It's been awhile and lots has happened so, let's catch up . . .
Andy and Mike in our back yard
ca. 1981
Andy was about seven years old which would make Mike about five years old.
Just throwing this picture on the blog because it is one of our favorites of the boys growing up.
An NBA Game
My former colleague at Rio Mesa High School is a die-hard Los Angeles Clippers fan.
She has two half-season tickets to the Clippers home games at the Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles. Whenever her husband Tom can't go to a game, she invites a friend to go with her and last week I gladly accepted her offer to go to our second game of the 2016-17 season together.
Parking at the the FIDM
parking lot near the Staples Center
Pre-game meal at one of
Los Angeles' iconic diners
The grub at the Original Pantry Cafe
was both ample and good!
By the way Martha, who are the Clippers playing tonight?
Oh, the Milwaukee Bucks . . .
GAME ON!
The close, hard fought, entertaining game was won by the Bucks, 97-96.
THANK YOU MARTHA!
Jacob's Fifth Birthday
Our Grandson Jacob had a small,
family only birthday party
at our house
Jacob was pumped up about it
Yes, he is ALL boy!
Laurie made him a small
birthday cake, as well as
army men cupcakes
Blowing out the candles
Jacob preferred the easier
to handle cupcakes
And some Cotton Candy
ice cream too
The Contreras kid turned FIVE
Of course, we celebrated further into the night with a sleepover.
Life is good!
The morning after a sleepover,
Jacob always helps me make
pancakes for breakfast
Michael Runs in His
Fourth Consecutive
Los Angeles Marathon
No one in our family can explain genetically why Michael runs.
But he LOVES it!
Using Jacob's signature
thumbs out, not up, gesture
near the finish line
He ran what he called
a "fun" paced run
He was happy with his
time since he was not even thinking about qualifying for the Boston Marathon
Nice Medal
Mike gave it to his daughter Mary
World Baseball Classic
Semi-Final Game
Mike and I headed to Dodger Stadium
to watch the first Semi-Final of the week
The Kingdom of the Netherlands
vs.
Puerto Rico
Mike, his mustache and I ate our
pre-game meal at the
Little Jewel of New Orleans
Eclectic menu on the wall behind Mike.
My Grilled Shrimp PoBoy
was AWESOME!
So was Mike's Fried Shrimp PoBoy
Entering Dodger Stadium
I was rooting for Cuba
but they were already eliminated
We got there early for batting practice
Our original seats were in the Left Field Pavilion but with the sparse crowd we improved our seats before the start of the game.
Part of Dodger Stadium's great
Bobble-Head Doll collection
We were OK moving here
Pre-game Introductions
Action started at 6:00 p.m.
But went well into the night
In 11 innings,
Puerto Rico 4
The Kingdom of the Netherlands 3
This event, thanks to the enthusiastic Puerto Rican fans, was more Salsa Festival than baseball game.
Puerto Ricans do not sit often during the course of a game, it turns out.
Good times and lots of fun!
The next night, the USA defeated Japan 2-1 in the other semi-final contest the next night.
The Championship game was a bit anticlimactic as the Americans roughed up Team Puerto Rica by a final tally of 8-0.
USA, USA, USA!
Babysitting Mary
She is a delight
Life's simple pleasures
Reading Is FUNdamental
Tales of macabre deaths
from our Swedish friends
Action packed!
That's nineteen Jack Reacher novels down, three to go.
More really good Swedish Noir
And China has its fair
share of brutal murders too
Life continues to be enjoyable, I shall continue . . .
