not very far off).

After what seemed an eternity waiting my turn (despite the incoming storm, there was about a 15 minute wait in the lobby as several families checked in to their sites), I eventually learned the nature of the storm: It was large, covering several counties, but consisted of mostly mild rain (showing green on the doppler radar). It was also moving very quickly. There was a bit of intense rain (red on the radar) that possibly could have been interpreted as heading our way. But I didn't think that it would. Even if it did, I felt that it would pass over quickly enough so that it wouldn't be an issue.

So, I rode back to the camp site as fast as I could. The plan was to pack most things up (except the tents) and drive over to the camp store, where we were canoeing earlier. They have a nice porch on the back of the store that overlooks the lake. I figured we'd be pretty safe from the storm there and also have a nice view of the rain coming down.

Thus, we moved the birthday party to the back porch of the store. Everyone sang happy birthday and enjoyed some cake while the rain fell around us. This marks three-out-of-four trips to Inks Lake that have been marked with rain. Go figure....

The storm never really got too intense and did pass over in about two hours. Johnny and I were perched on the porch fence staring out at the lake; Reid and Aidan were trying to mimic us, and I think were also enjoying the rain. And Johnny and I were able to see one thing that neither of us had seen before: fish jumping out of the water. Well, I've seen fish jump out of water before, but not like this. I've always heard that there's good fishing when it's raining, but this was by far the best evidence that I've ever seen to support that theory. The seagulls must have known about this too, as they were out in full force, soaring up into the sky, then diving down at seemingly neckbreaking speeds as they plunged into the water. It was quite a site.

However, when we finally returned to our site, we learned that the Sanders' tent had leaked. But the fire was still going (after two hours of steady rain, the fire was not only still going, but the wood in the fire ring as well as the surrounding ground didn't even look wet!).

That night, the sky was crystal clear and felt a little colder than the previous night (although records show that it was still in the upper-40s).

On Sunday, after packing up our site, I took all four kids on a mini-tour of the camping facilities on the back of the bike. Reid went first and was talking to me the whole time. He was telling me about how we went canoeing the day before and saw some men fall off the cliff (Reid's words, not mine). Avery was next and was the antithesis of Reid. She didn't say a word, although I did her her giggle a few times as we rode down some of the hills. Morgan was just concerned about finding hills (not sure if she wanted me to go up them or down, she just kept saying, "Let's find some hills"). And Aidan, as he usually does, almost fell asleep.

Upon our return home on Sunday night, we learned that the storm on Saturday was pretty severe in some areas, specifically at our house. We didn't suffer any damage, but there was hail and damaging winds reported in the area. Ultimately, it was probably a good idea to stay at the campsite and not break camp and head home, as we would have likely been driving into the more severe conditions.

Dragon Party

Home again, home again.

We're finally home and I've uploaded all of our pictures from the trip to Connecticut. There are also some additional family photos taken by Grandma Jackie, which has some very good Aidan-as-dragon pictures, as well as some good wedding images.

Yesterday was our last day in Connecticut and we were able to spend most of the day with my mom. As it was also Halloween, we tried to do some Halloween-like activities in the evening, but I'll get to that in a moment.

Aidan was up very late at the wedding and ultimately didn't get too much sleep. We were hoping that he'd be able to nap on the drive up to my mom's house (about an hour away from Danbury), but he didn't fall asleep until we were about 15 minutes away. We decided to go to a cider mill to stall for time, but that ultimately woke him up after only a very short time. Thus, he didn't get much of a nap.

It turned out to be a beautiful day and Aidan needed to get some exercise after being forced to sit for long periods of time travelling and doing "adult" things. So, we spent most of our time out at a park near my mom's house and got to see Aidan roll down a hill and blow dandelion seeds.

At this point, we had taken so many pictures of the wedding and at the park that we were running out of space on our digital camera and had little (or no) space for the rest of our trip. However, Renee was able to delete a few bad pictures and made room for some Halloween pictures.

Speaking of Halloween, we had decided early on that we were going to attend a function at my mom's church. They were having a a Renaissance-themed Halloween party, and Aidan's dragon costume was perfect for the occassion. Once we told Aidan about the event, he kept wanting to go to the "Dragon Party."

But Aidan was still a little out of sorts from lack of sleep, and in all the excitment of heading out to the Dragon Party, we forgot to take the camera. Figures, right?

The event at the church was very cool. There were lots of knights, princes, kings and princesses, a little magic show, balloons and all sorts of other things.

All-in-all, the trip was incredibly fun, somewhat hectic, and absolutely wonderful. Now for a few nights of going to bed early!

Katie, Brian & the Ring Bearer

Our lessons learned from the rehersal included steps to make sure that Aidan got some sleep before the wedding. Unfortunately, since we were up so late the night before at the rehersal, we slept in. That left us about three or four hours of awake-time before we had to put him back down for a nap. Ugh.

After breakfast we went for a little walk in the back of the hotel and eventually stumbled upon a sign that said "River Trail." We thought it would probably be a good idea to try and tire the little guy out, so we started out down the trail. It turns out that the "river trail" is just that: A trail on a river. There's no walking, only boating. A canoe would be good. Boots, less so.

So we tried our best to run Aidan around in the parking lot, then headed out to Stew Leonard's again for their little petting zoo. Then we drove around Danbury again, but Aidan never did fall asleep.

Time was running out and I had to meet with the other groomsmen for some pictures and pre-wedding preparations, so we headed back to the hotel.

Renee was able to get Aidan to sleep before the wedding (although she had to be very quite while getting herself ready) and, in the end, Aidan was in a good mood for the wedding. But that was pretty stressful, trying to get a two-year-old down to sleep and awake all before 1 p.m.

Both Aidan and I were in the wedding (he, if you don't remember, was the ring bearer). As I was ushering people to their seats in the church, Renee was playing with Aidan in the main entrance. When the wedding was about to begin, Aidan then graciously escorted his mom to her seat and then the two of us headed back to the church entrance.

