Christmas Photo Extravaganza

Monkey Bars

Move Over Geodesic Dome

Check out the new addition to the neighborhood. One day they moved the old cracker box-style home, poured a round concrete foundation, and broke out the erector set. No, I don't know what it is but I suspect Buckminster Fuller would be jealous. Heather says the workers seem apologetically polite when she drives by. You know, they wave a little too hard and smile a little too wide. Just a tad too much enthusiasm. Heather's not a fan but I like it (I hope she doesn't read this blog). Yep, I like it a lot. It brings a little character to the neighborhood. Growing up in La Verne I remember there was a family across the street that practiced witchcraft. They tinted all their windows purple and adorned their roof with bedposts. Definitely an odd family but they made the street a bit more interesting ("Nevermind that woman staring, muttering and pointing at us from her front lawn - she's just casting a spell on us.") We've speculated what the dome might be:

The Brown Derby

Nuclear Power Plant With A View

Igloo

Scrubbing Bubble

The Tip of a Ballistic Missile

Michael Jackson's Mausoleum

Hostess Coconut Snowball

Feel free to enter a guess.

My Wife Is Better Than Yours

So, after a 12 hour day I came home and put a couple of warm slices of pizza on my plate. I walked into the bedroom and began to sit on the bed when the pizza slid off the plate, flipped over, and landed cheese side down on our white 400 thread-count Egyptian cotton duvet. Did I mention it was barbecue chicken pizza? Uh, yeah. Heather witnessed the entire disaster too. Before I could pick off the saucy onions and chicken bits, Heather said "Its no big deal, don't worry about it." How awesome is that! Maybe she took pity on me after a long, rough day of work. Tomorrow I'll be back in the salt mines for another 12 hours and, no doubt, she'll have those stains removed. She's a Houdini with a bleach pen.

Erika's Princess Party

Erika turns four this next week. Her birthday falls so close to Thanksgiving that we throw her party early. She wanted a princess party. The princess market must be worth billions - every four year old invitee showed up in their own princess dress usually with shoes to match.

Heather didn't disappoint Erika. The bubbles, make-your-own-tiaras, games, pizza, and cake were just what her majesty wanted.

Christian was an excellent helper too. He politely stayed out of the way most of the time, and jumped in when called on to do so.

Each guest was given a scepter, a ring, and a pair of white gloves.

Heather made the cake the night before - confetti yellow cake, buttercream frosting, and ice cream cones decked with sprinkles.

Look Slimmer, Stand Taller, Feel Younger

Oh where to begin. You might think I pulled this out of an old LOOK magazine but I didn't. It was stuffed in last Sunday's coupon section. Instead of "Look Slimmer" it should say "Look Like Your Torso Is Being Squeezed Out Of A Toothpaste Tube." Lose 25 pounds as it slowly cuts off the blood supply to your lower digestive tract. Apparently side effects may include dead eyes, Michael-Jackson-nose, and a bad neckache. Celebrity John Schneider from the Dukes of Hazzard endorses it so it must be good. Without it, Bo Duke would look like Boss Hog. And look at that lifelike illustration to the right. Can you see the the progression? From pooch to perky "right away!" Act now because the last batch of slimmers was made in 1968 and they're nearly gone. I feel for the agency that created this advertisement. Apparently it was so effective that Cosmetic Laboratory Sales never felt compelled to update it. As they say "The best ads leave agencies with nothing more to do."

Red Velvet Cake

Heather introduced me to Red Velvet Cake a few years ago. She's made it for each child's first birthday. RVC is a southern dessert with deep red color, a little cocoa, Crisco (not butter) and a slightly bizarre white frosting recipe (cold butter combined with sugar and cooked milk and flour cooled to room temperature). Then there's the ritualistic sprinkling of baking soda over the cake batter and the splashing of apple cider vinegar over the top to make it fizz. Oh, and don't forget the two bottles of red food dye. Not one bottle, two bottles. One time Heather skipped the second bottle of dye and a RVC connoisseur from Texas glanced at it and dismissed it by saying "That's not red cake." And never ever put nuts on your red cake (I'm talking to you Bobby Flay). Heather's mother heard she made RVC cake this weekend and said "I just want to go to the store and get the ingredients to make some."

Heather is a little annoyed with the recent popularity of RVC. Its not that she wants to horde it all to herself, rather she complains that no one makes it right. "Cream cheese, pu-leeeeze!"

Heather says you either love RVC or you hate it. I guess I'm the exception to the rule - its a fine cake but it doesn't hold a candle to German chocolate cake. The chocolate, the coconut, the nuts . . . that's what I want for my birthday.

