Craig's Blog

August Trip to California

2008-08-27T17:36:00.014-04:00

Last week we took a family trip to California to visit some friends and family. First stop was Los Angeles - the Hollywood Hills area - to visit Julie's friend Mindy, her husband Mike and two kids Sam and Sadie. This would be my first visit to LA - other than a very brief layover many years ago on a trip to Hawaii. First off, I knew that there were lots of mountains in LA but I didn't realize they were everywhere! I had this image in my head of La being very flat - but that wasn't the way I experienced it.

Our flight out was on Wednesday morning. After a o-dark hundred departure from Newark we landed at LAX and picked up our rental car and headed the family off to Mindy's house in the hills. Up and up and around we went. The streets are relatively steep and narrow - Julie was very glad that I was driving.

We got to Mindy's house just time for lunch. The boys made short work of getting into the pool and basically being boys playing in a pool. Mindy has a great 4 story house cut right into the side of the mountain with lots of interesting neighbors!

We set out on a little sight seeing - I wanted to grab some pictures of the famous Hollywood sign and we also decided to hit Hollywood Blvd and walk along the stars. It took us two attempts to find Mulholland Drive, but we eventually found it and stopped along several spots to do the tourist thing.

First stop was an overlook of the San Fernando Valley, overlooking NBC studios.

Then we motored along Mulholland Drive some more until we came upon a good vantage point to see the Hollywood sign.

After snapping some pics we headed to Hollywood Blvd. The trick was, finding some parking first - as parking seems to be a contact sport. Eventually we found a spot and made our way out among the stars.

Julie insisted that I take a picture of Antonio's star.

Thursday we said our goodbyes to Mindy and family and once again loaded up the car and headed south to San Diego to visit Julie's cousin Amy. The drive to San Diego was easy (and mountainous) and we made it there in just about three hours. Of course we stopped at Burger King along the way - and to get to BK for a very brief time we cruised along the PCH. We made it to the Embassy Suites in La Jolla in no time, were Jan was waiting for us (actually she was shopping). Once again the boys wasted no time in finding and using the hotel pool. I don't think the boys care where we go, so long as there is a (heated) pool for them to play in. The pool was a huge fan favorite with the boys.

Amy met up with us at the hotel (and would end up spending a lot of her free time us being our tour guide - thanks Amy!) for happy hour. You gotta love a free happy hour. The boys loved it too, 'cause they got to pig out on snacks and sodas. After happy hour we loaded the whole lot into our rental minivan and headed to C-Level for dinner.

For Friday the plan was to go to Lego Land first thing in the morning.

Ryan was particularly excited about going to Lego Land - he knew about this part of the trip for weeks. I had no idea what to expect at Lego Land but it was actually very cool. There were giant Lego creations all over the place - some requiring hundreds of thousands of Lego's! There were rides and shows and all sorts of places for the kids to sit and play with Lego's too. We were there for the better part of 4 hours at least and we didn't even see a quarter of the place. After Lego Land we headed right next door to Sea Life.

Once again happy hour called - Amy and Jan joined us for happy hour and then we all went to Old Town for an authentic Mexican dinner. Tour guide Amy found us a great spot to eat - unfortunately for Jason - he had run out of steam and fell asleep before we got seated. Amy held him for most of the dinner - I think Jason has a new best friend!

Saturday morning we went to the San Diego Zoo.

I've heard all sorts of stories about the San Diego zoo in particular that it was a world class zoo and a must see. The zoo was pretty huge, and very hilly. All the travel and running around was taking it's toll on Jason, and he insisted that he was too tired to walk and had to be carried for most of the day. The zoo was fun, there sure was lots to see and we didn't even see half of it I'd guess. We took an aerial tram ride to the far end of the zoo and walked our way back. The highlights seemed to be the reptile house and the polar bears. Unfortunately the lions were not on display. Ryan also really wanted to see the pandas so - we waited on a very long line to see the pandas. Only one panda decided to come out and visit though, so we had a very brief visit with Suzi the panda.

After the zoo we headed to La Jolla Cove for lunch. Again, parking was at a premium and we were just about to give up when we finally found a spot. We had lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe - mostly because it was close and in betewen where we parked and where we wanted to go. The Cove was beautiful, the cliffs and the water were something to see. Our tour guide Amy told us the night before that there used to be lots of seals hanging out at the Cove, but recently they've been chased away from the area. We still did see a few, but not the numbers that they used to gather in.

Saturday evening Jan watched the boys at the hotel while Julie and I went to visit Amy at her apartment. Amy kept our thirst at bay with some cold beer - although next time Amy I could do without the exploding beer!

Sunday morning said goodbye to Jan as she made her way back to Ohio - by way of Atlanta. Amy joined us again and we all went to the Wild Animal Park.

The Wild Animal Park wasn't always open to the public - it started out as a breeding ground and feeder for the San Diego Zoo. Eventually they realized they were missing out on a great revenue stream and opened the park up to the public for tours. At least that's my version of the story. We took a bus ride around the park and took lots of pictures while the tour guide (not Amy this time!) gave us the rundown at what we were looking at. The Wild Animal Park was impressive, and if it wasn't so hot and the kids not so tired, I would have liked to have explored some more.