And we waited. And waited. Still no bride. After about twenty minutes (limo trouble) the bride finally did show. Aidan did very well with the wait, but almost went down the aisle a couple times, thinking it was "time." And I was beginning to get a little apprehensive about walking down with Aidan: Would he be able to make it? Would he see his mother in her seat and bolt? Would he need me to carry him?

None of my fears came to pass. Aidan seems to be the type of person who, once assigned a task, feels the need to finish it. So he took his pillow and walked down the aisle like it was the most important thing in the world. I couldn't have been more proud. In fact, I was probably making all sorts of facial contortions as I choked back tears and smiles. It was also hard to walk beside him, because I wanted to jump out in front and watch. This probably was the proudest moment as my time as a father.

My Aunty Evvy, mother of the groom, said it was about the only time that she was moved to tears during the wedding.

After walking down the aisle Aidan stayed with me for a little bit in our assigned seat, but soon went a few rows back to watch the rest of the ceremony with his mother.

Of course, the main attractions at a wedding are the bride and groom (usually in that order), but Aidan did come in a close third, much to Katie and Brian's delight.

Aidan was his usual self at the reception: All he wanted to do was dance, dance, dance. I'm not sure if there was anyone who danced more than Aidan. Everyone loved seeing him on the dance floor. Renee and I would try and eat a little something, but Aidan would always be right at our side, giving us time for maybe two or three sips of water before dragging us back out to dance.

He was dancing by himself sometimes, but he mostly liked to dance with other people, which was a first for Aidan. He particularly enjoyed the band, as he would sometimes stop and just stare at them in amazement. Then he would just boogie on over to another side of the floor and go at it.

So, another late night for Aidan. He partied so hard, it was the first time that Renee or I had ever seen him just fall asleep from exhaustion. Hopefully, he'll still be able to keep it together for just a couple more days before we head back to Austin, Texas....

Lessons Learned With No Nap

Ooops. We had to drop the rental car off yesterday in order to replace the flat tire (I thought they would just replace the donut-tire with a good tire, but they replaced the entire car). That took a little longer than expected (that and I had to get some sinus medication as I seemed to have delevoped a sinus infection of almost debilitating status).

But we also had to try on our tuxes to ensure we didn't need any alterations. Luckily, Dad-Dadoo and Grandma Jackie were able to watch Aidan for us while we replaced the rental car. Then the five of us headed out to the tuxedo place, but just as we arrived Aidan fell asleep.

Instead of letting him sleep, we woke him up. This was our first mistake. Thinking that the process of trying on the tuxes would be quick and easy, thus allowing us to head out and do some sight-seeing of the wonderfully autumnal environment while letting him sleep as we drove through the country side, we woke Aidan and brought him inside.

Aidan was grumpy and the process was not quick and easy. He never ended up trying on his tux at the store. My tux needed alterations, but this was done in a matter of minutes. We thought many some food would help Aidan's mood, so we tried to eat some lunch. However, at this point Aidan was hungry and tired — not a good combo.

The early afternoon was a mess and it required an Aidan-nap to get better, but he was too tired and hungry to willingly sleep. And we had the Rehersal coming up in a few hours, which requires Aidan's participation.

To help encourage the nap, Renee and I ended up driving around Danbury; Aidan eventually fell asleep in the car. So we ended up driving around to keep him asleep.

While Aidan was sleeping, we went shopping for some Red Sox World Series stuff and in the process, I got an unintended fringe benefit. I would never have had this experience with purchasing some Red Sox stuff in Texas.

We went to Bob's Stores and they had all of their Red Sox merchendice right near the front door. But I was looking for something for Aidan and didn't see anything his size. So I went to one of the cashiers and asked: "Is this all of your Red Sox stuff?"

She looked at me and sarcastically said: "No. We're all out."

"Oh," I said. "I was looking for something for my little boy. Do you carry anything for toddlers?"

"Um ... not that he needs it or anything, but no, we don't carry anything for toddlers. All of our stuff is out front there."

"Okay. Thanks," I replied and walked back to their display. As I left, I overheard her say to a co-worker: "Why do they always have to ask me?" Ha! She was a Yankee fan. Small pleasures, eh?

We headed back to the hotel and woke him up after a relatively short nap and just a few minutes before we had to go to the church for the rehersal.

Aidan was a little difficult immeadiately following his nap, but after we arrived at the church he was his usual sunny self. He was a darling at the church and was remakably well behaved during the dinner, too, even though we were up way past his usual bed time.

At least we learned a valuable lesson: Make sure Aidan gets a nap in before the wedding....

Lance & Los Lonely Boys

Last night, the company Renee works for sponsored an event celebrating their 25th year in Austin, Texas. Lance Armstrong, who was sponsored by the company during last year's cycling season, was the main speaker for the event.

Renee and I decided that it would be a fun way to kick off our vacation to Connecticut, despite the threat of thunderstorms in the forecast. So, we headed out and through some light sprinkles we got a chance to hear Lance talk — mostly about his last year of racing and the Tour de France. In addition, we got to hear Los Lonely Boys during some heavier rains.

After a short night of fun (and anxiety, as the Red Sox were also playing in the World Series at the same time), we headed out on Thursday morning for Katie and Brian's wedding in Connecticut. The first leg of our trip was from Austin to Dallas; then it was off to Hartford.

As we were landing in Dallas, we learned that Los Lonely Boys were on our plane, just a few rows behind us. Kinda fun.

Anyway, we continued on our way and made it up to Connecticut without incident. We rented a car and headed down to Danbury to get situated in our hotel and visit with Renee's Uncle Charlie and Aunt Carolyn.

To get ready for our visit, we dressed Aidan up in his dragon costume and had him ring the bell. Everyone thought it was a laugh-riot as Aidan was shy and yet excited about being in his costume.

