Happy Thanksgiving 2011

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone. Here are some pictures related to the last post.

Hanging out with the family in my parents rented home while theirs gets fixed

All the dry wall and flooring stripped out of the house

Sagging, charred  ceiling and attic

Then we headed to J-Tree. Here Dylan is impersonating a Joshua Tree

On the second day out we headed to Echo Cove and there were a couple of  other families. Dylan found a friend in this little girl. They played together for several hours, pretty much ignoring the adults. 

On the third day we climbed at the Riverside Quarry which is an interesting granite cliff. Having been blasted it is all steep for granite and more featured than is typical. In addition, there is a lot of loose stuff that has been variously held in place, mostly with glue, but here with a 3/4" bolt that must be a foot long or more. 

On our second day out in Joshua Tree, Mark Hsieh from the Mad Rock office came out to meet us. On Wednesday morning after a Taiwanese breakfast we headed into the Mad Rock office to see their operation then headed out to the Quarry to climb.

King of the Bed

It is really hard to see in this photo, but tonight we are staying at a hotel in the town of Joshua Tree right outside the park that has 2 king size beds meaning Dylan has one to himself. Naturally he is a sprawled out as possible trying to take up as much space as his little body can. This of course after he spent an hour jumping all over the thing.

We had a good weekend with my parents in San Rafael. Had dinner with everyone on Friday night, from Great Grandma all the way down to young cousin Kailee. On Saturday I got out for a ride with my dad and Linda got out later with my mom. On Sunday we headed up to look at the progress on my parents house (photos to come later) they have torn out all the drywall and are now waiting for approval on truss engineering to replace the whole roof. After that we checked out the art studio that my dad displays at, AurorA Art Studios.

Then to finish off the day we watched the 49ers beat up on the Arizona Cardinals, OK so maybe they should have beaten them by a lot more, but hey 9-1 is still 9-1. GO 9ers.

We have another day of climbing out here in J-Tree then hopefully we will check out a crag in the Los Angeles area and head back to San Rafael for Thanksgiving.

Balloon Fiesta 2011, Halloween, BirthdayDylan waiting

Dylan waiting, all bundled up, while Linda and I park the bikes and change shoes after ridding to Balloon Fiesta Park

Chowing down on a breakfast burrito at the Intel tent

Yum, Krispy Cream and milk

Hanging out by the cows udder

Did not see this one last year

People watching a balloon getting blown up

For my mom, Sugar Bear

Baby Bee leaving the nest, I don't think the mom and dad flew today

It was interesting, the balloons took off and pretty much circles the field because of the changing wind direction

Spider Pig (The Simpsons?) and a shark hanging out with the bumble bees

Balloons overhead

No idea what this thing is

Still waiting for pigs to fly

Dylan and Linda getting ready to head out trick or treating

Dylan trying on my new snowboarding boot

Dylan holding court at his birthday party

With his new toy

We had Chris, Jo and Trinity over for a small party on Saturday night, they brought cream puffs. I think they agreed with Dylan