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| How walkable is your neighborhood? Walk Score With nearby parks, schools, restaurants, and a shopping mall, our's scored 78 out of 100. Pretty nifty. It was also nice to see San Francisco as the number one most walkable city in the US. I can believe it.
At long last, Bill and I are in the planning stages of our honeymoon. It's only going to be about eleven months late, but we're actually going. It was funny too, after thinking about it, this will be our first vacation in almost five years. Yes, we travel all the time, but most of our trips are just weekends visiting friends and family. We haven't taken a vacation, just the two of us, since we spent a week in Ft Lauderdale and the Keys back in 2003. I hope to never have a gap that big between vacations ever again... well, at least before we have children.  We will be spending six nights in Maui during the first week of September. We went back and forth on a destination for a long time. Europe was way too expensive. Asia was too far away (sorry Chris). We gave serious thought to St Maarten, Aruba, Kauai, and Baja Mexico. I even checked out options on Santa Catalina. We originally nixed Hawaii from list when ATA and Aloha Airlines shut down. We agreed that we didn't want to have to spend a whole day traveling, which nixed the Caribbean. Then, oddly enough, prices for airfare/hotel packages in Hawaii started to go down... and we were looking everywhere... priceline.com, travelocity.com, cheaptickets.com, orbitz.com.... we even thought about doing one that required attending a 90 minute timeshare presentation. (yuck) Kauai turned out to be pretty pricey too as there aren't as many hotels on that island. Thankfully we have some friends down here who are from Hawaii and had some helpful insight for us. Since both of us want to avoid the cheesy tourist traps and we'd like to have a relatively chill vacation with some fun activities and real Hawaiian food, the island of Maui was recommended. It has the lush landscapes and fantastic beaches like Kauai (perhaps slightly less majestic). It also has the variety of activities available and a larger quantity of hotel options. I bought the book Maui Revealed and learned all sorts of info about where to stay and what places aren't worth the money. Even awesome details like parking in a turnout just past the 32 mile marker and hiking along a hunter's trail to a somewhat hidden waterfall. I love little stuff like that! I highly recommend the book if anyone is going to either Maui, Kauai, Oahu or the Big Island. All the books are travel books written by people who go to Hawaii as tourists anonomously and don't get any perks from the tourism companies. Pretty cool. We still haven't decided on a hotel yet, but we've narrowed it down to a short list. The Westin Resort & Spa, The Hyatt Regency Resort & Spa, and The Sheraton Maui. If anyone has stayed at any of these hotels and would like to let us know how awesome or crappy they were, please do. I plan to take lots of photos and maybe... if I'm really lucky... Michael will let me borrow his camera. Fingers crossed. | | |
| Bill and I have become fans of Yelp... and are on it a little too much. But, it has introduced us to some new and wonderful restaurants. Last week when we were driving around looking for the Bake & Broil, we drove past a BBQ restaurant and looked it up. Lo and behold, there was a second restaurant in our neighborhood. So, last Friday we gave it a try. It's called Johnny Reb's.
The restaurant is decorated to look like someone's bayou kitchen complete with a large screened-in patio. I forgot to take a picture of the patio. There's even a cowbell on the front door.
Every table (with tablecloths that are probably always sticky) has a bucket of peanuts and we're encouraged to throw the shells on the floor.
I ducked to get out of the photo... I guess Bill thought it was funnier with me in it. The ceiling is draped with the state flags of the south. I didn't see a Confederate Flag though.
Because there were so many delicious-sounding items on the menu, we opted for a "Roadhouse Feast" that included a sample of all of their specialties for $31.59. For appetizers we got this plate of sweet potato fries, fried okra and fried green tomatoes. I had already eaten the tomatoes when I took the picture. The batter they use for frying has a lot of cornmeal in it. It's very light and flaky and doesn't taste overly greasy. I even liked the okra... which I didn't like the last couple of times I tried it. The sweet potato fries were delicious too. Those were a first for me.