We headed out to dinner at Stew Leonard's, which has some pretty good pizza (good by Texas standards at least), but as we headed out, Uncle Charlie noticed that our rental car had a flat. Nothing like having to change a flat tire while on vacation (I can't remember the last time that I've had to change a tire).

Anyway, Uncle Charlie was very helpful with fixing the flat and our visit with Renee's aunt and uncle was a lot of fun. Aidan seemed to really enjoy both of them as he was running around and tickling (and getting tickled). He even got a chance to ride a red tricycle around in the house (what little kid wouldn't love to do that?) and the adults got a chance to catch up with each other for the first time in nearly four years.

Next on our travel agenda: it's time to get ready for the first portion of the wedding's festivities: The rehersal.

San Antonio Boogie

We made a little road trip down to San Antonio for the weekend to attend a wedding for one of Renee's co-workers (congratulations to Denise and Phillip!). It was a very fun time for us, but the high point of the entertainment (at least for us) was watching Aidan on the dance floor. The kid loves to boogie.

Aidan was all dressed up in his Sunday best, complete with tie and what he likes to call his "mowing shoes." (I was mowing the lawn one weekend and usually change my shoes before I start, which have been dubbed my "mowing shoes" by Aidan. A few weekends ago, after I had mowed the lawn, we went out to get some clothes for Aidan for the wedding. We bought him some new shoes, which Aidan was excited about, mostly because he thought that they were his special "mowing shoes.")

The reception started out with Aidan just running in circles on the dance floor, since the bride and groom hadn't yet danced their first dance and there wasn't too much "real" dancing going on just yet. Once the music starting going, Aidan was all wound up and ready to go. At one point, the photographer came up to me and asked if it was okay to steal some of Aidan's dance moves....

Florida Trip: Days 9, 10 & 11

We're back. We drove back in two days and Renee's starting to show signs of wear, although I think it has more to do with first signs of the pregnancy than too much time in the car. Most prevelant has been increased tiredness and a sore back; pretty much the same symptoms as last time.

On our last day in Florida, we got a chance to get out to the beach during sun set. It was very cool. The weather was beautiful and Aidan was having a blast running in and out of the water (it was low tide).

Aidan had a lot of fun during the drives. We listened to a lot of Wiggles songs; Aidan's favorite at the moment is "Hot Potato" and he'll start signing it spontaneously sometimes along with the "hot potato" movements (similar in style to when one plays the "one potato, two potato" game). Very funny.

The rest of our vacation pictures have been posted, so feel free to check them out.

Saturday's drive: Siesta Key to Ocean Springs, Mississippi (636 miles)
Sunday's drive: Ocean Springs to Austin (609 miles)

Grand Total: 2471 miles

Florida Trip: Day 8

Today is the last full day for Sandra, Eric and Krissy; they will be heading out tomorrow morning. Aidan calls Sandra "Aunty" and, of course, calls Eric, "Eric." But they are always together, and so when we refer to them, we say "Aunty and Eric." However, Aidan sort of drops the "and" and refers to them as "Aunty Eric," almost as though they are one person...

But tonight, "Aunty Eric" wanted to take everyone out to dinner for one last hurrah. They brought us to Selva Grill, which was absolutely wonderful. If you are every in Siesta Key, I highly recommend finding this place....

Florida Trip: Days 5, 6 & 7

The last few days have been lots of fun, basically involving nothing other than sitting on the beach or at the pool. It doesn't get much better than that.

The only thing other than that worth of note is that Aidan has taken to singing songs a lot lately. Any old phrase, such as "I want to eat a mango, Mommy," is turned into a song by simply adding a rhythm to it and then either screaming the last word (which requires one to raise ones eyes and chin to the sky) or saying the last word with as low of a tone as possible (which then requires one to lower ones eyes and chin).

But today, today was a new adventure for us. We made the quick drive (57 miles) up to St. Petersburg to do some shopping and see some sites. Our first stop was to The Pier, which apparently is a pretty popular tourist attraction. We then headed out to Great Explorations, a place my sister and I went to about 8 years ago. It is a children's museum, but they call themselves a "hands-on" museum, which is probably more accurate anyway. We all went and had a great time (time went by so quickly we didn't realized that they were about to close the place).

To finish the day off right, we went to see a baseball game: Red Sox versus the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. We had great seats (section 141; left field, three rows from the fence) and got to see a bunch of players up close. While we were waiting for the game to start, one of the ushers came over to Aidan (who was sitting on my lap) and presented him with an official Major League baseball. It must have been used during batting practice, because is had a little blemish on one side. Aidan was somewhat interested, but I was thrilled for him. At the end of the game (which, by the way, the Red Sox won), I tried to get the ball autographed for Aidan, but to no avail.

During the game, Papa taught Aidan how to call players "out" and "safe."

Florida Trip: Day 4

Sandra, Eric and Krissy all arrived today. After getting them situated, we all spent most of the day at the beach. It was exhausting, but fun. We played paddle ball and chased each other in the water. When the tide went out, Aidan liked to have someone write names and the alphabet in the sand.

The game with the alphabet was very fun. First, you would scratch out the alphabet as Aidan did his best to sing it to you (he does very well, missing only a few letters). Then, you ask him to find a letter based off of a word he knows, such as "where's the letter for daddy?" The alphabet, scatched in the sand, is probably 20 feet long, so Aidan has to run back and forth looking for the letters. It was really fun.

Later, we all went out to Turtle's for dinner and then headed out to "downtown" Siesta Key, which is really too small to be referred to as a downtown. Anyway, we visited the public beach, which was pretty cool (the sand at these beaches are all pretty wonderful — feels liks you're walking on baking flour — but these public beaches seemed nicer than the one we were on (Renee thinks it's because they comb the public beach).

