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June 2005
I spent a good chunk of June with my nieces and
nephews in Murrieta, California (map
it).
We went to parks and the public pool, had reading/library days (too few), played games and tickle-monster, visited the San Diego science museum, created chalk art on the streets of Temecula, went camping, and celebrated first Communion. I changed diapers, wiped rear ends, caught food that was spit up or tossed, had my shoes stolen by babies and by Mitzi the dog, learned to pour six bowls of cereal at once, developed great accuracy in throwing quesadillas from the front seat of an 11-seater van to hungry passengers in the back row seats, and learned a new language � babytalk (in which �baba� means bottle which in turn means any beverage, �uppies� means �pick me up�, and �herego� means �here you go� and also �give that to me�). I typically went to bed at 1:00 or 2:00 A.M. and was awakened around 7:00 A.M. by little voices and little bodies climbing over me. I was often exhausted and covered in food or fluids, but it was great! These pictures are the cutest batch:
For the complete photo album of my Summer With The Kids (Part 1), click on the size photos you wish to view: (small) (large) |
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July 2005
In July (and a couple of days in June and August) I
took off to Greece and Turkey with my best travel
friend Mike (who was just starting a
12- to 18-month around-the-world trip). As I
traveled and sailed around, I kept in touch with the
kids through a series of eight email postcards. My
friends who read them said they preferred them to
my usual email
updates and recommended that I use a third grade
writing style in all my missives. (In my next
newsletter, I�ll highlight a few moments that did not
make it into the kiddy postcards.)
In the meantime, here are links to those postcards:
Meanwhile, my friend Mike continues his around-the-world trip. Safe travels mate! |
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August 2005
In August, I returned to Murrieta and we hit the
road. My sister drove all eight of us to Las Vegas for
a family reunion and to celebrate Joseph�s, Natalie�s,
John�s and my birthdays (all mid-August) at New
York, New York (the casino). Then we drove to the
San Francisco Bay Area to visit family and friends
there.
From there, I took Monica, Francis and my mom on a quick side trip to Yosemite, the kids� first time there. They loved it just as I had as a kid. Unfortunately, while downloading the Yosemite photos, I lost all my other photos from August, but the Yosemite photos were the best anyway. For the complete photo album of my Summer With The Kids (Part 2 -- Yosemite), click on the size photos you wish to view: (small) (large) |
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September 2005
After Yosemite, we returned to the Bay Area to visit
family there. Then my sister returned with the
kids to Murrieta, while I spent Labor Day weekend
camping in the Sierra foothills with my good friends
Patrick and Shula. I then hitched a ride with them to
Oregon where I visited friends in Eugene, Corvallis
and on the coast.
In Eugene I rented a car and drove up to Seattle to visit my brother Jason. Then I returned to Murrieta for a few more weeks with the kids. For the complete photo album of my Bay Area, Sierras, Oregon and Washington trips, click on the size photos you wish to view: (small) (large) |
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September (second half) 2005
Back in Murrieta, we wasted no time having fun,
since these were my last few weeks with the kids.
Right off the plane, I took them all out for sushi,
which was an experience (I had to mop the floor
around our table afterwards).
Next we took the kids to Sea World and Knotts Berry Farm. Monica proved to be a daredevil at both places. At Seaworld, she sat in the front row of the killer whale show and got soaked no less then four times. At Knotts Berry Farm, she dragged me three times on the Xcelerator (top rated), a rollercoaster that takes you from zero to 82 mph in 2.3 seconds (no kidding!), then almost as an afterthought launches you straight up in the air 200 feet, then drops straight back down. The zero-to-82 �launch,� especially from the front car, was the most amazing kick in the pants ever. I can�t imagine I would have done this at eight-years-old. Monica and I both had to pee badly when we got off the ride the first time. Of course we did the usual playing in the front yard too. For the complete photo album of my Summer With The Kids (Part 3), click on the size photos you wish to view: (small) (large) |
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There were two other events in September, but I'll
save them for next time. When it was time to
leave Murrieta and head back to New York, I really
did not want to leave. By then, the two youngest,
Johnny and Natalie, were mistakenly calling
my �Daddy,�
despite attempts to correct them. When we
said, �no, Uncle Jeff,� they would call me �Daddy
Uncle� for a short time, then revert to �Daddy.�
When they awoke in the morning and after their naps in the afternoon, they would often call out from their cribs upstairs, �Daddy! Daddy, uppies!� I would go up to their rooms, greet their smiling faces and lift them from their cribs into the world of play and love. Leaving those sweet little faces and knowing that no one would answer their calls for "Daddy" is the most heartbreaking thing.... |
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