Wednesday, August 30, 2006
Tuesday, August 29, 2006
Bali Adventure Race
We didn't come in first but sure as hell should have. To make a long story short we came out first on the run and me and my teammate were leading the pack on the Mt. Bike. Unfortunately, after having to walk our bikes up a very steep Mountain side two guys from a competing team caught up. I wasn't worried because I knew their other 2 team members were already toast, fried, flat lining. I decided to wait for the rest of my team and head for the hills. With team together we pedaled like the wind through rice paddies, roads, and Bali heaven. I had the other two competing team members bright colored jerseys who had passed us earlier in my sights. We rode and rode and rode and as we caught up to them I suddenly realized that I hadn't seen any trail markings. In my haste to catch them I realized they had missed the turn and gone the wrong way.
We did a quick about face and after hiking our bikes back up the Mt. and down the other side we realized the other teams had caught up. We were no longer in first place. After passing a number of others on the single track with little blood letting we caught our competitors. The same team that came in second place in the marathon jungle run in Malaysia. A team made up of a sub 3 hour marathon runner, a former Green Beret, a former legionnaire who spent two days in hospital after the Malaysia run do to severe dehydration, and woman who could wear the man pants like most men could never do. Anyway, they put in their raft before us but we managed to paddle past them toward the small village on the other side of the beautiful lake. Once on the other side a team member was to grab a leaf off a certain tree (which was not made clear). Both rafts pulled in simultaneously and we sent the young buck on our team who had come up from the land down under (Australia) to join us. With leaf in hand he ran down from the village. We were in first place. A cry from the other team claiming it was the wrong tree forced him to scramble back up the steep hill to find the sacred tree. The other team's member came running down with a leaf in hand and they quickly paddled away as if old salts. Maybe it was fixed. Sadly, they beat us by 5 minutes to the other side. We finished the run, bike, and raft race in 5:20 minutes. Fun was had by all. We are looking for another race to go head to head again.
We did a quick about face and after hiking our bikes back up the Mt. and down the other side we realized the other teams had caught up. We were no longer in first place. After passing a number of others on the single track with little blood letting we caught our competitors. The same team that came in second place in the marathon jungle run in Malaysia. A team made up of a sub 3 hour marathon runner, a former Green Beret, a former legionnaire who spent two days in hospital after the Malaysia run do to severe dehydration, and woman who could wear the man pants like most men could never do. Anyway, they put in their raft before us but we managed to paddle past them toward the small village on the other side of the beautiful lake. Once on the other side a team member was to grab a leaf off a certain tree (which was not made clear). Both rafts pulled in simultaneously and we sent the young buck on our team who had come up from the land down under (Australia) to join us. With leaf in hand he ran down from the village. We were in first place. A cry from the other team claiming it was the wrong tree forced him to scramble back up the steep hill to find the sacred tree. The other team's member came running down with a leaf in hand and they quickly paddled away as if old salts. Maybe it was fixed. Sadly, they beat us by 5 minutes to the other side. We finished the run, bike, and raft race in 5:20 minutes. Fun was had by all. We are looking for another race to go head to head again.
Father and Son night
Vanessa had to fly to Sumatra last night as part of her saving the world mission. Fortunately she left me with a stash of two bottles of white liquid gold aka breast milk.
After work Zee and I cruised the town (or neighborhood) and then met friends in the gym to get Zee some walking exercise. We made it home by 7:15 and little man sucked the milk down like it was breast milk (wait a minute...it was breast milk). His eyes rolled back into his head and I knew he was heading for dream town. I laid him down to bed and was feeling pretty good about myself until...
My mother always used to tell me, "No hay como la mama". The translation roughly means there is nothing like Mom and if she isn't around your screwed. At 12:00 midnight little buddy wanted Mom. And he wanted her bad...at 01:30 until 02:15. And again at 0300 until 0330. I thought of my Mom's phrase and realized how true she is. Daddy just wasn't enough. Zee man was missing his Mama.