There was a drum circle going on this night and we all got to see a really big python (someone from an animal sanctuary brought it). But Aidan wasn't really all that interested. All he wanted to do was run.

It started like this: Aidan would take my hand and Aunt Sandra's hand, then he'd tell us to run. So we ran with Aidan doing his best to keep up with us. I never got a chance to see what it really looked like (he was always running with me), but I bet it looked a lot like he was running like a gazelle. His feet barely touched the ground, but he was churning his legs as fast as he could as though he was running. We had a blast doing it, and lots of people commented on how fast a runner Aidan was.

Then, we headed out to Olga's Ice Cream (I think it was Olga's). It was quite a fun day...

Florida Trip: Day 3

Today's drive was an easy trip to our destination: Siesta Key. We arrived around 2:15 p.m. We unpacked as quickly as we could and ran off to the beach, which is about 100 yards from our 2-bedroom beach house. We will be sharing accomodations with Renee's dad and step-mom, who should be arriving later tonight. Renee's friend Krissy will also be rooming with us, but she will be arriving tomorrow morning; Renee's sister and her boyfriend will also be arriving tomorrow (same flight as Krissy), but will be staying in their own room.

The place we're staying at (Sara Sea Inn) is really nice. It looks like a tropical oasis. Actually, I guess it is, as it's in Florida and all...

Today's drive: Tallahassee to Siesta Key (340 miles)
Total miles: 1226

Florida Trip: Day 1 & 2

We are off to Florida to send off Renee's sabbitical in the proper way. We plan on spending all week at Siesta Key, just outside of Sarasota. As is our usual method, we are driving there and decided to leave last night after we got home from work. Last night's drive was pretty uneventful and relatively short (the main motivation for leaving last night was to make sure that we got past Houston and didn't get stuck in rush-hour traffic).

There was a terrific lightning storm as we drove through, with some lightning strikes looking like they hit the ground not too far from us. One did a loop directly above the road in front of us and another one was a deep red and looked like a tree trunk as it went straight down from the sky to the ground. It was all very incredible. But driving through it was fairly easy.

We stopped for the night in Beaumont and were back on the road this morning by about 9:00 a.m. No big adventures on today's drive; we stopped in Tallahassee, Florida.

As an aside, Aidan has taken to a new, strange habbit: He likes to take his nap in the car only after he has been completely covered with his blanket — head and all. He insists on it and won't fall asleep until this happens. It's terribly cute.

Thursday nights drive: Austin to Beaumont (256 miles)
Today's drive: Bueamont to Tallahassee (630 miles)
Total miles: 886

Back Home

Aidan and Renee are back home after a 10-day visit to New Jersey. It was a very late night and Aidan was very excited to be back home, so it was very late before he actually went to bed (probably around 12:30, maybe even 1: a.m.).

I met them at the airport and when Aidan saw me he glanced down at the ground in his regular shy kind of way, walked over to me and then put his arms out (as in "pick me up") and then put his head on my shoulder. Heartbreaking stuff.

He then went on to tell me about the "big airplane" and something about his seat. (I didn't really understand that part. Renee took Aidan's car seat with them, which he obviously sat in. Maybe that's all he was trying to say?)

Anyway, they are all safely home, and I'm couldn't be happier.

[click to see pictures from the trip]

Trip to NJ; Site Redesign

Renee and Aidan have arrived safely in New Jersey and will be spending the next week or so visiting the family back east. Renee has the camera with her, so hopefully we'll have some pictures to share when they get back.

I have tons of things planned for myself while they are away. The things on my list that you may notice (when complete) include finishing archiving all the old entries from the old site into this new format and I'm also working on a brand new look-and-feel for the site as well....

Thus, there may not be many new entries going up soon. However, if you're looking for something to read, there will be plenty of entries from the last year or so for you to read, including some never before read entries (some of them only kept on paper journals up to this point)...

And, as I mentioned, hopefully by next weekend there will be a brand new look to the Web site (and I'll clean up all the old broken links and make everything look "cohesive").

Until then... you'll just have to endure lame entries like this one.

Camping Trip: Kerrville

We went camping in Kerrville, TX over the weekend with Kathryn (aka Kaki) and Silas (aka Si-Si), two of Aidan's best buds (Renee and I like 'em just fine, too). And we brought the new digital camera with us! We got a lot of great images, which have been uploaded to the Web site... by the way, I still need to reorganize the Web gallery. So I won't link to the gallery itself. Instead, you will get a link directly to the camping images.

You would have had more wonderful pictures to view had I not been a total idiot: We went on our first hiking expidition, and I took the camera along with me despite impending rain (we had rain each of the three days were were there). I took some pretty nice shots and once we got back to the camp site, I reviewed them via the preview feature. Curious about what other features the camera had, I thumbed through the different menus until I reached an interface that said "format."

"Huh," I thought to myself. "I wonder what different image formats I can save use." So, I clicked on it.

"Reformating Disk ..." was the answer. I had just inadvertently erased all of the images in the camera.

Well, at least I did it on my first day with the new camera, and I really only lost 20 or so pictures....

As far as camping goes, it was pretty fun. It rained a little (as I mentioned already), which caused us to break camp a little early on Sunday (actually, we broke down camp early and fast; we ate a leisurely breakfast, cleaned up a bit, walked around the camp grounds with the two kids and then packed up the cars in a hurry as the rain came down.... we were on the road and on the way home by 8:30 a.m. By then it had felt like noon. Oh yeah, and the rain stopped for good (and it turned out to be a beautiful day).

Despite the rain, camping was still fun. And despite the fun, I don't think that I would go back to Kerrville to go camping. It's kind of like camping in the middle of town. Survival skills here are of the drive-five-minutes-to-the-hospital variety. And if things get really rough, order pizza. They'll probably deliver it for you, too.