Our platter of food consisted of: (take a deep breath)
beef ribs, St Louis ribs, baby back ribs, country fried chicken, fried catfish, cornbread, hushpuppies, buttermilk biscuits, cajun rice and macaroni and cheese. After we were done, the waitress brought our dessert of warm peach cobbler in a to-go carton.
All of it was delicious. The ribs were smoked, but not to the fall-off-the-bone stage, you still had to gnaw a bit (which I like). The cornbread and biscuits were amazing. The hushpuppies were fantastic, light and crispy on the outside and not heavy at all... but since I hadn't had a hushpuppy since 1992, I can't remember how they're supposed to be. The catfish almost melted in your mouth. The fried chicken had a great flavor and texture. The macaroni and cheese was incredible. I could probably go on for a while. I haven't had the peach cobbler yet, it's still in the fridge. I'm sure it will be amazing too.
I'm sure those of you who know us are asking... "Was it better than Lucilles?" You know, it was different. It was definitely cheaper than Lucilles... Bill and I normally share a combo plate for almost $30 and it has less food than what we got here. The atmosphere was different, perhaps a bit more laid back. The service was just as good. I like Lucille's BBQ sauce better, but I thought Johnny Reb's mac n cheese and biscuits were better. We definitely can't say that one is better than the other, they're just different. We'll definitely add this restaurant to the list of "restaurants to take friends and family when they're in town." Chris, let me know what places you'd like to visit when you're here... as I'm sure you have no interest in our favorite Thai restaurant.
Last week I had the privilege to stop by our friend, Doug's house and feed their dog and cats while he and his girlfriend were on the East coast. I'm not really a fan of cats, never have been. But their Golden Retriever, Bailey is a really wonderful dog.
See, he smiled for the camera!
He's about seven years old and is one of the most agile and friendly Goldens I've ever met. When he first met me, he immediately rolled over, onto my feet, and wanted a belly rub. Each morning and evening last week, I'd stop by their house and feed Bailey and the two cats. Bailey and I would play for a while and one of the cats would get jealous and want to play too.
It's been a long time since I was around a dog every day and I forgot just how great a feeling it is to see them so genuinely and unconditionally happy to see you. Bailey just reminded me how much I want to have a dog. But at the same time, we have our next door neighbors to remind us why we don't have one. Bill and I are both gone during the day, and I don't want to leave a dog at home alone for extended periods of time. I know that Bailey is alright with it, but it would be difficult for a puppy. Our next door neighbors have a beautiful Golden Retriever named Chuey who's alone alot. They don't let him inside the house at all and he often keeps us awake at night with his lonely howling and moaning. It's really sad.... especially since they have two elementary school aged children who don't play with him enough. I've often wanted to knock on their door and ask if Chuey could come out and play. So, unless our work schedules change where one of us can work from home, we're not getting a dog. I'm more than happy to play with Bailey.
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| Bill and I are both sore and tired from the weekend. We had humid and warm weather, and absolutely no breeze until the late afternoon. Either way, we had a lot of work to do.
Saturday morning Bill finished drawing up the plans he created to build our raised vegetable bed while I continued clearing the weeds and Bermuda grass from the corner of the backyard where this bed would rest.
Here's a before photo of the corner:
The fences are all stucco and five feet tall. In years past, we grew watermelon in this corner, it gets full sun most of the day and drains really well. This summer we had been growing two artichoke plants, but they weren't doing very well and our neighbor's cat had been using this corner as a litterbox. I'm sure the artichokes were fighting for nutrients in the soil with the invasive Bermuda grass. The tree on the left is our Asian pear tree, it's a very young tree and will give us four pears this year. Last year we had almost twelve. It's kind of amazing since the tree isn't really supposed to produce any fruit until next year. The pears are small (about the size of an apricot) but very delicious. The large shrub is rosemary. It was here when we moved in and has to be whacked back each once in a while. It produces a lot of thicker branches that are great when used as skewers for grilling shrimp and vegetables.
I went to work digging out the bricks (I found a few buried under the soil) and removing as much of the Bermuda grass as I could. I also came across a few giant roots that I think were from a shrub or plant from the neighbor's yards. Bill went over the area with the tiller and I did my best to sift out the chunks of grass.
After the cleanup.