After the Wild Animal Park we all went to the beach near Amy's house in Pacific Beach.

The boys had fun playing in the surf and I finally got to swim a little in the Pacific. I had heard tales of the Pacific being very cold - I didn't find it any colder than the beaches in NJ. In fact, I thought it was probably warmer. There was lots of seaweed and kelp though and it wrapped itself all around you in the surf zone.

By the end of the day Sunday we were all pretty tired. Not too tired for a dip in the hotel pool of course. Personally, I soaked for a while in the hot tub.

Monday morning we had time for another dip in the hotel pool before we had to pack up and leave for San Diego airport. Our 3pm flight left more or less on time and we were home around 12:30am.

We had a great trip - many thanks to Amy our dedicated tour guide and to Jan for her great babysitting - especially in the mornings!

Next time we head out west I want to go to San Francisco and to the redwood forests. Time to start planning.

Click on the Hollywood picture below to view the complete photo album from the trip:

California Trip August 2008

August Trip to Margate

2008-08-05T18:57:00.003-04:00

August 1st we headed down to Margate to visit with our friends Rich and Pam and their three kids. The weather was great, save for a brief thunder storm that rolled in Saturday morning. That gave us a chance to hit the Atlantic City Aquarium. The kids had fun playing with the touch tanks. Then it was on to the beach where much boogie boarding was done. The surf was pretty calm - which was good since it made watching over the kids in the water a lot easier.

The beach was great, the food was great, the company was great and much beer was consumed - by the adults! What more can you ask for?

Follow this link to view pictures from the trip:

Margate Trip August 2008

July Trip to Ohio

2008-07-28T19:25:00.003-04:00

In July we packed the whole family into the minivan and headed west for Ohio. We decided this year to drive instead of fly. Personally I prefer to drive as I hate flying. We had planned to leave in the afternoon on July 3rd and arrive in the early morning (it's about a 10 hour drive) on July 4th. The boys were all going to go to a Cincinnati Reds game with their cousins on the 4th and the bus that would take them there was leaving at 10am. At the last minute Cory had a little league game rescheduled for the evening on July 3rd. Cory was already going to miss 6 games while we were away so we felt compelled to not miss any more.

So we went to Cory's game in Warren and after the game (we lost) at about 8pm we all loaded into the car and started our trek. Julie took her turn driving first since: 1) I can stay awake later than she can, 2) she hates to drive at night and 3) I hate it when she drives at night. A few hours in I took over and drove through till about 5am. At that point no amount of coffee or Red Bull was keeping me alert enough so Julie took over for the last hour.

Once we arrived, Julie and I immediately headed for some quality shut eye. It took a while for the caffeine to burn its way out of my system, but by mid afternoon I was good to go. In all, we spent 5 days with Julie's family and we had a great time. We hit all the regular activities – fishing, miniature golf, play at the park, swim at the town pool, bbq's, wiffle ball games and campfires.

Julie and I also took had our 2nd annual "Shoot 'em up" with Julie's uncle Jim. Last year during our visit Jim took us to his favorite gun shop / shooting range where for the first time ever Julie and I fired live rounds from hand guns, along with Jacqui and Lindsay. Which was cool. This year, the ante was upped a bit as Jim brought out his Mac 10 submachine gun and his Mauser 98 rifle. No range this time, we headed to Don and Jan's backyard and fired them there. Firing the submachine gun was really cool and the Mauser was lots of fun too. After we kids had our fun Julie's mom, dad and brother Doug took a turn. If anyone wants to see what Grandma looks like pumping 20 rounds per second from a Mac 10 into a gravel pile, I have photo evidence! Next year Jim is going to have to reach deep into his bag of tricks to keep us entertained. I'm thinking perhaps a flamethrower or a howitzer…hmmmm…which to choose?

Another first for us – we all got our turn taking a Combine ride with Don while he harvested his wheat fields. With a 20 foot wide cutting head on it, that Combine is an impressive machine. Cory, Ryan and Jason each had their turn taking a ride with Don, as did Julie and I. The boys will all have something fun and unique to write about in our "what I did this summer" assignments in school.

Pictures from our trip can be found here:

July 2008 Trip to Ohio

Cavern Diving, Easter Eggs, Little League Parade, Cory's first Communion and Travel Baseball

2008-06-17T21:58:00.018-04:00

Ok, I know, it's been a long time since I updated this blog. I have no excuse other than to say that I keep thinking that eventually I'll get around to it. So here it is...

March started off with me heading down to High Springs, Florida for a little Cavern diving. Things started off pretty poorly on this trip as I came down with a stomach virus pretty much as soon as I got there. I didn't finish the cavern course, but I did get to explore the Ball Room cave in Ginnie Springs. That is some amazingly clear water. And it's incredibly dark in the back of the cave with no lights on. Like really dark. Someday it would be nice to go back and finish the course.

While I was down there we had some seriously bad weather too, let's just say that I survived my first tornado warning intact.

