Dog Beach

The weather was good, probably 60 deg.
We took the dogs out to stretch thier legs, and noses. They had been cooped up for much of the Winter holidays.
The Dogs just love to run on the beach, and check out other dogs, and thier backsides.
I think we are on the same wavelength.













Amber is getting tall













The end to a good day. We have resolved to go to the beach at least once a month this year.

Desert trip

We made a day trip out to the Desert. It is about a two hour drive. We took some friends with us. He has experience in the Desert from helping pit crew for a top Trophy truck racing team. Tim and His daughter Alex had a good day of riding. Tim, Alex,and Syd tried out some new hills.


















After riding Tim took us by where the race team had set up for the weekend. We pulled up just in time to see the driver launch the number 27 trophy truck 100 ft long, and about 12ft high of air in an impressive jump.
We were intruduced to the team owner, and his family. They were very nice, and accomodating. The SMD race team had a 1600 class racer, an Excursion racer, the trophy truck (over 700 horsepower), and a few chase vehicles, and a couple support trucks.
The youngest of the boys had a mini truck that was racing that weeknd, and The girls found that to be just about there speed. The little truck cost $6,000. So hopefully my girls will stick to bikes.

Chrstmas Day

Here are some pictures from Christmas day, unfortunately we did not wake up completely before taking the pictures. The Dog even got a treat.
Sydney and I put together a model car she got from Santa.

Snowboarding at Mammoth Mtn

We left on Saturday the 16th. We drove 355 miles through the city, the Desert, and into the mountains. We were invited to stay with some very good friends, who had a condo in the village of Mammoth. We had some cold weather gear, but what we didn't have, we borrowed, and we were very comfortable. The first morning when we checked the temperature, it was 2 deg, by the time we got the the mountain, it was all the way up to 7. By the time we got our tickets, and Sydney's rental, it was 12. Amber, Sydney, and I (Eric) had a very abreviated lesson in snowboarding. The girls and I spent the rest of the day falling, and bruising our bodys all in the quest to learn how to snowboard. We were so sore from our first day of falling, that the second day, Sydney and I started the day off with skiing, and Amber stayed back at the condo.
Sydney showed me a very determined side of her. She went back to snowboarding for the last half of the day. She really wanted to learn.
The third day, we were all back on snowboards, and Sydney was in a lesson. Mammoth gets a lot of southern California traffic, as it is the only place that has snow, and it is a great facility. We saw a soup star named Rena Sofer, and Justin Timberlake was spotted on the mountain.
By the end of the day, we all had a pretty good grasp on snowboarding. I collected a few pictures for you, and a video clip. here you go:


Here is a picture of Amber doing her best not to pull a Sonny Bono:














Sydney:

Christmas party

Every year we have a Christmas party with the same group of people, and this year we added the Young family. The party was hosted at our house. There was a gift exchange, and a gag gift that shows up every year.
We had good food, and a few drinks, and some laughs. Thank you all who attended.

Engine maintenance on the dirtbike

I wanted aAmber to do the top end on her dirtbike. I wanted her to see how easy it is. I got things started by draining the coolant. She pulled the carburator off, removed the coolant hoses, took off the head. I helped remove the cylinder. We pulled out the piston, and gaskets, replaced them all with new parts, and put it back together. she learned a little, but I think every little bit helps, in life. I think it helps eliminate fear of the unknown. It builds confidence.

Out to the dunes

We put a paddle tire on A's bike, and a "whip" ( flag) on both our bikes. It was definately a learning experience. She rode some dunes, got some air, climbed some hills. Her bike ran out of gas, and while we waited for our team to bring us some gas, we played around, and I let her ride my 450. She did pretty well, and zipped around pretty good on it. see the links to the left, and click on the discription to view the videos.








The group we went with led us around the park, and we made our way to the canal which has fresh water in it. After the kids jumped in, we were told we could get a ticket for it. yikes. So we got out of there. There was a golf cart in the group. and the kids drove it around camp, endlessly. We made our first overnight camp of the year. it got a little cold so I lit off my propane heater, at 4:20am, and we were back in bussiness.

Amber is getting tall

Today I took a picture of Amber standing next to Kim to show how tall Amber is getting

Wedding in Arizona

Kim went to a wedding of a fellow worker of ours From our days at Allegiance Telecom.
Here is a picture of Kim, Heidi and Virgie.
Also, She had her picture taken with all the girls from Allegiance.
Kim drove to Phoenix with Kimberly, Virgies daughter.

Air show

We had the pleasure of having the "Blue Angels" flying over us for the San Diego Air show. The sky's are rumbling from Friday to Sunday, the Blue Angels are the best. The pictures don't capture it very well, and sometimes they go by faster then i can take the picture, they are sometimes right over the house maybe 300-400 feet above.

poker

played a little poker over the weekend, I am in the cutoff sleeves.
You can get a look at some amatuer poker faces to get a feel for our level of play.
Sydney sat in until our fourth player showed up. She was ready to go shopping with all the chips she had.

Soccer

Sydney had a very good weekend in Soccer. she played offense and had several chances at making a goal, she also has no problem getting physical. As a matter of fact I am beginning to think that is her favorite part. here are some pictures:

Sydney and I took apart the trailer.
We borrow a trailer from a friend, and the boards of the trailer were falling to pieces. Last night we cut the rotten boards out with a saw, and pulled the bolts out that held them down. Sydney backed out somescrews with the cordless drill, and cut off some stubborn bolts with the 4" grinder. The deck and bolts are now removed, and next we will weld on some expanded metal decking. Sydney is alway ready to help with little projects like this, and she loves to paint. I will keep you all updated.

The girls both had games this weekend.
Sydney had soccer, and Amber had a double header in Softball.
Sydney is doing very well in soccer as it is her first season.
She is competitive, and aggressive. She has been known to knock a few girls down.
She is pictured in the pink (Redhead). Sydneys team tied 2-2.
Amber pitched the first game of the doubleheader, and they won. She played shortstop in the second game which they also won. Amber had a smash out to left field that was barely caught. She also laid down a couple bunts.

Lake Elsinore brush with greatness.

Today we went to Lake Elsinore mx park, and rode the dirtbikes on 4 different tracks.
The main track is mostly for the advanced, but I put Amber on it because it was groomed the best. It was just Amber and I , and Jeff Ward. Notice the simliar riding styles.

Well the girls are safe and sound, back from Ohio.
Although I think at least one of them wants to move back there.
Everything was very green, and the girls went to a High School football game.
They also got to see the woods, hills, creeks, and misquitos.
Here are some pictures of their trip.

The girls went to Brandons Football game Friday night, and Brandon did well, as usual, but as a team they came up a bit short, and West Holmes won the game.
Here are shots of Brandon.











Kim and Sydney in the crowd.

I went dirt bike riding last night, and could not keep up with most the riders. I need to attempt more of the jumps (doubles, mostly).
I am very sore, and I need to ride more to build up my stamina, and skills.
I have been sitting here most of the day wishing I had another chance. I would sack up and jump that double.
I carpooled, and rode on the track with a gentlemen I met from the MX forum that I frequent.
He is a very good rider, and nice guy to talk to. Thanks for the company, Cody.


I found a picture of Amber pitching.







I also found a better picture of Kim.