Here are the plans:
Build a two-tiered vegetable bed. Raise up the existing sprinkler head. Install a border and mulch along the edges to keep the Bermuda grass from invading (this might be futile) Fill the box with dirt from the front yard. Plant stuff and make it grow. Simple enough, right?
Work in progress.
Bill's dad gave us a cordless circular saw that was a really big help. Louie came over Saturday morning with his dad's pickup truck to help us run to Lowe's for the lumber. We're opting to use un-treated Douglas Fir. We wanted to use cedar, but it was a little hard to find (Home Depot and Lowe's don't carry it) and it was more expensive. We know that it will eventually rot over time, but it's better for vegetable garden soil to be un-treated. Plus, we plan to be moved out before the wood begins to rot.
Bill and I were barely able to move the bed at this stage to this part of the backyard. It was really heavy! In the end, we had to call our former-roommate Doug to come and help us move it into the corner.
Moved into the corner and the new sprinkler has been installed.
Bill also added a step that will make it much easier to do any work in the upper tier. We'll probably use a couple of pieces of rebar to anchor it into the ground and prevent it from inching away from the corner. There are bricks under each of the corners to prevent uneven settling. After I took this picture, we were able to move about four garbage cans worth of dirt into the lower level. We'll mix in some mulch and manure to add nutrients and then begin filling the upper level. Then I'll go to work creating an edge to the lawn. I think it will definately create a more manicured look. I hope.
Bill and I are both tired and sore. Bill's allergies started going crazy yesterday and he's still sneezing. I learned that my sunscreen (that I was really starting to love because it doesn't smell like sunscreen) isn't sweatproof. So my shoulders, and the back of my knees are very pink even after reapplying a couple of times. I also have a stripe of sunburn along my lower back where my shirt lifted up. Great.
Bill will be traveling a few days this week, so I'll do my best to move some dirt in the evenings after work. We'll see how much I can get done. This coming weekend, we want to be able to install a new sprinkler system in the front yard. The existing one is placed terribly. I think I heard that Patrick may fly down and give us a hand.
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| This week has been pretty quiet, Bill's mom came down for a couple of days. She gets her hair cut from our friend Trish, who also cuts my hair and Bill's hair. It's been busy at work. I'm working on creating puppy toys for one customer and continuing revisions on Harry Potter products. It's been frustrating dealing with the upper ranks of the Harry Potter world. They keep creating and changing the rules as we work... which causes us to go back and make time-wasting and senseless revisions. I commend their ambition to get a theme park open within only a couple of years, but they really should have decided what the heck they wanted as far as merchandise BEFORE we spent a couple of months creating it. Something as simple as deciding on a color scheme... When a website was created for us to download licensed art, we went with the PMS colors that had been used in the art. Then, a few weeks later, the finally decided on the licensed PMS colors. So, we had to go back and revise the hundreds of products we'd composed. Then, a month later, they created rules to go along with those colors... and we had to revise... again. It's been frustrating and very inefficient.
While the Bay Area is experiencing recordtemps, we're having very mild weather in the 70s and 80s withoccasional overcast skies. It's been noticably humid and was pretty foggy on Sunday and Monday.Monday evening Bill and I tried out a new restaurant. It's not actuallynew, it's been open since the 1960s, but it's new for us. Jongewaard's Bake & Broil is in the Bixby Knollsneighborhood of Long Beach. It's kind of a yuppified, affluent,surburban neighborhood with a long stretch of road that caters well tofamily run businesses and restaurants. It's one of those neighborhoodswhere the grass seems greener, the buildings seem cleaner, and the sunseems to shine brighter when you're there. I can't think of any otherway to describe it. The Bake & Broil was a very comfortablerestaurant with homey southern decor; beadboard wainscoting everywhereand the walls decorated with plates and pitchers from the 1960s. Billand I both had items from the specials board: I had baked spagetti,Bill had the Chicken Fried Steak.
My spagetti was delicious. The pasta was obviously not al dente,but it was cooked in a way that reminded me of school lunches... butnot in a bad way. The meat sauce was delicious with large chunks of tomatoes. Mmmm.