Camping: Garner State Park

We all went camping this past weekend with Aidan's friend Silas and his mom Kathryn. We went to Garner State Park, which is about three hours Southwest of Austin. It sits right at the base of the Texas Hill Country, which is very pretty, with lots of hills and valleys. Garner State Park itself has large expanses of flat land right next to large shear cliffs with the Frio River running along the edge of the park.

The weather was beautiful, if a little too warm (we should have packed some swimsuits to swim in the river). Aidan and Silas had a blast throwing rocks in the river (and so did Matthew — is this a "boy" thing? Renee and Kathryn both watch as the boys threw). We also went on a long (five hour) hike on Saturday, with Aidan mainly in the jogging stroller and Silas in the toddler backpack. All of the parents were completely exhausted at the end, but the kids seemed fine. Go figure, eh?

Most of our other camping trips have been just the three of us, and the addition of Silas and Kathryn made it extra fun. Aidan seemed to especially appreciate the presence of someone his own age, as both he and Silas had a lot of fun playing in the dirt with each other.

We did take some video, which we hope to share with you some day (but who has time to edit video?). Unfortunately, our digital camera seems to be a little sick (as evidenced by the last few pictures of Aidan that we put up in his photo gallery), so we didn't get a chance to take any pictures of our trip (other than the video)....

Camping Trip

We went camping this weekend and had a great time. Sam, a four-year-old from the campsite near ours befriended us and spent some time at our site telling us about his various injuries and boo-boos. He also played very well with Aidan, especially when they were playing catch....

Aidan also had his first experience in a canoe. He seemed to enjoy it, although he fell asleep about 10 minutes into our water journey.

Cross-Country Trip Day 16: Benton, AR to Austin, TX

Couldn't be happier to be out of Arkansas. Going home is nice, too.

Distance traveled today: 504 miles

Grand total for the whole cross-country trip: 4479 miles

Cross-Country Trip Day 15: Cookeville, TN to Benton, AR

Today's special stop was to the Nashville Zoo. It was just the perfect size for us; not too big and not too small. There was plenty to do and Aidan absolutely loved it. It also took a lot out of him, as he fell asleep in his daddy's arms...

We stopped for the night in Benton, Arkansas so we could go to Hot Springs in the morning. However, both Renee and I have a slight prejudice against Arkansas (neither of us have ever had a good time there; Renee once had to battle huge flying bugs...). Somehow the receptionist at the hotel was stayed at knew this and she accidently(?) put us in a smoking room.

Now, keep in mind I am telling this story with hindsight, which is 20/20. I know now that we were put in a smoking room. But we had explicitly asked for a non-smoking room. So when we entered our room, we were completely shocked. It smelled really bad. Everything had a film on it. There were odd little brown markings on almost everything (again, looking back at this, I can say it was probably burn marks)....

Needless to say, Renee and I weren't too thrilled. But neither one of us asked for another room. We just chalked it up to Arkansas being ... well ... nasty.

We traveled 469 miles today; we planned for an early as possible departure in the morning...

Cross-Country Trip Day 14: Lexington, VA to Cookeville, TN

OK. So maybe we should have visited Natural Bridge last night. We heard some fireworks going off as we had dinner, and later found out that they have a nice light show/fireworks display on most nights. So we missed that, which is sort of annoying. But to make matters worse: It's raining today. Hard. Really raining.

But we are undeterred and decide to hike through the park anyway. Aidan loves to ride in the hiking backpack and when it has the optional canopy on, he is fairly protected from the rain.

It was actually a good hike, and we got a chance to explore a lot of the place without too much interference from anyone else (i.e., no one else was silly enough to go hiking in a downpour). We had lunch at their cafeteria and then headed back out, finally stopping in Cookeville, Tennessee (about 409 miles from Lexington).

Cross-Country Trip Day 13: Toms River, NJ to Lexington, VA

We headed out early today, hoping to cover some miles before stopping in Virgina. Ultimately, we decide to stop in Lexington so we can go to Natural Bridge in the morning. We could have gone tonight, but we thought that it would be fun to spend a little more time there, and the sun was already setting by the time we stopped (and a pretty sunset it was, too).

We spent the evening at the hotel pool and went to bed early. After all the travelling that we've done, we're a little tired, but we are all very upbeat. There are still a lot of sights to see on our journey home. Can't wait to see Natural Bridge tomorrow.

Miles traveled: 419 miles

Cross-Country Trip Day 12: Manchester, CT to Toms River, NJ

One of the things that Renee and I were hoping to do on our trip was to have breakfast with my mom at Rein's Deli. We took care of that this morning. We were then going to head over to a little children's museum that Aidan may have liked, but he fell asleep on the way over there....

So, after catching up with my mom a little more, we were back on the road, this time on the return trip back to Austin, Tx. But first, a little stop over in New Jersey to catch up with some more family.

We got back to Toms River in the late afternoon. I wasn't feeling too well (something I ate didn't agree with me), so Aidan and Renee headed over to Jackson, NJ to visit with Baci (Renee's grandmother), Uncle Walter, Aunt Theresa, Renee's cousins Nicolas, Derek (he's also Renee's Godson), and Briana.

We covered about 240 miles....

Cross-Country Trip Day 11: Branford, CT to Manchester, CT

This morning we headed out to Middletown, Ct to meet up with my mom at Kid City. It was a very rainy day, so we ended up spending a lot of time indoors; a good thing an indoor activity was planned!

For lunch we headed over to Taj of India, which was some of the best service (and food) that we had on our trip.

After we had our fill of Kid City, we drove up to my mom's place in Manchester. All-in-all, a fairly restful day.

70 miles travelled today...

Cross-Country Trip Day 10: Branford, CT to Mystic, CT

Stephanie's mom, my Aunty Evvy, hosted a brunch today, which was very fun and gave us yet another chance to catch up with everyone.

