Rain romp!

It rained today, so Julia dressed Summer up in her rain gear and they went on a puddle hunt.

Summer likes to stomp in puddles of water.

Thanksgiving Dinner

Q.) How geeky is Summer's daddy?

A.) Very. Here's the proof, a shot of Ron's office on the average morning. Three computers running on three different screens, with three different keyboards (because KVM switching just isn't good enough) running a blend of Microsoft XP/Ubuntu Studio dual-boot, rendering video, editing photos, reading e-mail, avoiding Facebook, reading the news, and it's all wirelessly networked to both an Xbox 360 and a Sony PS3.

More of Our Moon

On any given night, even when it's cold, you can find Ron snapping a photo or two of the moon. It's not the biggest object in our solar system, nor the oldest, nor the most complex. It's just relatively close and easy to see, thanks to Theia, a planet that represents the prevailing theory that so-called proto-Earth (our very early young blue marble) was struck by something huge, and broke off a chunk we now know as our lone satellite, the moon. I know I'm boring you, so here's my latest pics of that dusty, grey 4.5 billion-year-old rock, peppered with craters as seen through the brisk Decatur sky.

The moon, taken Nov. 15, 2008 at 8:15 p.m.

A little more detail of our impact-scarred moon, taken Nov. 17, 2008 at 11:09 p.m.

The cupcakes Julia made.

One more post to tout the awesomeness of Julia's homemade chocolate cupcakes, with little chocolate cat cookies on top. They were a hit!

Summer turns two!

Summer had a great birthday on Sunday, Nov. 16, 2008, as she turned two. Mommy made chocolate birthday cupcakes and we had a pizza party in the evening. The kids (Summer, Avery and Neal) even got to make their own pizzas from scratch!

It was wonderful.

The whole crew looks on as Summer helps blow out her candles.

Neal gives Summer some elephant ears.
Avery takes a minute away from eating pizza to give me a great smile.

Pizza making.

Summer with Mommy and Daddy.

Avery wasn't in the mood for this shot.

Kevin enjoys a cupcake.

A day at the zoo

We went to the Atlanta zoo for Ron's birthday on Tuesday. It was a great day. Summer had fun. Here's a slideshow of our trip,with music. (Just click the photo below to start it.)

- ron

Victory is mine!

It's been a while, but Ron finally won a tennis tournament again. He won the Men's Open singles title at the Callaway Gardens Clay Court Championships, held in Pine Mountain, Ga. Ron kinda hates playing on clay, for reasons best discussed over beer, so this is double sweet vindication. No trophy, but they did give the finalists premium Callaway Gardens sweatshirts. :) Classy, huh? With the victory, Ron will move up in the rankings for the men's open division (hardest division) in Georgia, from No. 72 to roughly No. 20 or 25.

Here's some pics.

Thoughts of "home"

Of course "home" is where you are, but that didn't stop me (Ron) from getting a mini-yearning for my hometown of Santa Cruz, Calif. Fortunately, in my line of work, many of my memories found a home in stories I've written. Santa Cruz and it's crown jewel (the 100-plus-year-old Beach Boardwalk) is no exception. Here's a piece I wrote that appeared in USA Today about the Boardwalk's centennial. Ahhh... home.

- ron

http://www.usatoday.com/travel/destinations/2007-06-20-santa-cruz-boardwalk_N.htm

Autumn- the real thing!

It's so exciting to experience the fall season here in ATL. The changing leaves are beautiful and they are sure fun to play in, as Summer shows in these photos. Here are some pics of her playing with her friends in the leaves at our next door neighbors house. Thanks to my neighbor Jill for taking these!

A Walk In the Woods

Last week we went on a walk in the Fernbank Forest with our friends. It was a beautiful fall walk on a warmer than usual day. (It had been a little chilly the previous week.) Thank you to Amy for the photos.

WOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Election Day 2008

Election Day smooch in front of the middle school where we voted. Just a short three-block walk from home.


Our next door neighbor's tree exploding with color.


Patriotic Buster!


Ron listens to some tunes while playing with Summer and Buster in the backyard.

Halloween 2008

We had a great Halloween, carving pumkpins by day and hitting the streets in search of candy at nightfall. I made a little slideshow from the photos I took that day.
Click here to view it, and there's nice music too so turn your speakers on!

- ron