Bill's chicken fried steak was delicious too. The steak actually tasted like steak instead of some mystery meat.
I also liked that our meals were pretty normal-sized portions, not gigantic. Our dinners came with homemade soup or salad (with homemade crutons), bread and ice cream fordessert... and was just about $20 total for both of us. We've learned this restaurant is well knownfor it's baked items, specifically cakes and pies. We were both toofull to give them a try. But, we'll definately be back. It'sessentially a diner, with diner food and diner prices, but betterlooking. Definately recommended if you're ever in the neighborhood.
This afternoon we'll begin the large task of landscaping our yard. After a few phone calls to local landscaping companies, we've learned that it'll costs us approximately $400 to $500 to hire someone to come in a haul away the top three inches of soil from our front lawn. It's about 200 square feet... I don't know how many cubic yards of dirt that is, but it was way more than we wanted to spend. We would rather spend the money on something else.. like tile for the front porch or a new patio or an Xbox360. So, we did some brainstorming and decided on a plan.
We've tilled the front yard and raked up as much dead leaves and weeds as we can. Then, this weekend, we'll build a raised planter box in one corner of our backyard. Then with shovels and a few garbage cans, we'll haul dirt from the front yard to the back and fill the planter box. We don't have a wheel barrow, plus it would be a tight squeeze fitting it through the side gate. The garbage cans hold more dirt and are eay to wheel back and forth. Ideally, the raised planter box will be safe from creeping Bermuda grass... and if I keep something growing in it all the time, hopefully the neighbor's cats won't use it as a litterbox. I'll take pictures this weekend to document our progress. Hopefully there will actually be some progress to document.
A few additional pictures from Dad and Logan's birthday party:
 
Jackie trying one of Logan's baby food raviolis. They really taste terrible, but Kristen convinced Jackie that they were delicious. Awesome.
 
Where's Alex?
For Logan's birthday, I created a photobook (from Blurb) of photos from Logan's birth up to a couple of weeks before his birthday. I know Kristen wanted to make one, but she hadn't been able to find the time. I figured his birthday was as good a time as any. What I wasn't prepared for was Kristen's reaction. She's not someone who cries in front of people, not even James. But when she saw what it was, she immediately lost it. And then I lost it. And everyone started laughing at the two of us.
James hiding Kristen while she composed herself. It was really funny.
If I can remember, I'll take a couple of photos of the book. Chris, when you're in town, I'll try to get Kristen to bring it over so you can check it out. I was really impressed with the quality. With this company, you have the option to have a dust jacket, and they're significantly cheaper than the other sites out there.
Sometimes, you just feel like dancing...
 Putting toys away.
 Trying to take the camera away.
We tried and tried to get a picture of Logan and Dad in their matching tshirts. But these were the best we could get. Dad is trying to get him to give a thumbs up.
Time to sing and blow out the candles.
His aim was a little off.
We sang again for Dad, but Logan was a little miffed that this candle wasn't for him too. I think Dad had Logan help him out.
Once again, we were playing Rock Band. It's so much fun!
It took a little while to get a hold of the CF card from Michael's camera, hence the delay. I also have a bunch of photos from when James, Kristen and Logan drove down to spend the weekend with us. I'll dress them up a bit and post them later.
Have a great weekend!
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| Work has had me busy this week, hence the lack of blogging. Our Independence Day Weekend was lots of fun. Bill and I flew to OAK on Friday morning and hitched a ride into Newark with Patrick as we arrived around the time he was finishing work.
Our Fourth of July BBQ was held at Mom and Dad's house, as Newark is one of only five or six cities in the Bay Area that still allows "safe and sane" fireworks. Dad and I bought some fireworks at the booth run by the Newark Soccer Club. A few of us Tebows have worked the booth in the past as it's still a major fund raiser for the club. Dad and I both commented that we've been out of it for so long, we didn't recognize anyone there. Eventually Dad recognized the guy who helped us, a fellow coach.
Dinner was grilled hamburgers and hot dogs, a few different salads and a beautiful selection of fruit. Bill's mom brought homemade egg rolls. A traditional 4th of July hor d'ouerve, she said.