Afterwards, we headed out to Mystic with Jody, Steve, Grandma Linda, and Grandpa Bob. We all went to the Mystic Aquarium and then headed to downtown Mystic for some Mystic Pizza!

We turned around and spent the night back in Branford: total round trip miles: 100

Cross-Country Trip Day 9: Glastonbury, CT to Branford, CT

Today is the whole reason for the trip: Stephanie's wedding. It was a wonderful ceremony and it was really wonderful to be able to catch up with a lot of people that we don't get to see often enough.

Congratulations Steph and Heath!

Travel distance: 50 miles

Cross-Country Trip Day 8: Day of Rest

Finally! A day of rest. We were going to try and go hiking today, but the weather isn't cooperating; lots of rain. My dad offered to watch Aidan for us, so Renee and I headed out to a little coffee shop (Daybreak Cafe) and then out to a movie (Matrix: Reloaded).

Virtually no miles travelled today!

Cross-Country Trip Day 7: Boston, MA to Glastonbury, CT

We spent the bulk of today in Boston with Grandpa and Grandma Deb. It was a little overcast and rainy, and a bit cold too. Most of our sightseeing was confined to the New England Aquarium (or, as some call it, the Museum of Fish), which Aidan adored.

For lunch, we headed over to Faneuil Hall, then back to finish off the Aquarium. We left for Connecticut sometime in the late afternoon and returned back to my Dad's house by dinner.

Another 110 miles down...

Cross-Country Trip Day 6: Glastonbury, CT to Boston, MA

We made our way up to Boston today with my Dad and Jackie to see the Red Sox play the Yankees at Fenway Park, a short 104 miles from Glastonbury. Grandpa and Grandma Deb joined us from New Jersey. We also met up with my cousin Brian, his girlfriend Katie, and the Ronan clan.

This was quite the pilgrimage for me, as I've been telling Renee about Fenway Park for about as long as I can remember. This was the first visit for her and for Aidan. Unfortunately, the home team lost, and Roger Clemens won his 299th career game ... But Nomar Garciaparra hit a two-run homer, which I called before it happened ...

Cross-Country Trip Day 5: Toms River, NJ to Glastonbury, CT

We got up relatively early today so we could get over to Renee's Dad's house and visit with them before they had to head out to work. But there was still plenty of time to wash the car and enjoy lunch with them.

We headed out a little before noon and arrived in Connecticut a little after 5p.m. we arrived at my Dad's house. Actually, we had a little stop over at the Meriden Square in search of some cool Red Sox gear for the three of us... Why? Because we are going to the Red Sox v. NYY game tomorrow!!!

We travelled a mere 218 miles today....

Cross-Country Trip Day 4: Pulaski, VA to Toms River, NJ

We're almost there. We drove through the beautiful countryside of Virgina for most of the day, and then hit the main-thouroughfares of Pennsylvania on our way to visit Renee's family in New Jersey.

So far, the trip has been very easy and low-stress. Aidan has been excellent and well-behaved the entire time.

We arrived in New Jersey a little after 6 p.m. and went straight to Renee's Mom's place for dinner. Finally, a home cooked meal! :)

We covered about 513 miles today.

Cross-Country Trip Day 3: Jackson, TN to Pulaski, VA

Today saw a little bit of rain. In fact, at one point it was coming down so hard I had decided that it would be safer to just stop and wait for it to pass us by, but just as I was about to pull over, we exited the rain, almost like we were pulling out of an automatic car wash.

But other than that, we were able to pretty much keep to our regular routine of eating at rest stops and letting Aidan run around to get some exercise.

Tonight's stop is in Pulaski, Virgina, which is about 518 miles from Jackson, Tennessee.

Cross-Country Trip Day 2: Dallas to Jackson, TN

We woke up early and headed out with complete ease. The weather is warm and overcast, but there's lots of storms reported ahead of us. Hopefully we don't catch up to them.

As part of our plan, we stop every couple of hours to allow for all of us to stretch out and run around. We stopped at the first rest stop in Arkansas (headed east out of Texas) for lunch, which was a pretty good place for Aidan to play with some toys and run after birds. We were there for a good two hours or so before we left, but it was a very refreshing stop for all of us.

Our journey today ended in Jackson, TN, about 560 miles from Dallas.

Cross-Country Trip Day 1: Austin to Dallas

We started our journey across the country. Our destination, ultimately, is to get to Connecticut in time for my cousin Stephanie's wedding.

The trek officially started this evening after everyone got home from work. We intentionally left after dinner, hoping that Aidan would have an easier time falling asleep in the car. Tonights destination is Dallas, TX. About half-way into our drive we stopped at the Czech Stop, a bakery that has very good Kolaches and is a usual stop for us on the way to points north....

Anyway, when we stopped, Aidan awoke, and became a little antsy. Luckily, it wasn't too much further to our hotel.

195 miles down; a whole lot more to go.

Camping Trip: Inks Lake

We made another camping trip out to Inks Lake State Park (our last trip there was last November). This trip was much more fun, but Inks Lake seems to like to rain on me — and fires always have to be made from wet wood... But we enjoyed ourselves immensely; we went biking, which Aidan seems to love, and we also went hiking around Devil's Waterhole (Aidan would dip his hand into the water and then suck the water off of his hand; very cute). Aidan also cut another tooth today, bringing his teeth total to seven.

On a side note, we were finally able to get a picture of the new car (picture of it on the right), as we promised to get a picture of it about two months ago.

We did do one really stupid thing though.... As we were driving home, we went through a drive-thru to get some food.... and I (Matthew) wacked off one of the bikes going through the drive-thru awning. So, my first dent is out of the way (it's pretty small), but I bent the rim on the back wheel of my bike, and the structure of the bike rack itself has been compromised — probably still usable, but I need to figure out some fixes (I had to tie down the bike to the bike rack for the rest of the trip home with some rope....)

