Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio?

When I was but a boy, my mother would often get on my case about not leaving a note when I go off somewhere. Almost 30 years later it appears my manners have not much improved, but, at the very least, I will always report on where I've been after the fact.

Well, nothing much happened in the last week and a half...oh yeah, Amelia turned one on the last of March and we had a rocking party with a ducky cake, thirty of Amelia's best friends, and a video up-link from Tampa, Florida so that Amelia's Omi could be there too . Hmm..was there anything else? No, not really...well actually, there was also that trip to San Francisco where we met up with our cousins Igrid, Eric and their beautiful daughter Anya, played in a Pro/Am tournament at an incredible course designed by Greg Norman with the PGA Nationwide Tour's number three player on the money list , cruised around the Golden Gate bridge and Alcatraz, watched some sea lions barking at each other in disputes over prime real estate, stayed in a posh hotel owned by football legend John Madden, took a first class tour of the wine making operations and fermentation caves of Wente Vineyards, tasted each of the finest wines of said vineyard normally only available to their club members, watched some of the Wine Country Golf Classic Tournament from the Nationwide sky box, drove around aimlessly while attempting to find the intersection of Haight and Ashbury, hiked among the sequoias of Muir Woods (thanks, Liz!) and came face to face with a mountain lion who had made a cave of a giant hollow redwood next to the path, walked to the pacific ocean along the Tennessee Valley trail and saw a migrating whale swim by the cliff we were standing on, stayed our last night in San Francisco's first environmentally friendly hotel, and met up with a long time friend, Chris, who I hadn't seen in over ten years to catch up on old times. You know... just a typical week.

Yes, really. Nadine won a trip through her work, Nationwide, which made this trip possible. Basically we were treated like a king and queen for a week and got to revel in the fact that it was all free to us. Thank you, Nationwide. We are on our side...resting.

Zach and Amelia are so happy to see each other again after a whole week of being apart. I think both of them enjoy the company of tykes their own age. Amelia especially appreciates being the actor rather than the actee which never seems to be the case when big brother is around. Don't get me wrong, he is a very gentile and kind soul, but his energy level output competes with that of the sun.
Since Zach wasn't able to attend Amelia's b-day soirée as he was already off having a great time with his cousins, aunt, uncle, and grandmother, he is just now discovering the spoils of the festivities. One toy in particular he is especially fond of is a wooden toy alligator that wobbles when you pull its string. He appears to have some supernatural connection with the Gator as if it is somehow an oracle advising him of which University he has become destined to attend.

Go Gators.

Welcome back.