dukeya!

Click on the photos above to see some pics from this July, including Natalie on the Mickey bus (safety first Natalie!) and a few taken by Jaden too (say "cheese" mommy!).

/d

Posted by duke at 07:30 PM | Permalink

Thanks to a friend who works downtown (Firsthand Funds), we had a great vantage over the San Jose Grand Prix.

We live about 5 miles from downtown and can hear the cars from inside our house. So at street level it was REALLY LOUD.

Click the photo above for more at Flickr.

Thanks Mike!

/d

Posted by duke at 10:40 PM | Permalink

Our earth has now spun about 12,784 revolutions since I've been born. I didn't know we only had leap years at a century mark if it's divisible by 400. Lucky us for 2000!

Jaden can sing Happy Birthday, which he likes to do in his room with the cakes he makes from his Lego blocks. He loves to blow out fake candles, but doesn't step up to the plate for the real flames.

Click the photo above to see more at Flickr.  

Thanks Cindy and Ken for a fun birthday at Coyote Creek! 99 isn't bad since I never play. It happened to by my score and the temperature on the course. 

And thanks to everyone else for their thoughtful wishes.

/d

Posted by duke at 10:33 PM | Permalink

Happy birthday America! I don't think our USA was founded just yet, but at least our nation's intentions were declared 230 years ago. That doesn't seem like such a long time given I just posted a picture last month of us lugging our stroller over a little bridge that's older than that. Even I've been around over 15% of our nation's entire existence.

Jaden loves to say "fie ya woks", and he loves to see them even more. We went to Santa Clara Central Park and kept the ground warm a few hours before the show. There was a KFC nearby, and it turns out Jaden likes fried chicken too.

The show was almost 20 minutes and kept Natalie's attention for about 5 and Jaden's for about 12. But the finale was spec-tac-u-larrrr to which everyone (our kids and the thousands of people around us) cheered. Yay!

/d

Did you notice the obscure fireworks reference to Uncle Jimbo and Ned?

Posted by duke at 10:20 PM | Permalink

For Jaden's third movie theater outing, we went to see Cars. This one is the most visually stunning of Pixar's releases to date. With Bug's Life and Nemo, we got to see some cleverly beautiful surroundings. But Cars takes over where The Incredibles left off -- just absolutely amazing animation.

It's a decently simple story, with engaging characters thanks to superb voice actors. There's a bit of modern Sportscenter hipness in the style too, and it's chock full of details that are probably more meaningful to Nascar fans. If I'm not saying anything useful, just go see for yourself.

Get there early: a nice Pixar short is played before the feature (One Man Band). And don't leave early: during the end credits, the Cars go to a drive-in and watch Cars Toy Story, Cars Monsters Inc and Cars Bug's Life.

/d

Posted by duke at 09:35 PM | Permalink