Juliet @ One

Happy Birthday Juliet! I snapped these photos after returning from the mall. Heather spent the day practicing for Thanksgiving (see post below) so we postponed cutting the Red Velvet cake until after dinner. But half the family was asleep before we could cut the cake so we'll cut it tomorrow and snap some more pics .

All our babies have been wonderful and Juliet is no exception. We always believed that infants have to learn to sleep in their own beds and Christian and Erika learned that lesson pretty quickly. But somehow Juliet seems to make it to our bed more than the other kids - about 50% of the time. I think there's a secret part of Heather ignoring how to train Juliet to sleep in her own bed. She knows Juliet is our last baby and she won't be nursing her for much longer. I suspect Heather is subconciously extracting as many motherly moments as she can from our last child, and I don't blame her one bit.

Good Saturday Morning

This is the first Saturday in a long time when I had nothing planned. Usually, I have some enormous project and only eight hours of energy to complete it. But today? Nothing to do but coast until Juliet's One Year Birthday Party. I was completely rested by 4:30 a.m. but laid in bed for another hour just because I thought it would be wierd to rummage around the house so early in the morning. Then I washed the cars, worked in the yard a bit, ran some errands, and polished-off the box of Boo-Berry cereal. The box was too kitschy to throw out so I cut the face off the front of it, added some elastic and made some holes for the eyes. I thought the kids would love it, but Heather was the only one willing to wear it long enough for a photo.

The kids were in a great mood too. Everyone was anxious to eat Heather's Red-Velvet Cake but would have to wait until later. Heather is in charge of the Thanksgiving turkey this year so she thought she'd practice by making a complete Thanksgiving dinner. Yup. I had Thanksgiving dinner today and it was nearly perfect. I say nearly perfect because she grabbed the salted consumme instead of the unsalted and the gravy turned out, well, salty. The turkey was cooked to perfection. She's going to add an apricot ginger glaze/chutney to the mix on Thanksgiving day. Can't wait.

While Heather cooked, I took the kids to the mall for a little early Christmas shopping. I came away with some good ideas for Heather but strangely, for all the time we spent in the toy store, the kids added nothing to Santa's list. Unless they start expressing their desires, I'm gonna re-gift that lump of coal I received last year.

Christian is doing much better. He has no signs of last week's strep. Yesterday he submitted a picture of his latest creation (not pictured) to Lego's monthly newsletter. They feature a handful of kids and their Lego spaceships each month. I'll let you know if he makes it.

The Longest Halloween

When did Halloween become as great a commitment as Christmas? Retailers put Halloween decorations for sale on August 1st. Kids hit the pumpkin patches in early October. Halloween parties begin in the middle of the month. Church, school and friends all throw parties. The building where I work sponsors a costume contest. We added a trip to Disneyland's Halloween Time and reached complete Halloween saturation by October 29th. I was done, done, done with Halloween two days ago. I braced myself for the local school's Halloween Bash and for Halloween itself.

But then Christian fell ill in the middle of the night with a terrible stomach ache and a low fever. Heather was wiped out taking care of Juliet so I spent much of the night with Christian. He missed the school bash and was in sad shape Halloween day. He rallied in the afternoon and carved his first pumpkin start to finish with minimal help from dad. See below - second from the right. Come time to don his outfit, Christian fell sick again and just couldn't go trick or treating. I took Erika out with the neighborhood kids and she had a great time.

Funny thing - I lost Erika for a minute. She and another 4 year old neighbor named Josh ran ahead and became mixed up with another group of trick or treaters. I found them in front of an old woman's house and dragged them back to our group. We returned to the same old woman's house a few minutes later but Erika and Josh wouldn't leave the woman's porch. I approached and poor Josh was crying loudly pacing back and forth on the porch. Erika looked stunned. The woman looked at me and said "They've been here before - only one per child." I politely chortled "Oh yeah, they got mixed up in another group that was here before and now their back, sorry abou. . ." She interrupted me and repeated "Only one per child, I've seen this Red Riding Hood and Superman before." By then Erika was walking away but Josh was so distraught he kept crying on the Grinch's porch. She looked at him again and said "Only one per child." Really lady? Are your Smarties that precious? The kid is bawling in your face, obviously doesn't understand why everyone except him walked away with candy, and you're going to stand on principle? Fine. On the way home I saw Heather with Christian. Apparently he rallied and hit a few homes before retiring to bed. At the end of the night I told Heather about the Halloween Grinch. Her reply? She sighed and said dismissively "Old people."

UPDATE: Someone stole four of our five pumpkins. Okay, so maybe some kids threw them down the hill or squashed them on the street but I searched and found no evidence of such hijinks. They are just gone. I suspect the paperboy. Erika was nearly unconsolable when she found them missing.