Also in March, the boys had a blast coloring and decorating their Easter eggs. The creativity and talent level has definitely been stepped up a notch. Mom and Dad joined in the fun and we all had a great time decorating our eggs. Of course, the really fun part is pouring all the colored water down the drain. Some things never change.

In April we had Julie's birthday...Happy Birthday Julie! Of course, we have no pictures from that day. Hmmm...not sure how that happened. We all went to Fujiama Mama for some hibachi Japanese food. You'll just have to imagine it.

Also in April we had the kick off parade to the spring in-town little league baseball season. Ryan's is the Lugnuts and Cory is on the Lookouts.

In May Cory had his First Communion. We surprised Cory by having his cousin Sam come to visit and spend the weekend with us. Cory and Sam quickly made up for lost time.

Cory tried out for and made the 2nd grade travel baseball team. In June, Cory started playing with his new team - the Westfield Blue 2nd Grade Team. Here's a shot of Cory in his first game of the season about to slide into second on a stolen base attempt. He was safe, and later came around to score. Unfortunately, Cory's team lost their first game 8-9. We'll get 'em next time.

The Giants win the Superbowl(!?), Cory turns 8, a lunar eclipse and a snow day

2008-02-23T14:26:00.009-05:00

Wow, February was busy.

Who predicted that the Giants would make the post season, let alone win the whole shebang? A bunch of us gathered around on Superbowl Sunday to watch Eli and a bunch of no names take on the mighty NE Patriots. What a game. Even if you weren't a Giants fan it was a great game. And it had one of the defining moments in sports history - "The Play" - Eli breaking free from what looked like a sure sack and then hitting David Tyree(!?) downfield where Tyree catches the ball with his helmet! Incredible. Made even better by NY beating the hated NE Patriots!

GO BIG BLUE!

The kids put on a special own Half Time show.

February 16th Cory turned 8! To me he is still my baby, I can't believe he is 8 already. We threw him a small party. The kids had cake, the grownups had beer, and everyone was happy. Ok, the grownups had beer AND cake. There, I said it.

Happy 8th Birthday Cory!!!

February 20th was the lunar eclipse and I quickly snuck outside and tried to snap a few pictures of the event. This is the only picture I took that came out remotely Ok. For this shot, I mounted the camera on a tripod and set the shutter speed to 3 seconds.

Friday February 22nd we had a nice late February snow day. We probably had about 6+ inches of snow total. The kids had a snow day from school - boy were they psyched! What's better then a snow day if you're a kid?

Jason, enjoying his snow day.

42: The Answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything

2008-01-20T09:09:00.000-05:00

As I was lamenting turning 42 my friend Stephan reminded me that 42 is the Answer to Life, the Universe and Everything. For those that have no idea what he was referring too - in Douglas Adams' "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" novels - a computer named Deep Thought is built to answer the Ultimate Question (what is the answer to life, the universe and everything?). The computer chugs along for 7½ million years and finally comes up with: 42.

Of course, just about everyone is disappointed with the answer - one individual demands of the computer: "Forty two?! Is that all you've got to show for seven and a half million years' work?"

The computer replies: "I checked it very thoroughly, and that quite definitely is the answer. I think the problem, to be quite honest with you, is that you've never actually known what the question is."

Ain't that the truth.

Yesterday marked my 42nd birthday and I celebrated with a tri-fecta. Some quality time with Julie in the morning, then off to meet up with some of my diving buds for a little winter diving. We went up to Dutch Springs in PA and dove in a retired limestone quarry - which is now a now a freshwater lake. It was cold out, the air temp was about 36F. The water temp was 41F. When I dropped under the surface and was completely submerged in 41F water I was completely aware of how alive I was - I was also completely aware of brain freeze. The great thing about the lake in the winter is that the underwater visibility is outstanding and yesterday didn't disappoint - we had easily 70 feet of vis - or more.

My buddy Stephan and I did two dives, total combined runtime of 1 hour and 9 minutes. It was a great way to spend a chilly afternoon. When I got home - we headed over to our friends Joe and Christine's house for some dinner and drinks (more drinks than dinner actually) while the kids ran around and generally caused a ruckus.

All in all, a great day.

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year and Happy Birthday!!!

2008-01-18T16:27:00.000-05:00

So - it's been a few weeks since my last update. Christmas came and went, as did New Years and Ryan's sixth birthday! Wow, that went fast. On deck is my birthday - followed by Cory's birthday in mid February. Then a little break until Julie's birthday in April. Who's idea was it to have all these birthdays so close together? Oy, with all the cake.

For Christmas we stayed home - in our newly re-done home - which I LOVED. Nothing better than waking up in my own bed on Christmas morning - basking in the glow of not having to travel during a holiday. The boys had a great time opening up all of their gifts - especially Cory as we got him a Wii. I think his exact words were "My life is saved! I got a Wii!!!!". The Wii IS pretty cool, although after a full day of playing "Wii tennis" I started to develop "Wii shoulder". I had to learn how to swing the Wii "racket" - and not try to swing like a real tennis racket.

Here are the little rascal's on Christmas morning.

As you can plainly see, we went to great lengths to make sure they were dressed nicely.

