Author: John

Posted on by John

Since July 4th was on a Tuesday, I decided to take Monday off. Which was cool, because on Mondays, Jack goes to swimming lessons in the morning.

Christine and I headed to the Emler Swimming School at 9:00, and while Christine and Jack got ready to go swimming, I introduced myself to the other Dad there, and got my camera out. He had his camera too.

Jack had so much fun learning to swim, and interacting with the other kids. He’s supposed to be learning to hold his breath underwater, so that by the time he’s done with lessons this year, he should be able to swim independantly for 4-5 seconds, and should be able to jump into the pool from the side feet first. Totally cool to think that a two year old will know how to swim (maybe).

See all of the photos here.

Then, on Monday afternoon, we met the family (Greg, Cheri, Debbie, Raymond, Lisa, Gerry and kids) at Zilker Park, and caught a few photos of them on the train, before heading over to Guerro’s for dinner. Mmmmm, Guerro’s.

Average Rating: 4.6 out of 5 based on 281 user reviews.

[ | | | | ]

Posted on by John

Jack started wearing his sunglasses this week without tearing them off his face as soon as we put them on. In fact, now, if the sun is too bright, he starts asking for them:

Average Rating: 4.8 out of 5 based on 222 user reviews.

[ | | | | ]

Posted on by John

On Saturday, July 1st, Christine, Jack and I got up and drove to Round Rock to paint a room for Marc and Cyndi. Cyndi’s baby girl is due in two weeks, and Marc was out in Johnson City building Cyndi’s mom a deck, so we decided to go help them get the nursery painted. I hate painting, and am no good at it…

So we talked Josh and Elise to driving out, so Josh could help me.

Josh and I painted, pretty much all day (my fault that we had to repaint a few parts) and it was fun… Actually, the painting wasn’t fun… hanging out with Josh all day was fun. We closed the door to the room, and enjoyed the paint fumes, kept the girls out and bonded for a good 4 or 5 hours.

After getting high painting all day, Marc got home, and the girls cooked us dinner… it was a fun day, even though I hate painting.

At the same time, we had a lot of family was in Austin for the Fourth of July weekend.

Lisa and Gerry from Arkansas, plus their kids Taylor, Chase and Aubrey, drove down to spend the long weekend with Debbie and Raymond, and Cheri, Greg, Paige, Patrick, and Matthew drove up from Houston.

We drove out to Lakeway to see them on Sunday. I got on a boat with Lisa, Gerry and their boys pretty much as soon as we arrived, and we took the boys out tubing. Then Greg joined us with the little kids, and Lisa and Greg headed back to the house. We had a lot of fun taking the kids out on the boat and throwing them in the water repeatedly from the tube. I even built up my courage enough (thanks to the beer) to try a round at tubing. Greg threw me off pretty quickly. Taylor and Chase were really good at helping the little kids, and teaching them how to ride the tube the right way. I was impressed.

Dinner was left-over barbque and shrimp. Mmmmm, good.

After diner, the boys played poker, and Christine and I got on the road with Jack… he was exhausted from all the swimming he did in the pool that day.

It was great to finally meet Aubrey and see Taylor now that he’s turning into a young man.

Average Rating: 4.8 out of 5 based on 246 user reviews.

[ | | | | ]

Posted on by John

Last Friday, Christine and I got on a flight, with Jack, to Seattle. We were heading up there for the weekend to see friends (The Penfields) that we really hadn’t seen in 3 or 4 years, and to meet their daugher (who is 3 now) and let them meet Jack, and to see how big Joel has gotten since the last time we saw him.

Long story short, we had a great trip, but it was way to short, and getting there was “half the battle” so to speak… Needless to say, American Airlines cancelled our Dallas to Seattle flight, so we were facing the possibility of not even going to Seattle for the weekend, but one of their star ticket agents understood our plight, and booked us through Denver to Seattle on Friday. Instead of arriving at 2pm as we’d intended, we arrived at 11:00pm. Jack was pooped.

We were staying at a friend’s condo in downtown: Fourth and Pike. An amazing address, and a great little one bedroom condo: Perfect for “getting away” for the weekend, or a week or two…

On Saturday, we got up ‘early’ and met Kelly, Greg, Joel, and Aubrey at Pike Place Market, and watched the fish throwers throw a few fish… then we walked down to the park, and then headed to our Harbor Cruise reservation. On the cruise, we chatted and caught up, and enjoyed learning about Seattle from the water, and spending time with the kids.

After our cruise, we grabbed a quick bite to eat at Red Robin, and then walked back to the fish market. Aubrey was cute… helping me push Jack’s stroller (he was passed out tired. We said our goodbyes and took Jack home for a nap.