The phone rang at 0600 this AM and Mama was calling because she was missing her little man Zee.
After work Zee and I cruised the town (or neighborhood) and then met friends in the gym to get Zee some walking exercise. We made it home by 7:15 and little man sucked the milk down like it was breast milk (wait a minute...it was breast milk). His eyes rolled back into his head and I knew he was heading for dream town. I laid him down to bed and was feeling pretty good about myself until...
My mother always used to tell me, "No hay como la mama". The translation roughly means there is nothing like Mom and if she isn't around your screwed. At 12:00 midnight little buddy wanted Mom. And he wanted her bad...at 01:30 until 02:15. And again at 0300 until 0330. I thought of my Mom's phrase and realized how true she is. Daddy just wasn't enough. Zee man was missing his Mama.
The phone rang at 0600 this AM and Mama was calling because she was missing her little man Zee.
Wednesday, August 16, 2006
Bali Adventure Race
I am leaving bright and early for another adventure race in Bali tomorrow. Hopefully this one won't be 11.5 hours as it was in Malaysia. Apparently we will run, Mt. Bike, and then paddle our way across a lake. I still don't know the distances but rumor has it that we should only be sweating for a good six hours. The stakes are high as many fellow runners in our local running club will be there as well. Who will have bragging rights? I am teamed up with some Irish laddies and we are calling ourselves Celtic Pride. I apparently have some Irish blood somewhere in the geneology. Should be interesting. I will report more on my return. Z
Anniversary Celebration
The paparazzi were on hand and captured Vanessa and Zane leaving a fine dining establishment in Jakarta while celebrating their sixth years of bliss together.Zane and Vanessa could be heard sharing their high lights of the year and all the cool things to be expected for the year to come.
Look for it in the next issue of People magazine.
Too many toys
Zee was spoiled by his friends on his first. He was able to add on to the collection of empty boxes and plastic bags of spaghetti originally provided by Mom and Dad.
Zee turns 1
Wow, what a great day. Cake, tubs of ice cream, friends, gifts, swimming, and many water balloons hurled at unsuspecting youngsters.
Friday, August 04, 2006
A great visit home
We had a breathtaking trip home and as always we wish we had additional time. We felt a bit like global nomads as we stayed with various family, friends, Uncles, Aunts, and cousins but it was great to see them – and even greater that they made such an effort to care for us (even giving up their own beds – that was much appreciated Shayne, Efrain, Ted, and Maggie). In each place we were surrounded by lots of love and Zee along with Vanessa and I enjoyed all the extra attention we were extended. (To view a plethora of photos from the trip click here)
We spent our first few days staying with our good friends and making reconnaissance missions to see Vanessa’s step mom, my sister and Zee’s cousins before heading up North to spend a few days with my parents in beautiful Prescott. After eating the best homemade Mexican food at the Eagles Nest (aka my parents place) in the Southwest we then made our way North to Lake Powell.
We spent about four days on a house boat on beautiful Lake Powell which spans Arizona and Utah. What a magical place. There were ten of us on the large boat equipped with stove, kitchen, appliances and A/C. It was even equipped with a slide on the back of the boat which provided lots of entertainment. My brother-in-law also had his ski boat which made for some pretty amazing wake boarding at sunset. We explored canyons, swam, and relaxed. Our last night on the lake was interesting as a storm blew in and gave our boat pretty good shaking. The boat radio was quite busy as fellow boaters radioed in for help as they were knocked into rocks by the strong winds in the dark of night. Mayday was the word of the night. Fortunately for us we had anchored in well and suffered no damage. It was a great way to spend a week with family in one of the most attractive places in the world.
