Ninja Boy is a great help in the kitchen.

Well this statement needs a little qualification.  He likes to help bake items, he likes to remind me that things need to be baked.  So as the Cookie season is approaching, I decided to branch out from the muffins that we normally make and bake some cookies.

Adding butter

We can't be done

My fingers are green

A little if this, a lot of that

The final masterpieces

For Ninja Boy October Fun is all about:

Apple picking!

Leaf jumping!


Papa playing!

Birthday caking!


And chocolate chomping!

I just love this. The off-beat clapping makes me giggle.

Wow, the past year just flew by. My little boy went from

Sitting in leaves

Sitting in pile of leaves

Running through the leaves

MMM chocolate

With Aunt Sia

I just want to eat it,

Playing in the corn

Too cool

"I ride on Daddy's shoulders, I can almost touch the sky"

Hmm, looking at our blog posts you wouldn't know that we made it home from California a couple of weeks ago before this most recent earthquake (in Southern Cali).
Today though we did what in my mind marks the beginning of summer...

Was it swimming in Lake Erie

On this day, we drove the 17 Mile Drive around Monterey Peninsula, which includes Carmel and Pebble Beach. We also down to the California coast to Big Sur. I don't have the words to express the beauty of the scenery. All I have to offer are these pictures, will have to speak for themselves:










Quote of the Day: "To My Wife Alma, who hates golf but let's me pursue my passion. Love, Steve." Inscription on a commemorative plaque at the Poppy Hills Golf Course in Pebble Beach, CA.

Meal of the Day: Pulled pork with horseradish coleslaw and sweet potato fries at Rio Grill in Carmel, CA. Southwest cuisine at its finest.

At first, Monterey was kind of underwhelming. Most of it looks like any other bland suburban sprawl area. But then we took a walk downtown in the historic district. It wasn't too hard to find because the sidewalks were engraved with the following:


They've done a great job of preserving certain key buildings, like the San Carlos Cathedral:


And the house that Robert Louis Stevenson lived in:


Even the children's playgrounds have a preserved Pacific Rail train engine:


Isaac and I enjoyed hanging out at the marina:


Mom and Isaac also chilled out at the pier:



I was trying to teach Isaac about etiquette. His response was unequivocal:


The cannery district at Monterey was the inspiration for John Steinbeck's "Cannery Row". They love to show their appreciation:


Quote of the Day: No real quote, but Isaac made the signs for "more" and "food" in consecutive order, thus officially counting as his first sentence.

Meal of the Day: For Teresa it was Huevos Rancheros for lunch at "El Palomar". For me it was Prawn Scampi for dinner at "Louie Linguine".

Started the day with a ride on a genuine SF cable car.

Next stop: Chinatown!

We were tempted to buy Ninja Boy a "coolie cap" with braided queue, but we settled on this picture instead.

Next we visted Alcatraz Island. "Gentlemen, welcome to the Rock!"

Although its now a national park, Alcatraz Island still has trappings that makes one uneasy.

NB sure didn't like being under constant scrutiny from the tower guards.
Imagine spending most of your adult life in a 6 ft. by 10 ft cell.

Quote of the Day: "I named this island 'La Isla de los Alcatraces' (Island of the Sea Birds) because of their being so plentiful here." Juan Manual de Ayala, 1775.

Meal of the Day: Dim Sum lunch in Chinatown. Alas, I forgot the name of the restuarant.