For New Years Eve we were invited over to Rob and Barb's house - there new house which I had never seen before. I liked it - great job Rob and Barb and good luck in your new home. The kids stayed up until midnight and we watched the ball drop on Barb's 13" tv - yes 13" that wasn't a typo. Personally, I can't believe that Dick Clark is still bringing it at 78 years old. Where would we be without Dick Clark's Rockin' New Year? Julie went around and collected everyone's new years resolutions. I've decided to opt out, as I don't see the point in making promises that I know I won't keep! I gave myself a low hanging goal of trying to get in 30 dives in 2008 - I should be able to hit that one.

Cory and I on New Year's Eve.

No sooner was New Year's over, and the Christmas decorations packed away, and here come's Ryan's birthday. We had a small group of Ryan's friends from his class over and threw him a party at our house.

Here's the big boy about to blow out his 6 candles.

That's all for now, I promise not to take so long to make my next post.

House Project update...We're done! (Well, almost)

2007-11-27T18:41:00.000-05:00

Ok, I know, I'm really behind on the whole blogging thing. Lame, lame, lame.

So - on Friday, November 16th we moved back into our home - yeah! It's official - we are done with the house project. Well, that is if you alter your definition of "done". We are "mostly done", which is better than being "almost done" and not quite as good as being "all done". We have a punchlist of items that still need to be completed, and they'll probably be finished in no time. Or by mid summer. Either way.

Done!

The move back in went without any major complications. However, there were several issues that we've already had to deal with in the new house - like - the brand new ovens didn't work quite right and we needed them serviced (already). I think they basically needed a "re-boot". We also discovered a leak in the boy's bathroom shower - which damaged the kitchen ceiling slightly. Our phone mysteriously died for two days. And one of our garage doors seems to open every time my neighbor changes channels on his TV. The list goes on. Our contractor is making good on all these little gotchas. I'm sure that fact that we still owe him $20,000 probably helps expedite things. That's one of the reasons I insisted on back-loading the milestone payments in the contract. That $20k will be a great motivator.

We love the way the kitchen came out - and the boys love having an island with stools to sit on when they eat. One of Julie's dreams has been fulfilled. Check. Now I just need to find a baby grand piano for the living room and I'll have made significant progress on Julie's wish list. Or I'll just be broke.

New kitchen, new island, bar stools - check, check, check. Now, if we could only get the kids to sit down and eat.

On moving day we had help from Ria and Veronica. Ria was our previous nanny - Veronica is our current nanny. They were a huge help and without them I think we'd still be putting things away. The boys loved seeing Ria again.

Ria and Veronica were a huge help on moving day.

The happy family on move day. The kids all had some Coke, and getting them to sit still for this picture was like herding cats.

We've already done a fair amount of entertaining - Don and Jan came to visit us for Thanksgiving. Don't worry Jan, I promised I wouldn't say anything about you setting the fire alarms off when you were cooking. So I won't.

Kelly and Amy also came to visit us - along with some of their friends. And our friends Rob and Barb and their kids came to visit too. We're finding that the kitchen is the gathering place, that's where everyone wants to hang out. That's also where the booze is, but I'm not drawing any conclusions here.

We still have many boxes to unpack - I'm going with the 6 month rule. If we haven't unpacked it in 6 months then we clearly don't need it and it gets tossed. I've discovered that I love to un-clutter and get rid of stuff I don't use or need anymore. It's a little endorphin rush.

Brothers!

2007-10-20T17:58:00.001-04:00

House project update

2007-10-20T17:34:00.000-04:00

A lot has happened since the last post. We picked out an exterior paint color, and then almost unpicked it once it was up. We had paint remorse. After looking at it for a few days we decided we like it. The garage doors are finished, the front door has been stained and sealed and they have started working on the new patio in the backyard.

Inside all the sheetrocking is complete and all of the walls have been primed. The electrical finish work has started, the new hardwood floors are in place, the kitchen cabinets are installed and the new appliances are in. We are now waiting for the new granite countertops. The bathrooms are just about done there's still some minor tile work to do and the countertops for the bathrooms still need to be installed.

So, what's left? There's still some tile work that needs to be completed in the kitchen and bathrooms. They need to install the kitchen and bathroom countertops, finish the trim work, install the alarm, finish the audio install, final plumbing hook ups, sand and finish the hardwood floors, install the new stair rails and paint the interior. Oh, and landscaping too.

And about a million other small things. We have a tentative move date for 11/16. We'll see, there still is so much to do.

Jason's first day of pre-school

2007-09-12T18:21:00.000-04:00

Jason and Ryan pose for a pic before school.

Today was Jason's first day of pre-school. He was pretty excited, he had his backpack on long before it was time to go. I think watching us take his big brothers to school has gotten him in the right frame of mind. When I picked him up at the end of the day, the teacher said he did just fine. Some of the other kids were crying and raising a holy fit, not my boy!

House Project Update

2007-09-03T16:39:00.001-04:00

I've been slacking off and not updating my blog as much as I'd like to. Life is funny like that, keeping me busy with all kinds of shit that I don't really want to do. Well, here goes.