After our boat ride we caught some shut-eye at my parents nest in Prescott, AZ and stopped by to visit Vanessa’s sister and brother-in-law which included more of Zee’s cousins before continuing on to Mule Creek, New Mexico, a small town near the AZ border with a population of about 100 people. Billy the Kid, of Western gun fighter fame, used to hide out here and his little shack still stands and is within walking distance of Vanessa’s parents abode. It is a very quiet and picturesque place with not much to do but relax in a hammock, read, hike, and watch the hummingbirds feed (just what the body needed). We were joined there by Vanessa’s brother and wife and their son Ryder from San Francisco who is not much younger than Zee. It was nice to for the boys to catch up We threw a nice pre-party for Zee’s upcoming 1st year old birthday this Sunday
After the trip we drove back to Phoenix where we stayed with Vanessa’s good friend who is planning on getting married in December (which means we will be back) and they had lots to talk about in regards to the big day. Our final day was spent at my sister’s house and my parents, and Uncle Max came down to visit. Zee was passed from one loving relative to the other and he wore an adult sized grin the entire day. The day was filled with lots of coffee, great food, family and interesting conversation – the kind of days I long for.
Did I tell you we even went house hunting??? More later.
We spent our first few days staying with our good friends and making reconnaissance missions to see Vanessa’s step mom, my sister and Zee’s cousins before heading up North to spend a few days with my parents in beautiful Prescott. After eating the best homemade Mexican food at the Eagles Nest (aka my parents place) in the Southwest we then made our way North to Lake Powell.
We spent about four days on a house boat on beautiful Lake Powell which spans Arizona and Utah. What a magical place. There were ten of us on the large boat equipped with stove, kitchen, appliances and A/C. It was even equipped with a slide on the back of the boat which provided lots of entertainment. My brother-in-law also had his ski boat which made for some pretty amazing wake boarding at sunset. We explored canyons, swam, and relaxed. Our last night on the lake was interesting as a storm blew in and gave our boat pretty good shaking. The boat radio was quite busy as fellow boaters radioed in for help as they were knocked into rocks by the strong winds in the dark of night. Mayday was the word of the night. Fortunately for us we had anchored in well and suffered no damage. It was a great way to spend a week with family in one of the most attractive places in the world.
After our boat ride we caught some shut-eye at my parents nest in Prescott, AZ and stopped by to visit Vanessa’s sister and brother-in-law which included more of Zee’s cousins before continuing on to Mule Creek, New Mexico, a small town near the AZ border with a population of about 100 people. Billy the Kid, of Western gun fighter fame, used to hide out here and his little shack still stands and is within walking distance of Vanessa’s parents abode. It is a very quiet and picturesque place with not much to do but relax in a hammock, read, hike, and watch the hummingbirds feed (just what the body needed). We were joined there by Vanessa’s brother and wife and their son Ryder from San Francisco who is not much younger than Zee. It was nice to for the boys to catch up We threw a nice pre-party for Zee’s upcoming 1st year old birthday this Sunday
After the trip we drove back to Phoenix where we stayed with Vanessa’s good friend who is planning on getting married in December (which means we will be back) and they had lots to talk about in regards to the big day. Our final day was spent at my sister’s house and my parents, and Uncle Max came down to visit. Zee was passed from one loving relative to the other and he wore an adult sized grin the entire day. The day was filled with lots of coffee, great food, family and interesting conversation – the kind of days I long for.
Did I tell you we even went house hunting??? More later.
Wednesday, August 02, 2006
No Longer a Baby
Where does the time go? Our little Zee will no longer be a litte baby after August 6th. Yep, he's on his way to toddler land. It's funny how I look at Zee's growth and it suddeny dawns on me how fast I am ageing. Ahhh, come on wisdom, where are ya?We had a wonderful time while back in the US and a pre-party was in order given we had to jump on the big bird home before Zee's actual big day. Zee was surrounded by an abundance of love and good times. It was great for him to spend quality time with his grandparents, Aunts, Uncles, and cousins. We plan on having a pool party on Sunday for his big day with lots of cake and tubs of ice cream. Click here if you want to see a plethora of additional pics.
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