New Jersey Visit

Renee and Aidan left for New Jersey to make a surprise visit for Renee's sister Sandra's birthday. Aidan did very well on the flight to New Jersey (one woman mentioned to Renee that she had some "fear" about having a baby on the flight, but ultimately complimented on how well behaved he was; Renee said that she had several such comments).

And what accompanies such good behavior? Of course! Aidan cut a new tooth (this is sarcasm; cutting new teeth is much more traumatic than this). The tooth that came in is the "e" tooth.

Aidan's Second Camping Trip

Another camping trip! This time we went to Pedernales Falls State Park with our friends Chris and Raquel. The weather cooperated much more than our last outing (although it did get pretty darn cold at night) and Aidan got a chance to see some deer up close and personal. One big buck was literally only a few feet behind where Aidan and his mom were sitting. Aidan also got his first little hair cut on this trip (that's Chris giving Aidan a trim in the picture)...

Other firsts: Aidan ate some dirt.

Aidan's First Camping Trip

We went camping at Inks Lake. It was Aidan's very first camping trip and we all had a great time, despite the cold weather and constant rain....

Aidan and Renee Return to Austin

Renee and Aidan return from New Jersey. Despite Renee's laryngitis, the trip was magnificently successful.

Aidan meets his great-grandmother

Aidan meets his great-grandmother for the very first time. Renee developed laryngitis and wasn't feeling particularly great, but the visit turned out to be a grand success.

Renee and Aidan are off to New Jersey

Aidan and Renee left for New Jersey today; it is Aidan's first trip on an airplane and his first trip out of state!

A Perfect Evening Followed by a Mess

Dinner was perfect last night! We found a little port called Porto Andratx and this little restaurant called La Gallega (thanks to the recommendations of our tour guide, Moses). Perfecto. This is where Renee and I wanted to stay. It is an idyllic little Spanish port with fishing boars and little shops and old houses. The night did not start out perfect however. I was a typical tourist and over tipped the taxi driver. Once Renee and I had realized the mistake, which was almost immediately, we were completely stressed.

But once we were seated, our waiter took wonderful care of us.

We sat on the street (almost reminiscent of van Gogh’s "Cafe Terrace on the Place du Forum") and I ordered through my broken Spanish The waiter (whose name we never did learn) was very patient and kind. He brought us the Mallorican special, which was like a lobster bisque with huge pieces of lobster. He’d come by frequently to check on us, and one time I told him (again, through my broken Spanish) that he looked like Robert Dinero, only more handsome. Of course, we all had a great laugh. After diner, Renee and I walked by an almost full moon on the docks and danced in front of some fishermen who were playing some sort of game with dice. Quite the magical evening!

Today, we spent all day at the beach. There are some fruit vendors who walk around the beach selling (of course) fresh fruit. Renee and I got some melon. It didn't sit too well with Renee; her throat started to get a bit aggravated and it pretty much bothered her the rest of the day.

That evening we decided to go to Palma to find some dinner and explore a little. We found this one place called Aboca (or something like that) that was a little cocktail bar, but looked like an exquisite museum or palace. But we weren't looking for cocktails, we wanted some food. So we went on. We stopped at a place that was enormously busy and i thought we were pretty lucky to find some seats. However, out new waiter was much less patient with us than the one from the night before (the Robert Dinero guy). I had no clue what was on the menu, so we just chose a few things.

We ended up with ham on melon. Then same melon that didn't sit well with Renee We also got some cheese and bread, olives and bread (more bread and Renee hates olives) and tuna in a tomato sauce (Renee hates tuna). So we ate as much as we could despite out situation and once we were finished we asked for the check. Only every time he would come by, he motioned that he wouldn't bring us the check until we ate more food (there was a lot leftover). So, like little kids that are trying to pull a fast one over on their parents, Renee and I traded plates, cut up the food to make it look smaller, spread the food around all the plates and generally tried to make it look like some food was missing....

Mallorca Shows Its Good Side

A couple of days ago (actually, it might have been yesterday) I received my first complement on my Spanish. This person who was acting as a sort of guide for Renee and I said that I have a good Spanish accent (I guess that means I sound like a Spaniard speaking Spanish and not an American speaking Spanish). However, just a couple of days ago (in Madrid), I was completely stressing out because it seemed that I had completely lost any ability to communicate....

Today, we went on a tour of Mallorca and bought some Mallorican pearls and other such stuff. This tour has returned some of the charm to the island and I really look forward to our next tour, which we'll take on Saturday. Right now, we are getting ready to go to a restaurant that was recommended by our tour guide.

Oh, I almost forgot! We went to some caverns off on the east cost of Mallorca — they were fabulous! One of the largest underground lakes in the world is part of the caverns and part of the tour is to see a little show on the lake.

The show is a little Stravinsky sonata played by a small string quartet and an organist who are all in little gondolas. the boats are decorated with little Christmas type lights and it makes it seem like they are ghost ships. they didn't allow any pictures (sorry!), but the caves were really cool. Renee said they reminded her of where Gollum would have lived...

Moving Around Spain

We arrived in Mallorca today after an early start and long morning. We got up at 5am to get our flight and then our flight was delayed. We finally got to our new hotel, but it was too early, so we had to wait about an hour or so before we could check in. It's a good thing sleeping on the beach doesn't take too much energy.

It is pleasant here in Mallorca, but so far, from what I have seen, most of its charm has been sold to the English...

However, as I don't really know much about Mallorca yet, I'll reserve judgement. Instead, I'll recap our last few days.

Madrid was pretty cool. I wish we had more time to spend there, but as Renee said, it is probably better to leave too early then too late.

Our first day in Madrid was basically us being completely excited to be there, yet too exhausted to deal with everything. We walked around our hotel area, caught a bus downtown to see some things, but ultimately (and against our original design) had to go back to the hotel for a nap. Jet lag is a terrible thing.