The front entrance has been completed, the new columns are in place and the new front door has been installed. We shit-canned the planned arches on the front porch because, in the words of Jerry - the lead carpenter on the job - "they looked gay". Well, I don't know if they were gay or not - not that there's anything wrong with that mind you - we just didn't like the way they looked. So, we killed 'em. The front porch and steps have been put in place by the mason, so no more moat!

We've also gotten the inspections for electrical, plumbing and framing - so that means it's on to insulation. The insulation was installed and inspected and we then raced on to sheetrocking. And since I'm a lazy ass I didn't take any pictures since the insulation was put in place, you'll just have to use your imagination. It looks like this, only there's sheetrock on the walls.

If you squint a little you can see the sheetrock.

Well today (9/11) I stopped by the house to check on the progress and all the sheetrock is up and taped and spackled. Lot's of progress. The next major milestone is the install of the hardwood floors and the stair hand rails. We thought we were going to be able to just patch the stair rails, but wouldn't you know it, since we've change so much of the house we now have to follow the "new" code standard for rail height. Our existing stair rails were two inches too short so they all had to be ripped out and will need to be replaced by new ones. Of course.

We finally picked out granite for the kitchen and we decided on silestone for the bathrooms and Julie has finalized the tiles for the kitchens and baths.

Up next is the delivery and install of the kitchen cabinets. Somewhere along the line we have to paint the interior and exterior of the house. Oh, did I mention that they've started to install the cedar shingles? Well, they have. I love the look of the plain unpainted cedar shingles, I'm half tempted to strip the whole house down and have them put up fresh shingles. Mind you, I'm only half tempted and that half of me is an idiot.

Meanwhile, the bank account is looking a tad spartan these days, so any and all contributions to the Billings Foundation will be graciously accepted (and immediately forwarded on to Ethan my contractor, aka: The guy that has all my money).

Betcha can't wait 'till you do your own house project! It's so much fun!

Labor Day Weekend

2007-09-03T16:32:00.000-04:00

Labor Day Weekend we headed up to Cape Code to spend the weekend with Kim and Jim and their three boys.

They boys had a blast playing at the beach. They loved to ride the "floaties" and catch minnows with their nets.

Here's Cory, the Great White Hunter!

This was my best attempt at catching a photo of all three of them together. It's next to impossible to get all three of them looking at the camera, smiling and not making a face, looking the wrong way or sticking their tongues out. In fact, I think it might violate some of the laws of physics. Or the third law of thermodynamics. I think Wile E. Coyote had an easier time catching the Road Runner.

I only got this picture under threat of violence. Anyway, all the other parents had a great time watching and listening to me try to heard my pack of wild boys together and all smile pretty for the camera. I'm glad I was entertaining.

Afterwards, I went back to the house and self medicated with the help of some beer. Lot's of beer.

August 21st, 2007 - House project update

2007-08-21T21:36:00.000-04:00

It's been a while since I updated the blog on the status of the house project, so here goes. The roof is finally completed and the big blue tarp is off the house.

No more big blue tarp!

The new garage doors have been installed and the chimney has been rebuilt to the new height also.

The new front entrance is still a work in progress, so in the meantime, we have a nice little moat. I'm thinking about keeping the moat, it's a nice throwback feature. Maybe I'll stock it with ill tempered seabass.

Jason crossing the moat. With his blankey, of course.

Inside the work has transitioned to the HVAC installation, which is just about done, and the plumbing and electrical rough-ins. We did a walk though with the electrician on Monday going over the light, outlet and switch location in each room. We've decided to have an alarm installed and have the bottom floor wired for audio. So that should be happening this week. The kitchen cabinets are on schedule for delivery the first week of September.

Ethan, our GC, is very pleased with the progress and thinks we are on schedule. The next milestone is the install of the sheetrock. That will surely make things look different.

If you've ever run a large house project renovation, or built a new house, you know that it certainly is an experience. There are decisions to make just about every day. We still haven't picked out the countertops. Oh boy! Luckily Julie and I are on the same page about most things, so that makes the process easier. Except for the countertops, I like the darker stuff and Julie doesn't. So we'll probably compromise and get what Julie likes.

If everything stays on schedule and goes well, we should be back in our house in early November. We'll see...

Jason turns 3!

2007-08-21T21:17:00.000-04:00

August 10th, 2007

Jason turned 3 on 8/10/2007!

We had a party for him on Sunday. We invited some good friends and his God Parents for a brunch. It turned out to be a great day weather wise and the kids had a great time playing wiffle ball, riding bikes, making crafts and generally just being kids. Even the parents got into the act and did some playing too. Although, it's not easy to play wiffle ball holding a beer.

Jason and Anthony share a birthday hug.

Rachael and Cory.

The boys had some of their best friends over to play with, it's great that they have so many friends about the same age. In particular, Racheal and Cory have been friends forever and love to play together. Rachael is about 6 months older than Cory and they've known each other since Cory was about 2 days old. How cool is that?