After many parties that involved one of us blowing bubbles for Logan to play with, Bill and I bought a battery powered gun that blows bubbles the weekend before last. That quickly broke as bubble solution leaked into the battery compartment corroding the batteries. Doh. Kristen went a step further and bought an inexpensive bubble machine. Now, we just pour in the bubbles, turn it on, and let Logan play.
He definately had a lot of fun with the bubbles.
 
You can really see the difference in the depth of field between these two shots. The one on the right was taken with my point-and-shoot camera. The one on the left with Michael's SLR camera... can you see why I want one?
Logan learned the words "barbeque" and "firework." Both which he can both pronounce very well. If you ask him "What do fireworks say?" He says BOOM!
Bill is laughing so hard here because Kristen had Logan say "different truck." Which comes out "effin cock." I'm not sure what's worse, Logan's hilarious mispronounciation of some words, or us asking him to say them to because is sounds funny. I'm pretty sure it's the latter.
 Getting Logan ready for bed.
Logan went to bed at his normal time and slept through ALL of the fireworks. And, he even slept through us taking pictures of him asleep... with the flash.
For dessert Patrick made an amazing bread pudding.
It was really delicious. He did a fabulous job on it and, as you can plainly see, it wasn't runny at all! We also made homemade vanilla ice cream in the old crank ice cream maker that belonged to Grandpa Reeves. It's really starting to fall apart and every year we say, this one will probably be the last... but it seems to survive.
Most of us ate our dessert outside to watch the fireworks.
I wanted to take some photos of the fireworks with a slow shutter speed, but the CF card filled up and I only got one. At least it isn't blurry.
Saturday we hung around James and Kristen's place while waiting for Logan's big boy bed to arrive. There was a recall on Logan's crib, so Kristen decided that now was a good time to transition him to a twin bed. And the replacement crib will be for their next baby... arrival unknown. It's kind of stupid how the crib company is handling the recall. Customers will be without a crib for about two weeks. What are the families with younger children supposed to do, buy another crib?
Anyway, Kristen was excited to purchase adorable bedding for her son, but still sad because he's growing up. It's been a bittersweet time for her with him turning two and learning how to say complete sentences. The bed was delivered while Logan was napping. After he woke up James and Bill took him to Jamba Juice and Kristen and I set up the bed.
For dinner we ate at Outback Steakhouse. Logan was facinated with the crocodiles adorning the walls.
 
Later that evening it was interesting putting him to bed. At first he showed no interest in sleeping in his big boy bed and he commenced with his normal professional stalling tactics...
He got a hold of Bill's Blackberry and text messaged Louie a couple of times and almost dialed a couple of calls.
Then he wanted to play the drums like Daddy does...
Tapping the drumsticks together over his head. Eventually Kristen got him into bed, and he immediately wanted to go to his crib. Then she reintroduced him to all of the stuffed animals... "Bun-bun, Shark, Nemo, Blue Bun-bun, Doggie, Bear, and Blue Blanket... see, they want to sleep in the big boy bed...." 
Stalling some more.  
A little while later he was out. And sleeping on his bun-bun instead of the pillow. The next day Kristen told us that he woke up around 2am and wanted to go back to his crib. By now he's slept through the night in his big boy bed. I think the crib will be gone in a week, so he won't have a choice on where to sleep.
Sunday we slept in late and took our time getting the day going. We picked up sandwiches at Munchner Haus Deli in Fremont. I've talked about this place before, the sandwiches there are really delicious. I had the German bologna, Bill had liverwurst, James had grilled bratwurst, Kristen had turkey. We ate while Logan napped. Patrick came over after a little while and babysat Logan while the four of us went to see Hancock. I really liked the film, enough that I'd go see it again. Perhaps the superhero Hancock is a metaphor for the United States... a superhero who helps everyone out, but they hate him. Nah, it's just a Fourth of July action flick. After the film, Bill and I headed to SJC to board our flight back home. It was a fun three-day weekend that simply went by too fast.
I have more photos from Michael's camera from the past few weeks... stay tuned for those.
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