After napping, we headed to the Seattle Aquarium… talk about fun for Jack. He really enjoyed looking at all of the fish and seals and starfish. It was really cute to see him exploring the aquarium.

We ate dinner at the Fisherman Restaurant on the peer, and let Jack have fun running around while we ate… I got up with him and ran around with him… the waitresses thought it was cute.

On Sunday, Jack and I got up early and went for a walk, and took some photos. Then we brought breakfast and coffee up to Christine. And then Christine packed while Jack and I took a nap.

As we were leaving our condo, we realized that the Seattle Gay Pride parade was taking place right outside our condo. Heh… “too funny” is all I’ll say.

We got in our car, and drove to the airport for the flights home. Jack was great on the 4.5 hour flight to Dallas, and fell asleep in Dallas before we even took off, and didn’t wake up until the morning.

It was a great trip, long overdue, and way too short.

The photo galleries are here:

Average Rating: 5 out of 5 based on 242 user reviews.

[ | | | | ]

Posted on by John

“The words that a father speaks to his children in the privacy of home are not heard by the world — but, as in whispering-galleries, they are clearly heard at the end and by posterity.” -Jean Paul Richter

We spent the day working in the yard and enjoying each other’s company all day. We did try to go buy me a good pair of shoes, but the store didn’t have what I wanted. I also made a trip to JCPenney’s to buy some new shirts…

We capped of the day with a few hours out in the front yard in the pool. Then we put the pool up:

Average Rating: 4.8 out of 5 based on 199 user reviews.

[ | | | | ]

Posted on by John

I haven’t posted a lot of photos lately, mainly because the new job is taking a lot of energy, and Christine, Jack and I have been busy and sick lately.

So, here are some photos of Jack from this past week.

The first two are of Jack dribbling milk down his chin and chest. Then Christine took this photo of us reading before bed one night.

Then, I snapped these three photos of Jack smiling, laughing, and singing “if you’re happy and you know it, then your face will surely show it” and then him pulling his pull toys around his room.

Average Rating: 4.6 out of 5 based on 160 user reviews.

[ | | | | ]

Posted on by John

Look at the forecast for this week:

It’s not even July yet.

updated on 6/13: It got up to 104 today. This is rediculous:

Average Rating: 4.9 out of 5 based on 240 user reviews.

[ | | | | ]

Posted on by John

Brooke and Steed asked me to come take some photos of their daughters (Louella is 2 and a half or so, and Adeline is 3 weeks) today, so I went over around 9 a.m. I was there for about an hour, and had fun taking photos of the girls.

See the photos here

Average Rating: 5 out of 5 based on 289 user reviews.

[ | | | | ]

Posted on by John

For those of you expecting, or that have small babies, you’ll get a kick out of this video:

Josh’s mom emailed that to me, and Christine and I died laughing watching it over and over. Enjoy.

Average Rating: 4.8 out of 5 based on 162 user reviews.

[ | | | | ]

Posted on by John

Last night I got a needed good night of sleep after I returned from San Jose (was there for the past two days at a conference for work).

This morning, Christine let me sleep in until 8 a.m. and then we headed to the OB. Christine and I were there for an ultrasound to check on the baby. And to find out the sex of the baby.

Here are the images of the ultrasound. The second one is the one where the evidence of the sex is. Click on the images for a larger view:

And so, yep, that’s the news folks. We’re having another little boy in October.

We’ll keep you posted.

The new kid will learn to love hand-me-downs and Jack is going to have to learn to be a big brother.

Average Rating: 4.5 out of 5 based on 255 user reviews.

[ | | | | ]

Posted on by John

Last night, Christine and I celebrated our eight year anniversary.

We met 12 years ago, and got married 8 years ago… I know, crazy isn’t it?

It was a really nice evening.

I got home around 5:15, so Christine could ‘get ready’.

Erin showed up around 6:30, to take over with Jack.

Then Christine and I drove downtown, parked, and walked to the Roaring Fork restaurant in the Stephen F. Austin hotel on Congress. Man, the food was amazing.

When we got there, the hostess told us “Happy Anniversary”. Then our waitress told us “Happy Anniversary”. We had mixed green salads… which were really good. I had the pork tenderloin, which was perfectly cooked, and had a flavorful mustard sauce. Christine had the pork shoulder which totally fell apart as she tried to pull the meat off the bone. It was succulent. Then we had the brown sugar creme brule. Ummmmm. And the chef had written “Happy Anniversary” on the serving plate that our dessert came on. They made us feel really special.