Halloween Time At Disneyland

Heather described Halloween Time at Disneyland as "The longest candy line eh-ver." Disney closes California Adventure at 5:00 pm, pushes out all the guests, and then reopens from 6:30 to 10:30 pm for all the costumed guests. The event was sold out but not too crowded. Disney cast members stuff handfulls of candy in the kids baskets. Erika loved her red velvet cape which grandma sewed for her. We feared the kids would conk out before 10:30 but they made it to the very end.

Daft Punk Is Playing At My House, My House

I was never a big fan of Daft Punk until 1) I heard LCD Soundsystem's song Daft Punk Is Playing At My House which caused me to give them a second look; and 2) I saw them at Coachella. All they did was DJ atop a lighted pyramid. I couldn't tell whether they were actually doing something because their hands were hidden behind the staging. But it was the best show that weekend by a mile. Here's a Youtube clip that does not do the concert justice, but you get the idea. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9a5dBJDz2vs . I have yet to buy one of their albums but I'm a fan of their songs Robot Rock and Technologic. I'm also a big fan of their robot helmets. You can buy an official replica for $65,000 (no kidding) or you can make your own for $30 with a little cardboard, acrylic, and body filler.


I downloaded some cardboard patterns and started making my own. Patterns can be found here. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TmbMj-NFFQg&feature=fvsr . Normally I would have used Bondo but I discovered a new lightweight premium body filler name Rage Gold. I love this stuff. Easy to mix, easy to sand, dries quickly with fewer pinholes, and stays cool (Bondo heats up when it cures). I made the helmet Christian is wearing in this website's splash page out of paper maiche. Then I graduated to paper and spackle and made the Boba Fett helmet. http://nelsonsinspace.blogspot.com/2008/10/boba-fett-fini.html . But nothing beats this body filler. I'm already looking for another project to use this stuff again. Any suggestions?

Name That Character

Erika (3) loves a certain cartoon character so she made a Lego version of it (picture on the right). Christian (6) followed suit by making his own version (on the left). I love these Lego characters. I consider both versions rather sophisticated for their ages. I also love Erika's abstraction compared to Christian's more literal view. Can you tell who this character is? Don't all comment at once . . .

Update: Thaaaaaank yooooouuuu for all your guesses (sarcasm). No one got it right. The correct answer is Tweety-Bird

Nice Gnomes

Christian sitting on Attila














Erika and Napoleon











Juliet and Esprit

Dutch Baby

A year ago we went to Richard Walker's Pancake House on Front Street and Heather ordered a Dutch Baby - a pancake souffle served with nothing but powdered sugar and a lemon sliced in two. The sugar and lemon combine on the pancake to make a perfect lemon syrup. Why had I never heard of this before? The Dutch Baby makes pancakes look and taste like foam rubber. Then Heather said, "Oh yea, I know how to make these." Know how to make these? We've been married for seven years and you've been hiding this delicious secret from me? Heather has served me aebelskivers a hundred times but somehow conveniently forgot to share her recipe for the most delicious thing on Earth. It makes me wonder what else she's holding back.

Anywho, the Dutch Baby is nearly the same recipe as a pancake save for the extra cube of butter. Its made differently too - cooked for a minute on the stove and then placed in the oven for 12 minutes. Make sure you leave the oven light on so you can see it rise five inches above the pan. Then it collapses all over your plate as it cools and waits for the sugar and lemon.

If you want a good Dutch Baby, then go to Richard Walkers (richardwalkers.com). If you want a great Dutch Baby, then ask Heather.

Labor Day

We spent part of Labor Day weekend in Los Angeles. We thought we'd take the kids to see some dinosaurs at the Natural History Museum. On our way we noticed many cars with USC decals and license frames traveling in the same direction but none of us put two and two together - Exposition Park is next to USC and there was a game that day. Exiting the offramp we had already given up on parking and decided to go to the La Brea Tarpits instead. Good thing too - two lots advertised "Park Here $60." Yep, 60 bones, and they were already three-quarters full. Dad went to USC in the 60s and reminisced about the neighborhood before the Watts riots. We took surface streets to the tarpits and the kids had a ball. The black-topped pond was bubbling with gas and the kids loved the elephant stuck in the tar.

A colleague from work recommended we try Clifton's Cafeteria for lunch in the middle of Los Angeles. In its heyday, Clifton's was supposedly the bees knees, a mini-Disneyland you could enjoy during your lunch hour. Well, how times and changed. It was hot and humid in downtown LA and Clifton's air conditioner was on the fritz. I don't know when the picture below was taken but apparently no one has dusted the place since then. I expected the kids to be saucer-eyed and mesmerized by the decor but it was so dark and weird we all preferred to gaze at the floor. I could live with its dankness, even revel in its poor ambiance if the food was any good. Everyone loves a dive that serves great food. I used to drive to a roach coach parked in a vacant tire store in Azusa because the tacos were so delicious. But Clifton's starchy, flavorless food provoked only one reaction in my mind - "Ew."

