Well, I last left you all just before Christmas of '16. Seeing as we're about halfway through 2017, I'd better have something to say for what's gone down thus far.
My Christmas/birthday gift to myself was a new TV. It's quite nice.
Christmas was at my parents' home in Tucson, AZ. Rather nostalgic, having it at the home of my adolescence.
John enjoyed spending time with his (probably) favorite uncle, Eric.
The obligatory picture outside of the church building. Note the aesthetically complementing backpack in the lower left of the frame.
Eric and Krystal attempted to grok their gifts from the family.
John liked everything, especially the sweets.
Angry Winterhaven Santa made an appearance.
John's idol was in Winterhaven, too.
The tricycle was one of John's favorite gifts.
This picture was taken mere days before John destroyed Dad's mini foosball table.
A piece of playground equipment at Copper Creek Elementary.
A Korean dragon at the Tucson Children's Museum...?
Many other fun activities to be had at the museum. It was put in what was once Tucson's Carnegie Library.
A walk from a BBQ restaurant. We were in the unheated portion of the restaurant.
Getting ready for a walk.
Getting ready for a war (A-10 "Warthog").
Late December/early January can be rather cold and wet in Tucson.
Bee-bo (R2-D2/BB-8) popcorn!
When you want lemonade, you have to get something out of life. Is that how it goes?
Jumping in California puddles.
Last known sighting of my VW Golf TDI. Sold it for some $20k.
John had his 3rd birthday, and would not miss out on any of the noisemakers and party favors.
An average Sunday.
John's first Texan kolache. We went to Austin for Alison's friend's wedding.
Another one of John's holiday acquisitions.
Preparing for life as a court jester, perhaps...
Lunch at Marie Callendar's with cousins.
John is...kind of potty-trained.
The best fried catfish Alison and I ever had. Shiro of Pasadena, CA.
The Legend John.
Taken outside of the Ahmanson Theater. We saw Fun(eral) Home.
Random park pictures.
Movie day with the cousins.
John didn't actually want his hot dog in the croissant.
Alison instructs John how not to run into the street.
A random sight in Hollywood, as we were on our way to do an escape room with our friends.
Disneyland still takes a lot of my dollars.
John now has a bunk bed, without an upper mattress.
The big event of the season was our trip to Hawaii during Alison's spring break.
We arrived in Honolulu. We spent a night on Waikiki Beach, because that's where one is supposed to stay at least once. Not bad, really.
The view from our hotel room was worth the price.
They're feeding us coconut? Without sugar? It's better than you'd think!
After spending a very busy day on Oahu, we finally boarded our Norwegian cruise ship. Our cruise would take us to Maui, Hawai'i Island (Hilo and Kona), and Kauai before returning us to Oahu.
On the road to Haleakala. We acquired a GPS-based tour guide called GYPSY. It was quite good, for only $5ish.
It was a little windy at the top. John was, in his own words, "freaking out."
Taken after John "threw down" following the windy descent from Haleakala. At least it was just a rental...
The Cadillac Diner was the lowlight of dining on the Pride of America. Food is OK, but it takes forever to get.
Traditional breakfast isn't exactly speedy either. Do the buffet.
However, onboard they don't do Loco Moco. We had to be guided by our friends Yvette and Gisela to Zippy's to find this treat.
A view from Yvette and Gisela's bungalow on Maui. I could've stayed here all day.
All the meat in the world--Alison gives the green card for the shipboard rodizio style restaurant servers to bring the roasted pineapple.
On the big island, we went to Volcanoes National Park.
John was adequately frightened by the depiction of a boy getting burned by hot steam because he wandered off the path.
It smelled of sulfur.
Kilauea Caldera. You can't get much closer than this at the time because of recent volcanic activity. Thing's hot, yo.
Outside the Thurston lava tube. John was not thrilled with the prospect of walking through a lava tunnel, until he realized that the lava was long gone.
Yes, I tried the sandwich. I split it with Dad.
We visited the Mauna Loa macadamia factory.
Alison got pressured into buying a pearl.
Crashing after a busy day.
Teppanyaki!
The best picture I have of the lava flow from Kilauea at night. You can see the steam coming off the ocean.
The ship couldn't dock at Kona; we took tenders to shore.
We also rode on a glass-bottom boat.
Liberty restaurant. It's OK (and included with the cruise fare).
The island of Kauai was my favorite. Very green and laid back, compared to the windiness of Maui, the cragginess of the big island, and the rat race of Oahu.
Sorry to say that this was the point where John stopped having the best time on the trip. He started getting ill on the way to luau.
He did better the following morning, so we had a beach day on Kauai.
Finally got my macadamia pancakes.
Things took a turn for the worse for John. We ended up in the ER on Oahu after our cruise due to severe diarrhea.
A week later, he was better, in time for Easter.
Although he was clearly fine, the health department got wind of his condition--he had salmonellosis. To this date he has been unable to return to school (although there's hope that this week he'll finally be cleared).
I had to do a couple of stints in Boulder to support JPSS-1 testing. It's a pretty area.
Bellpepper soup at Elway's (DEN).
About to land in Orange County (the superior SoCal airport).
At the end of the month, we went to Utah to be with Haley as she received her endowment in Brigham City.
We also learned that she had decided to prepare to serve a mission. We're excited to see where she goes.
Tired again...
Pizza at Costco!
John loves his hats.
Another view from a park in Boulder, CO. There were paragliders jumping off the foothills.
I visited a newly christened Alamo Drafthouse in Denver. Saw Colossal, which is a great movie that I highly recommend for all kaiju drama lovers.
John made a friend of the dog mannequin at Old Navy. He wanted to take it home with him.
The last month and a half have been rather difficult with John unable to go to his regular day care. We are blessed to have good family and ward friends to help out. Mom got to stay with Alison and John this last week while I was away in Colorado. Our hope is John will be able to go back to school this week. Then we can focus on getting ready for his brother to come!
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