We exchanged gifts before we sat down. Our gifts to each other were perfect for each other… we both agreed on that.

After dinner, we walked over to the Omni Hotel where my office is, and took the hotel elevator to the roof top pool, just to look out over the city. How cool! We sat down and enjoyed the breeze for a few minutes and chatted before heading home.

Happy Anniversary babe! I love you!

(Oh, and Jack turned 18 months old yesterday too)

Average Rating: 4.8 out of 5 based on 197 user reviews.

[ | | | | ]

Posted on by John

(In case I didn’t tell you, I quit my job at 24/7 Real Media two weeks ago… and my first day at the new job confirmed I did the right thing for me and the family.)

Today was my first day at the new job. I showed up at 8, spent about 3 hours with the C-Level execs talking turkey, then spent a couple of hours with one of my direct reports. Then a meeting or two, then played with my laptop getting some of the settings just right. Then another hour or two with a peer and then with the President. Got home at 6:00… Then after playing with the kid, eating dinner, giving him a bath and talking to the wife a little, I started digging into some of the numbers I’ll need to learn. Overall: A great day! Can’t wait for tomorrow.

Average Rating: 4.4 out of 5 based on 300 user reviews.

[ | | | | ]

Posted on by John

This past weekend was a lot of fun. On Saturday, I hung out with Jack all day. Christine met up with her friend Tonya around 3:00 and they had a great afternoon and evening together. They went to the Alamo Drafthouse to watch a movie, and then went to dinner at Mirabelle. Christine got home around 9:00 and we went to bed early.

On Mother’s Day, I let Christine sleep in. Jack and I went into the bedroom around 8:45 and woke her up by singing “Happy Mother’s Day” to her (to the tune of the Happy Birthday song).

After some kolaches (that Jack and I had procured from the Lone Star Kolache place on 35th and Lamar) we all got dressed and headed to Zilker Park.

And boy, did we have fun.

Jack chased the pigeons and sat down with a few squirrels:

And then we rode the Zilker Train.

Lots of fun, and more photos here.

After going to Zilker Park, we stopped on the way home and ate lunch at Scholtsky’s and then Jack fell asleep on the way home.

We let Jack nap until 3:00, and then headed to a birthday party for Dylan Levy, the 2 year old down the street. That was fun too… We ate cake, and played, and had a ton of fun. The folks at MyGym here in Austin do a great job with little kids parties.

Jack also got a few presents from Grandma in the mail this past week… and he’s learning to play the harmonica. At the end of the day, we gave him his harmonica to play with while we changed his diaper. He thought that was a grand idea, and you should hear him now… he’s really getting good at it.

Hope you all had a great Mother’s Day too.

Average Rating: 5 out of 5 based on 196 user reviews.

[ | | | | ]

Posted on by John

Last week, I spent the week at Ad:Tech in San Francisco. It was a great week in San Fran… the weather was perfect. The days were long (up at 9, in bed around 2) for four days straight, but work can be work, and it was fun.

Christine and Jack spent the week in Dallas with Grandmother and Granddad.

Frank sent this photo of Jack from their week up there:

Jack is getting to the point where he’s really got his own little personality, if you can’t tell from that photo. 😉

Average Rating: 4.6 out of 5 based on 218 user reviews.

[ | | | | ]

Posted on by John

One morning, Jack and I took a walk around the neighborhood. When we got to Herbert and Lori’s house, we spied Dylan and Lori outside playing in Herbert’s old beater bug.

Jack wasn’t content to just sit in his stroller, so we put him in the car with Dylan, and Lori took some photos. You can see them all here.

This one is my favorite:

Old bugs are cool. Herbert’s reminds me of the one I bought for $300 in high school. It had rusted out floor boards, a rusty body, a sunroof that was permanently stuck open, and a kickin’ Jensen stereo system that Josh and I put in one afternoon.

The backseat caught on fire once. The paint job was red spray paint out of a can (which made touch ups easy to do). The suspension was totally shot. The front bumper fell off a few times. I used to feed cows in it by putting someone in the trunk (up front) and driving through the pasture backwards while they sat in the trunk with the feed and dropped the feed as we backed up. It had a top speed of 52 mph or so, but only going downhill with the wind at your back. The breaks sparked when you hit them (which was cool at night, as long as the cops weren’t behind you). And, I got a my first ticket in that car (for not wearing a seat belt). But, I made it to Dallas and back in it once (didn’t dare to try it twice). It was a good car.

I think my mom sold the car for $400 the next summer after it quit running… loved that old bug.

Average Rating: 4.5 out of 5 based on 284 user reviews.

[ | | | | ]