Julie and I worked like slaves prepare food for everyone. Not! We had it catered. Brunch turned into dinner with most folks sticking around for an evening BBQ. The party broke up when we ran out of beer and food. Which was alot like my 40th birthday party, exept without the drunken air guitar concert at 3am. But I digress.

I think everyone had a good time.

Trip Report - The Dykes

2007-08-05T10:13:00.001-04:00

Saturday August 4th The Scuba Connection chartered the dive boat Stingray for a planned trip to the Alex Mac. The Alex Mac is a 64-foot scallop boat that was lost at sea in July of 2006 after an accident with a barge. Regrettably, two lives were lost from the Alex Mac in the accident. For more information about the Alex Mac and the accident, check here: http://njscuba.net/sites/site_alex_mac.html

The Alex Mac sank in about 80 feet of water about 6 miles off the coast of Manasquan. Sailing out of Belmar on the Stingray we left the dock at about 7am. After several failed attempts to hook into the Alex Mac we decided to head to an alternate site. Most likely the Alex Mac has broken up since it sank. In any event we gave up on it and headed for the Dykes.

The Dykes is a 306 foot long steel hulled five masted schooner built in 1919. The State of New Jersey sank it intentionally in 1983 to create an artificial reef. There's a great write up on the Dykes here: http://njscuba.net/reefs/site_nj02sg_dykes.html

On the way to the Dykes we were visited by a pod of dolphins. This is the second time in as many trips that we've encountered a large pod of dolphins. I hope the trend continues. I'd love to see them while I was under water. We arrived on site at the Dykes and prepped for dive one. I splashed at 11:36am with Bob Muckin as my dive buddy. We quickly dropped down to the bottom at 66 feet and got ourselves oriented. We first headed aft to the stern then doubled back and headed forward to the bow. Most of the Dykes is lying very low, offering about 5 or so feet of relief. The bow and the stern are still somewhat intact and offer about 20 feet of relief.

From left - Scott, Bob and Craig onboard the Stingray.

The visibility was about 15 feet or so and it was relatively dark. There was a slight current on the bottom. Bob and I were looking for lobsters - though we knew this wreck wasn't famous for giving up lobsters. This is a much better wreck for mussels. I don't much care for mussels - so I didn't bother collecting any. I did collect a few sand dollars 'cause I thought the kids would like to see them. Unfortunately Bob and I didn't find any lobsters, so after 45 minutes on the bottom in 55 degree water - we headed up for our safety stop.

During the surface interval we were visited by a large leatherback turtle - something I've never seen off of NJ before. He looked to be pretty large and he didn't stick around long. There's another marine animal I'd love to see while I was underwater.

Unfortunately for Bob, during our first dive his drysuit leaked and his undergarments were pretty soaked so he opted to sit out dive two. I geared up and splashed with Stephan and Alex. Stephan was returning to a spot that he saw a large lobster in hopes of bagging him. After watching Stephan try to dig out his prey for a while, I signaled that I was heading back to the anchor line. Back at the anchor line I ran into Mike and I stayed around there with him for a while while he snapped pictures. He took one of me, but, since it was pretty dark and the vis only so-so, there isn't much to see except the beam of my HID light.

That's me back there, behind the beam of the HID light.

Mike signaled to me that he was heading up and I waved goodbye - I was collecting more sand dollars and generally just enjoying view. After a few minutes Stephan and Alex returned from their hunting trip and Alex headed up the line. Stephan and I hung together by the anchor line for a bit then decided to head up at about the 30 minute mark. While hanging on our safety stop I watched as an endless supply of small comb jellies drifted past us in the current, catching one on my gloved hand every so often and watching them phosphoresce. These jellies are very abundant in NJ and they are bioluminescent.

Stephan and I were the last ones back to the boat so the mate quickly jumped in to pull the hook and soon we were on our way back home.

Unfortunately for Bob he lost his wreck reel somewhere down on the Dykes - most likely while rolling over the side of the Stingray to start the dive. So, if anyone diving the Dykes finds a Halcyon Pathfinder reel with "Muck" written on the handle, shoot me an email and I'll see that it gets back to the owner.

Jason is out of diapers!

2007-08-04T19:20:00.001-04:00

Just a couple of weeks shy of his third birthday Jason has made the transition from diapers! For those of you that are parents, you know that this is a major milestone. Finally, all of the kids are out of diapers! Woo hoo!

House progress update - 8/2/07

2007-08-04T19:13:00.000-04:00

The windows have been delivered and installed, yet another milestone reached. Also, the house wrap has been installed and the garage doors have been removed in anticipation of the new doors being installed. The garage door opening has been temporarily sealed with plywood. The roof near the chimney still needs some work - hence the tarp still on. Hopefully next week the roof is completed and the tarp can be removed. The next milestone is the plumbing rough in.

Ryan's riding a two wheeler!

2007-08-04T19:09:00.001-04:00

After a series of attempts, false starts and pleading to put the training wheels back on, Ryan has mastered the art of riding a two wheeler! He was pretty scared at first, but, he overcame his fears. Turns are still a little "iffy" but he's making improvements!

Congratulations Ryan!

