Fireworks

4th of July BBQ potluck at Dave and Daph's.

Ken's Bachelor Party Weekend at Lake McClure

For Ken's bachelor party we went to Lake McClure and camped last weekend. One of the guys brought out his boat and it was the first time I ever tried to wakeboard. Five tries and I was done...got up once for about a split second then bailed. I think I drank about a gallon of lake water. Other than the fact that it was hot as hell out there, it was a good time.

Back to sporting clays...

Dave's first time at sporting clays. It was a fun time out, even though I didn't hit that many clays, but it was probably the wind.

Trying to keep up with the times...

Man its been a while since I've built a pc. I don't even know whats good out there. LGA 1156 Wha? Core I7-5-3 Huh? Well been doing some research and probably gonna try to build a middle of the road system. Here's what I've got on the list so far: Intel Core I5 750 cpu, Asus P7P55D-E Pro, BFG GTX 260 OC Max Core video card, prob 4 gb ram to start with Windows 7 64bit running the show, got a case, drives, but prob need to replace the power supply. Open to suggestions...

My First Dive!

So today I went on my first dive! OK, ok...it's not technically a real dive in open water but in a small pool. Sport Chalet in Pleasanton offers free introductory scuba lessons on every third saturday of the month and all you have to do is sign up on their schedule. In a nut shell it was short video, then fitting for gear, and finally in the water! It was a pretty cool experience. Not sure if I will be going for the cert...yet? The gear is pretty costly, but it's a whole different world under water...we'll see.

My first time Trap/Skeet shooting

Today was the first time I ever went trap/skeet shooting, and first time to ever shoot a shotgun. It was a lot of fun and way harder than it looks. We first started at the trap range and I got to shoot an over-under shotgun...not too bad, but has a really strong kick. After the first round, I switched to a semi-auto Benelli. Although the recoil wasn't as bad, I didn't hit as many as the over-under.
We then moved over to the skeet range. That was even better...multiple stations and clays coming from either side. I started with the pump shotgun...funny when the doulbe clays came, almost forgot to pump! So ended up using the over-under again. Even though the over-under has the strongest kick, I think I did the best with it. I'll definitely go again.

Vince hits the clay.
And here he missed.

Into the New Year...2010!

Wow...my last blog entry was Thanksgiving of last year? Well the holidays were great. Spent time with family, ate a lot, and rested. But the main reason for this entry is the disappointment of an event we attended last night. I've been to the Silicon Valley International Car Show for quite a few years and this year shows the apparent impact of the economy on the auto industry. Even though we went opening day and some exhibits weren't open yet, we noticed that there were some car manufacturers that weren't there...Nissan, Infiniti, Audi, Porsche, Volvo, Saab, Mercedes...what a disappointment. Oh well, guess we'll have to wait for the SF show.

Some of the cars Chelle is considering to replace her 1999 Nissan Altima:

Volkswagen CC Lexus GS 350 Acura TL Unfortunately the cars that Chelle wanted to see were not there...Nissan, Infiniti, Audi, and Volvo.

Thankful for Thanksgiving!

Although trying to recover from a cold, it was great spending Thanksgiving with family, friends and a LOT of food. Thanks to my Mom for preparing the spread, which also made for some good leftovers.
The trademark of an excellent Thanksgiving dinner...food coma!

The start of a future photographer. Elle was snapping shots all night!
I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving.

Anniversary Weekend Getaway...

For our one year anniversary we decided to go out to San Simeon and visit the Hearst Castle. It was so nice to be out there. We stayed at The Morgan, which we found out was named after Julia Morgan, a civil engineer and architect, who helped W.R. Hearst design his dream home. The weather was great and the view of the coast was beautiful. We both had a great time out there and will probably go back and experience the wine country.

Sulley at the Danville Costco

Selling and signing his book.

New York, Day Seven

Can't believe we've been here a week. It feels like only yesterday we arrived. I guess we've been so busy doing all of the touristy stuff, time just flew by. Went to the 9am mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral this morning. The Cathedral is awesome. There was so much to see. After Church (and a short nap), we went to the Museum of Modern Art and had a late lunch. After MoMA, we went to the Top of the Rock. Gonna try to hit up B&H one more time before our flight tomorrow.

New York, Day Six

Can't believe our vacation is almost over. Today we planned to go to the Guggenheim Museum, but before we went there we had lunch at Gallagher's Steak House. It was just ok. I had the prime rib and Chelle had their signature sirloin. Don't think we'll be going there again. We then visited the Hersheys store and the M&M store. I got a tooth ache just walking thru the place, and there were so many people...I guess thats expected for a saturday. Then off to the museum. For those that don't know, the museum was featured in the movie Men In Black, in the beginning where Will Smith was chasing an alien. Anyway here are some pics of the day.

New York, Day Five

Well this morning we got up early because Flo Rida was performing for the Today Show in the plaza. When we got there, a crowd was already formed around the stage, but one of the guards mentioned that we might still be able to get in and wouldn't you know,we got in and Chelle and Rei got there 1/2 second of fame. If you look close above Rei's head, you can kind of see the bottom of my face.
Here is a link to the Today Show to view the performance. Chelle and Rei pops up at about 4:50. After the performance we went to Magnolia's Bakery and picked up some cupcakes for breakfast. Afterwards we hopped on the train and headed to the Museum of Natural History.

After the Museum of Natural History we hopped back on the train and headed to Soho. We stopped at Lombardis, the first pizzeria in New York. After a late lunch, we strolled around Little Italy and China Town.

New York, Day Four

We went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Saw a lot of art.

After the Met we strolled through Central Park. We got lost for a little while but were able to find our way out.