After our nap, we took another walk. As part of our second neighborhood tour, we serendipitously walked into an open-air festival/market, which was really pretty fun. At one point, some guy came walking up to me and, in broken Spanish, tried to ask me if I could take a picture of him and his friend. I barely understood him, so I asked, in English, if he spoke English. He was slightly taken aback, said he did, and we continued to converse in English from that point on. It turns out that he and his buddy were from Austin, Texas, students at the University of Texas. It's a small world, or something like that...

We walked back to the hotel just as it was starting to get dark, which is when we caught the sun setting against the cathedral near the Royal Palace.

On our second day, we were going to go on a tour of Toledo, a smallish town not far out of Madrid. However, after we bought our tickets and such, we realized we missed the bus. We were able to trade them in for, of all things, a bull fight. Not exactly what we were hoping to see, but in the spirit of the anthropologist, and with little else to do, we headed out to the stadium.

If you have never seen a bull fight before, I don't think that I would be able to find the words to get the visceral experience accross. But the wierd thing was that, despite the grotesqueness and obvioius brutality, it was amazing how quickly that everyone in the stadium grew accustomed to the violence.

We had seats next to an Italian family; I barely know Spanish, and I don't think they knew any, although Spanish and Italian are fairly close. So, I conversed a little with the father of the family; they had two little children, probably no older than four of five.

When the bull fight first started, we were all on the edge of our seats, completely spellbound by the pagentry and costumes. Then, as the first bull died a quite extravagent and messy death, most of us were repulsed. But soon, it became old hat. The kids weren't watching any more, not out of repulsion, but out of boredom. Renee and I, who were trying to absorb as much as possible, were starting to wonder how much longer until we can get back to the hotel and nap....

During our last day in Madrid, we headed out to the Prado, the Hard Rock Cafe (mostly as an air-conditioned break than anything else) and generally tried to take in as much of the city as we could.

Renee and I have to get up early tomorrow for a little excursion, so I need to cut this short. It seems as though we have been getting up early (like 6am) and going to bed late (like 1am) since we have arrived. We’ve had to take some naps in there, but it is hard to say if we have not adjusted well to the time change or (more probably) we just have one crazy schedule. Let’s see if we can get through tomorrow without a nap. Although, I have a feeling we'll be forced to whether we want a nap or not.... So, here's our pictures of Madrid. Enjoy. I'll write again soon.

Estamos en España

Adjusting to the time difference wasn't all that hard, but Renee and I sure did get grumpy there for a little while as our sleep deprived bodies and minds tried to navigate through this foreign land.

We did a lot of site seeing; took a bus tour of Madrid and then walked around for a bit. I am trying very hard to maintain my vegetarian lifestyle, but it is not easy. I don't know the language very well and when I order food, I don't always get what I am expecting. And, because of my lack of knowledge, it is next to impossible to fix what I need to fix...

This is interesting also in another sense. This is the Spanish culture that I am trying to experience, so why not live and eat like a Spaniard?

But let's look at that even further. Let’s pretend I am an anthropologist. To what level should i compromise my values to experience the ways of a particular culture? Where and how would I draw that line?

For example, if I don't believe in a supreme deity, should I participate in their religious rituals? How about if I don't believe in eating meat? Or murder? Or hazing? Fill in the blank with the most preposterous ritual/event you can think of; should an anthropologist check his/her values at the door and fully participate? Or should they just observe?

For those of you thinking the observation choice is the easiest out, when was the last time you truly learned or experienced or understood anything through pure observation?

I am quite confidant that the vast majority (99.99%) of the people need to actually "do" what they want to learn or experience to understand it completely. it is one thing to watch a football game; it is an entirely different experience to play in the game....

I am a Married Man

Right now, at this very moment, while I am writing, I am sitting in the JFK international airport at gate number 8 waiting to board an Iberia airlines flight to Madrid for my honeymoon. Yes, my honeymoon. That should at least give you some clues as to what I’ve done over the last two days...

Friday, August 11, was incredibly hectic, yet not all that stressful. It started out just fine:

Jeff and I woke up around 8:30 or 9:00 in the morning and went to downtown tom's river for some bagel and coffee. We hung out there until it was time to pick up Christina (Jeff’s girlfriend). Jeff and I got a little lost trying to find the train station, but it all worked out. We got back to the hotel around 2:00 or so and got ready for the big event!

Christina video taped us getting ready for the wedding and she also taped the actual event. Jeff taped the reception.

Yesterday, Renee’s dad had a huge picnic with maybe 40 or 50 friends and relatives.

Ok. Writing is going to be hard. I am on the plane now, but while we were waiting to board (and while I was writing everything up to this point), an alarm was going off for no apparent reason. Now, that I am on the plane, I have no space to write (my tray is currently holding both my and Renee’s dinner).
Anyway—back to what happened:

I am not sure how they keep (or if they keep) official tabs on such things, but i believe Renee's dad threw the party of the century. Everything was perfect. The funniest part of the reception was the throwing of the bouquet/garter. Sandra’s boyfriend Eric caught the garter, and Renee's cousin Katie (who is only 14) caught the bouquet. For those of you weak on wedding tradition, the guy who catches the garter has to put it on the leg of the one who catches the flowers. And every inch above the knee is a year of good luck for the bride and groom....

So, Katie’s dad is a really big, huge guy. he was standing right behind Katie with the look of a nervous father. Once Eric realized who Katie’s dad was, he dropped the garter, backed off from Katie, walked over to him and shook his hand. But he eventually put the garter on. I think we only have about a year of good luck....

Back to the present:

I am only on the plane, but my Spanish has already been called into play. The flight attendants seem to know English, but only use it as a last resort. My mind has started to make the switch over to thinking in Spanish, and i think it would be cool if by the end of our stay in Spain, I will have written at least one small entry entirely in Spanish.

I am off to sleep now, in hopes of getting adjusted to the new time zone....