House Project Update - July 20th

2007-07-21T10:25:00.001-04:00

The new roof is almost completely installed. It's starting to look like a house! And our lawn is looking less like a construction jobsite. We've placed orders for the new front door, new kitchen cabinets, new bathroom stuff. And now the waiting begins. It'll take about 6 to 8 weeks for all that stuff to be delivered. Sometime in the next two weeks the windows should be delivered and the electrical and plumbing rough-ins should be completed. For comparison, I've attached a before picture and a current picture.

This is the "before" picture.

And this is the current picture.

House project update

2007-07-20T07:51:00.000-04:00

Thursday, July 19th - The framers have finished framing the new roof and the exterior plywood is all up. On Wednesday, the roofers came and started installing the new roof. Just in time too - we've been getting rain and the tarp is only moderately effective at keeping the water out. Hopefully, no serious damage has been done to the rooms that aren't being modified.

Ethan's carpenter crew is busy finishing framing out the new interior walls. We still have some decisions to make like what to do with the deck in the backyard since the kitchen door to the back deck has moved.

Things are moving along.

The framing for the new roof is done.

The roofers have started to install the new roof.

The interior framing is underway.

Anyone care to guess what this is?

The Billings home undergoes a facelift

2007-07-14T20:07:00.000-04:00

Well, our home renovation project is finally underway. It should last about 14 weeks and it requires us to move out of the house. Woo hoo! Sounds like fun. Not.

July 3rd – Moving day. We moved out of our house into the “chicken house” (a name Cory gives to things that are small, as in, the "chicken car" that we rented one time in Ohio that was barely big enough to hold the 5 of us) a little 3 bedroom house that we will be living in for (hopefully no more than) the next 4 months. By coincidence our new across the street neighbors were moving in on the same day that we were moving out - and they were using the same moving company. It was weird to see two moving trucks from the same moving company parked in front of our houses. Nice to meet you John and Maureen (our new across the street neighbors), we’ll see you again around Thanksgiving! Since the rental that we are moving into is relatively small, we didn’t move everything, just the beds, a few tables, the TV, etc. The rest I had the movers stack up in the two “safe” rooms of the house that should not be touched at all by the construction.

The "Chicken House"

The boys love the rental house, to them it’s a big adventure. There are a bunch of kids in the neighborhood and Cory already knows some of them from school or some of his sports team. The transition for them was pretty painless. The houses are all pretty close together and share a common driveway, so the kids have a lot of safe places to play. The kids pretty much come and go from one house to another at will. One neighbor kid, Joey, who is the same age a Cory spends more time at our rental than his own house. It works though, ‘cause the kids entertain themselves and we like that! For me, the best (and worst, more on that in a sec) part about the rental is that the owner had a room built specifically to house a full size pool table. Yeah! Unfortunately, I have yet to find the balls and the rack! What a tease. The hunt will continue. I will find them. The rental also does not have any a/c. I grew up in a house with no a/c at all so I should be used to it. However, after spending the last 20 years of my life with a/c and the last 9 years with central a/c, I’ve become a serious wuss and must have a/c to sleep. The owner of the rental had an old a/c window unit stuffed away up in the attic and I put it to quick use in our bedroom. For now, the boys are without, but they haven’t complained yet.

Here’s my take on moving out temporarily: it’s much easier to simply take everything you own, and move it than to try to figure out what you need for the next for months and move only that. When you are moving from one house to another the math is simple – everything goes. Whatever isn’t going, is trash. On the way out of the house you simply walk though each room and if anything is still in there you throw it in a box and onto the truck it goes. The move that we just did is different. We had to try to pack only those things that we thought we’d need in the next 4 months. Also, the rental is partially furnished, so we didn’t need to bring certain things, like the dining room table. After the moving truck left us, I must have made a dozen trips back to the house to get things we forgot (like towels, Doh!). Oh well, we are officially out and the construction can begin.

This is what the house should look like when it's all done.

In the 2nd floor of our house we had two bedrooms and a full bath, along with attic space. We are adding two bedrooms and a bathroom so the 2nd floor will have four bedroms and two bathrooms. Downstairs we are making the kitchen about 5 feet longer by breaking into the room that was previously our master bedroom. The kitchen is being completely redone. Our old master bedroom becomes an office. And as long as were spending all of our money, we are also putting in new garage doors, a new front entrance, a 2nd HVAC zone, and a bunch of other stuff that I cant even remember. The whole project should last 14 to 16 weeks, if everything goes well. I’m hoping for 16 weeks, expecting 20 weeks. 14 weeks is just a dream.

July 5th – the demo team came and ripped out the kitchen, the wall between the kitchen and our old master bedroom and completed some of the demo for upstairs that they didn’t get to earlier. These guys didn’t waste any time! The demo guys had come while we were all over in Ohio a couple of weeks ago and completely gutted the upstairs. As a result, Cory, Ryan and Jason were all sleeping in the living room for a while. The next step is to wait for a few consecutive days of good weather so they can rip off the roof and start framing out the new 2nd story and roof line.

Hey, has anyone seen my kitchen?

By July 9th the contractor had ripped off the roof and started framing the new 2nd story. These guys work fast. When I drove past the house to inspect the progress and saw the roof was off, I knew then that we were committed.

