I had my sights set on participating in Long Beach Serve Day for Serve the City this year. I searched the various job listings ready for some manual labor when I discovered that they were looking for a half dozen 'experienced photographers' to document the day! I wasn't sure what defined "experienced" but I signed up with the instructions to get 30 shots of at least 3 events going on that morning all across the city. I had a good time but felt guilty taking pictures of people working hard.
Well, we've had two noticeable earthquakes in the last three days. Sunday night Liz and I were enjoying the first few seconds while watching TV until the house did a quick jolt upon which we darted for a doorway. The kids slept through it. Then Tuesday afternoon there was a good aftershock. Both of these were very close to my work.
Having too much fun recently! Oma visited and we went to a small carnival at a local church. We blew bubbles in the backyard, launched rockets, went to a birthday party at Pump It Up, and made our own pizzas. When Mommy and Anneliese went to go visit great grandma Muffin in Mukwonago, WI for five days, we kept on going by dressing up in costumes, playing in the pool, and hitting McDonalds and Chuck E Cheese! Anneliese has really developed a voracious appetite and she is hilarious in that she opens her mouth wide open like a little bird for stuff she likes...which apparently includes IN-N-OUT Burger which we did after picking up the girls from the airport. Both Ethan and Anneliese loved not only the food but also hanging out across the street and having airplanes fly 100 feet over our heads as they landed.
We celebrated Easter with two for the first time. The kids cooperated and sat for a photo shoot next to the sidewalk before church. Prior to that Ethan and Mommy died Easter eggs and Ethan even gobbled one down! After her birthday, Anneliese also got her one-year photo in Mommy's dress (the kids have photos every year near their birthday in the same article of clothing borrowed from us).
Anneliese celebrated her first birthday (along with Daddy's 36th). The kids had a great time with visiting Grandma Ginny and Grandpa John as well as Pépère and Mémère.
Well, after possibly four years working new business trying to sell a new satellite design, that day finally arrived. Read about it here. The satellite is to be the first of a whole new spacecraft lineage...a 702B which is the evolution of our original Boeing 702.
Liz has discovered a fairly reliable means of calming Anneliese and/or getting her to sleep in the car: playing "Chunky" by Will I Am from the Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa movie. Pretty comical.
Well we took the advice of Aunt Kris and got a copy of The Letter Factory. Ethan's been addicted and asks to watch first thing every morning. It's definitely well designed as it's captured his interest and we are seeing results. Both Ethan and Daddy get a kick out of the disfigured letter that looks like a pile of goo that makes a weird sound. Only Daddy thinks about the letter being taken out back and euthanized.
