Our very first Easter as a family. Drove out to La Crescenta to Susan's Uncle and Aunt's house. It was such a beautiful day out. Enjoyed a nice lunch outside. No traffic on the 210 the whole way out. A little on the way home. Had dinner at my parents house. The Curtis boys all showed up. Susan and I were beat and headed home early. Poor Susan had to be up at 3am for work today. At least she'll be home early. I got the day off. Lets hope I don't do much damage to the house.

Finally! Susan found the cord for my camera. She is almost 4 months now and growing so fast. Penelope is, not Susan. She has been trying to roll over with a few successful roll overs. Gold medalist I'd say. Next weekend will be her first Earth Day down at Balboa park. Susan and I have been going since 2003 and it's an amazing event. It also lands on the weekend I proposed to Susan last year. I'm looking forward to a great weekend out. Our first real all day out event with Penelope. She does well in public so it should go fine. Susan has her on a great schedule and it seems to be working great. I have 9 more weeks of work left and feel the sadness that comes with the end of a season on the mountain. Arbolado was good to me this year. A little staff drama here and there and some crazy kids. Hitler references three weeks in a row from kids?! I don't know man. Kids these days.

I found out Monday that Arbolado will be closed next year. Which means we are down to 4 sites maybe 3 next year. We use to have 6 or 7 sites open. This is a bit of a bummer. Less sites means less jobs and no chance of moving up unless a bunch of people quit. I've worked hard for this place and it makes me sad to see it losing kids. Even worse I feel bad for the kids who will not be attending our program next year. It's a huge loss to children when they don't get to go to Science school. Lets hope for a brighter future. If you want to donate you can check out Inside the Outdoors

anyways look how cute my kid is.

Sorry it's been so long. Been a very crazy month for this family. Penelope is fantastic. She got her first shots already and did well. Susan said she screamed like a banshee but calmed down quick. She has been smiling and laughing and just a real joy to be with. She took her first flight already. Actually her first 4 flights?

My Grandfather Jerry passed away this last month. The whole family flew out there to help with the funeral. It was really nice to see my Aunt Nancy and Uncle Dave. Although it was a sad occasion having the whole family together for the first time in many years was nice. Penelope even got to meet Brandon.

Our Grandparents came out every year when we were kids. All the way until my grandma passed away ten years ago. They lived in Nebraska and would drive out here sometimes twice a year. Always during apple season. They took us out to museums and parks. Always out to eat. When they showed up their car would be filled with boxes of random things. Items from their stop in New Mexico or Arizona. Old photos of my dad. Presents for us. Dream catchers and those old drums on a stick. We knew it would be fun when they came to town.

I think part of the reason the three of us got in Science related jobs was because of my Grandfather. One of the things the minister said about him was that Jerry was a gardener. Talked about the how important the relationship with the ground is. And it's funny to see how that is true in our family. Anyways.


A sad trip but a needed trip.


Also it was 5 degrees out there and Susan has sworn to never return to weather like that.

We've started calling the ceiling fan in our room the third parent.
As soon as she lays eyes on the fan she is transfixed by it. She will be four weeks this Wednesday. It's hard to imagine life without her already.

It's been nice having three weeks off to help with Penelope. I have no clue how i'm going to want to stay at work. She is just perfect in every way. We already see her growing and getting so smart. She makes us happy people.