Dude, where's my house?

Who knew they made tarps that big?

The framing upstairs is well underway.

By July 3rd they had really made progress on then new 2nd floor. The dormers were all framed out and the new roof rafters completely in place. You can really start to see the new shape coming into play. Let's hope it doesn't rain!

It's starting to take shape.

Cory's a goat herder and the boys go fishin'!

2007-06-25T21:22:00.000-04:00

Philothea, Ohio. June 18th, 2007.

On Monday we went to visit Julie's brother Dale, his wife Margie and their three kids, Derek, Devin and Madison. Dale recently moved the family onto a farm where they are raising goats. Or, "meat goats" as Dale calls them. Meat, because he is raising them for their meat as opposed to milk.

Dale's kids gave all of the goats names. Their favorite one is Jamie, named after Lebron James, and they like to take him (her?, it??) out for a run. They put two leashes on the beast and then they run him down the field. Or at least they try. Sometimes the goat has other ideas. As per usual, Cory was in the thick of things while Ryan and Jason wanted no part of the four legged scary thing.

Dale is renting only part of this farm and the rest is being rented by another farmer. The steer are not Dales, but I leaned over the wire fence to get a pitcure. Only afterwards did Margie tell me that the fence was electrified. Information that I could have used... Luckily I didn't get zapped.

Later that day we met up with Julie's oldest brother Dan, his wife Cindy and their two boys Sam and Will. Dan took us to Cindy's cousins house where they have a pond on their property that they keep stocked with fish. Lot's of fish. Dan quarenteed that everyone would catch a fish.Dan didn't lie, we all caught fish.

Ryan was the first to land a fish.

Then Cory caught one.

And even I got into the act, using an old bamboo pole. The old man still has it.

We let them all go so that they could be caught again another day. All in all a nice night out. Except for the 'skeeters.

Down on the farm

2007-06-22T16:50:00.000-04:00

Philothea, Ohio - June 15, 2007

(More pictures can be found here)

http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slideshow.jsp?Uc=ya1jd89.47hpj9np&Uy=tyl7jo&Upost_signin=Slideshow.jsp%3Fmode%3Dfromshare&Ux=0&mode=fromshare&conn_speed=1

7 days down on on the farm with the whole family. What's not to like? The boys love to go to Ohio since they have so many cousins to play with and besides, what little boy doesn't like to play farm? And see real live farm animals? And go on real tractor rides that are doing real farm work? Anyway, we also had had a wedding to attend. Julie's cousin Kurt was getting married and the reception was going to be outdoors at the Elks Club. That's the same place that Julie and I held our wedding reception almost 10 years ago. Has it been 10 years already? Man how time flies.

We were staying at Grandma (Jan) and Grandpa's (Don) house in Philothea, Ohio. This is their (relatively) new house that they built just about a mile down the road from their old house. More on that later. Did I mention that Don is a hog farmer (read: pigs). Ever been on a pig farm? No? Well, there's is a special smell created as a byproduct of raising pigs. It's hard to describe. It's harder to have to smell it. The easiest way to describe it is to say that it is VERY powerful and seems to be everywhere. It sticks to you. It follows you home. It hits you in the face like a load of bricks. The pigs don't do much. The eat. They sleep. They crap. They eat some more. they crap some more. There's lots of snorting and rooting. And crapping. The boys like to go down to the barn and feed the pigs table scraps. They'll eat just about anything (the pigs that is) and everything.

In addition to raising pigs, Don sometimes has steer. The steer are kept at a separate barn, actually, on a separate farm which is now run by Julie's youngest brother Doug. Doug and his wife Jacqui and their two kids Jack and Olivia now live in the house that Julie grew up in. It's down the road from where Don and Jan now live. The steer smell much nicer than the pigs. Is it just me, or do these guys look like Gateway computers?

The house that Julie grew up in is also just down the road from the church that Julie and I got married in. You can see the church's steeple from Doug and Jacqui's house.

For the cat lover, there are cats too. Lots of cats. They hang out mostly by the steer but that's probably because that's where the feed bin is (or the cat's don't like the smell of pig poo either) and where there's feed around there's mice around. Hence the cats. They're wild cats and they just seem to show up uninvited all on their own. They keep the mice away, or at least help control the population, so that's a good thing. The boys like to feed the cats, well - not Jason, he's afraid of all things with four legs right now. Even little kitty cats.

Don also has acres of field corn, soybeans and wheat. If you've never seen a corn field it's kinda cool. Watching the corn sway in the breeze reminds me a little of being out on the ocean. Except the ocean doesn't smell like pig shit. The corn grows pretty rapidly, on the 7 days that we were there I noticed that they grew several inches. Field corn is different from what we eat - that is sweet corn. Field corn is not for human consumption, rather it is used for feed for the livestock.

Don also keeps an electric golf cart that he uses to travel between the two farms sometimes. The kids love it (the parents, not so much) . Cory loves to drive the golf cart. It's always the first thing he asks about when we get there. He does pretty well, when he's paying attention. Yes -

an adult always rides with the kids.