However, all was not lost. We went to Don and Angies' and watched the Cougs beat the Sooners. Can you feel the power of the Wasatch? Oh yea! Erika rolled down an entire flight of stairs, cried for a minute and then bounced right back. The next day we went to church and then mom served another classic Sunday dinner at the formal dining table - roast beef, potatoes, cream corn, green beans, salad, rolls, and about 25 pounds of peeled fruit. We returned to San Diego Sunday night and spent a spectacular Monday morning at Ocean Beach (air temp - 80, water temp - 73), grabbed some deli sandwiches at the Olive Market, and spent the rest of the day relaxing with our new best friend - our just-installed air conditioner.

Hat Night at the Padres

Hat night at the Padres. We bought seats in the park bleachers and brought some Subway sandwiches. I spent most of my time chasing the kids all over the picnic area, through the playground, and rolling down the hill. We made it to the 6th inning before the kids were warn out. Had a difficult time focusing my polaroid. It was getting dark, I had it wide open at 4.7, and the depth of field was reduced to about an inch.

Some San Diego Favs

Whenever I'm near Los Angeles' Union Station I drop by Philippe's, Home of the French Dip Sandwich.
http://www.philippes.com/
My parents used to take me there when I was a child. The menu was a little too mature for my young taste buds, but I loved the atmosphere - the sawdust floors, the signs advertising a cup of coffee for a nickel, the brick and mortar walls, and the bustle of the deli counter.










San Diego has some terrific, reasonably priced food haunts too. Let me take you on a little tour. I'm trying to implant the same memories that my parents gave to me by taking my kids to some of these local San Diego restaurants. Recognize this first restaurant? Let me pull it into focus.










Yes, its Filippi's Pizza Grotto in Little Italy. The name is similar to my L.A. fav, but the food is entirely different. It has all the ingredients to make a memorable experience - a long line through a narrow passage which surprisingly hasn't been cited by the fire department, racks of oddly packaged products direct from Italy, the smell of anchovies and fresh cut parmesan cheese, confusing and dank eating areas, wine bottles wrapped in wicker hanging from the ceiling, waitresses too busy to care, and large portions of simple but tasty Italian food.
http://www.realcheesepizza.com/










Have you ever met anyone who didn't like Karen Krasne's Extraordinary Desserts? This quaint little shop has the permanent smell of chocolate and coffee. You'll get type II diabetes just by looking at the many desserts on display. Extraordinary Desserts is best enjoyed late at night after a play. Head to Hillcrest for the quaint cottage or go to the stark and modern sister shop which serves a lunch and dinner menu. Try the Surfing Goat Ping Pong Cheese Chutney Bruschetta with Maui mango chutney. Yeah, that's a real item and its reeeaaaal good.
http://www.extraordinarydesserts.com/

Nevermind the little boy in the bottom of the photo - focus on the cracker box in the background. Mexican Fiesta looks like a real dive, and it is. But the beef tacos are the unhealthiest and therefore the best tacos in San Diego. They really should be called salty lard bombs in a hardshell. Within 60 seconds they'll turn the brown bag transparent. Heather and I will buy two each and eat them by the wharf. The only problems with these tacos are 1) you can feel your heart struggle as you eat them, and 2) the smell of greasy-goodness stays with you all day.

http://www.yelp.com/biz/mexican-fiesta-san-diego

Can you still make out my image? Forgive my lack of depth of field but my Polaroid lens is a far cry from a professional SLR. I like El Indio. Its more "healthy" than Mexican Fiesta but that's like saying one hole in the head is better than two - there still both bad for you. The only place you'll find any frills at this restaurant are in the ornate sign and the umbrella'd picnic tables. Awkwardly stuck next to two busy streets and Highway 5, its a miracle anyone bothers to try and find a parking spot just to eat at this place. But the food is good, dependable Mexican food. Skip the lunch hour and wait for dusk. The orangy sky just makes the entire experience that much better.

http://www.el-indio.com/

Celadon. The exterior is certainly nothing to talk about, but the interior 's black & white/mod-baroque mix is very cool. Better yet, the bowl of red curry with shrimp is just plain good, good, good. I salivate just thinking about its milky, brothey, spicy mix of crunchy vegetables and jasmine rice.

http://www.celadonrestaurant.com/

Or you could just stay in and eat a bowl of Lucky Charms. The new hourglass shaped marshmallows not only taste great, but they allow you to control time. Don't believe me? Click below.

http://www.generalmills.com/corporate/brands/product_image.aspx?catID=69&itemID=756