Camping

This weekend Nick, Mochi and I, went camping with Caresse, Tyler, Lisa, Sterling and Pico.  Yeah, yeah.....I know.....I went camping.  It was actually a lot of fun.  It turns out that camping is way more fun than I had originally thought.  The only camping I was familiar with, were Nick's million mile hikes where everything has to fit in your backpack.  This was CAR camping.  You get to bring whatever you want!

We stayed at Pinecrest Lake outside Sonora.  Caresse, Tyler, Nick and I left on Friday after work.  We nearly ran out of gas - I think we were down to 2 miles before we finally found a gas station.  And then we couldn't find dinner.  But we eventually made it to the campsite just in time to setup our tents and have a few smores.

We spent Saturday at the lake.  Pico was a champion swimmer!  Mochi tried too.  He would walk into the water up to his chest.  Nick wanted to make him swim so he carried him into the water.  I guess Mochi's 6th sense kicked in.....he could "feel" the water and started paddling in mid air.

Nick finally dropped him in the water and he started swimming like a champ.  He always b-lined for the shore, but at least he wasn't a sinker.

Nick finally dropped him in the water and he started swimming like a champ.  He always b-lined for the shore, but at least he wasn't a sinker.

One little tid bit of info about Nick.  He's a flashlight nazi.  I couldn't find my flashlight before we left.  He wasn't helping at all and I was getting really frustrated.  Then he says, "B, here's the thing.  When we were little, dad wouldn't let us use the flashlights.  He said our eyes would adjust.  So it's been ingrained in me since I was little."  I found the flashlight (And I used it).  But don't worry Steve, it doesn't run off of batteries, it's one of those windup kinds.

Good Stuff

So I guess I missed the entire month of June.  No worries, nothing too exciting happened in June.  Nick, Mochi and I went home for the 4th of July.  It was Mochi's first trip on an airplane.  Let's just say it could have been worse (although it could have been a lot better).  We'll keep practicing in anticipation of Christmas. 

It was a fun 4th at the Loper's lakeside abode!  Too many burgers and people to count.  Mochi

 had a blast and made all sorts of new friends.

Once we returned home, I was off to Shreveport LA.  My project for the last year and a half was a flight test unit.  The unit was getting loaded onto a B-52 in preparation for the drop.  Lisa and I got to get into the cockpit and turn the plane on.  Sweetness!

Then, we were headed to Vegas - for 24 hours.  After our stint in Vegas, we were headed into the middle of no where to watch our unit get dropped.

Here we are making a stop at the A-Le-Inn (get it?).

The drop.

oops

Well I better post at least once in May.

Things got a bit busy to say the least.  Stacey came to visit at the beginning of April.  We went to Vegas (but you already knew that).  Then Grandma and Hiroko came to visit.  We had a great time in San Francisco visiting the Asian Art Museum as well as the botanical gardens.  

Then I went to Amarillo for a week.  It wasn't terribly exciting.  I saw some lightning, a bunch of cows, lots of flat land, a dead bird as a hood ornament, and the cadillac ranch.  I took some pictures of the cadillac ranch, mostly to prove to Nick that I had in fact been in Amarillo and not some other super secret place.  Unfortunately, I can't find the cord to transfer the pictures to my computer.....but just imagine cadillacs buried in the ground, "ass" up.  Then imagine they are spray painted - a lot.  It takes about 5 minutes to experience.  But hey, it's art...right?

Then I came back and Mom came to visit.  It was a pretty relaxing weekend and I know she was glad to see (and play with) mochi.  

Now, Nick and I are trying to decide what we will do with our Thanksgiving holiday.....cruise in Mexico or an all inclusive in Mexico (or somewhere else warm).  Thoughts?

Oh, by the way.  My friend Kelly is going to Disneyland.  I'm super jealous.  I'm thinking I'll hit it up in August or September.....maybe after the summer rush.  Either way, splash mountain and I have a date.  This is what happens when you wait to take your kids to Disneyland....they become obsessed. 

Vegas 2008

So it's been a little busy.

Mochi got his "boys" removed.















He looks a little scary in this photo.

I went to the 'querque a few weeks ago. Then Stacey came to visit. Then Nick and I went to Vegas.

Ford was having a new car show thingy.....at the BELLAGIO! I was thrilled!



















This is the hallway to our awesome room. We guess that it was 3 blocks. Literally. I'm not joking. We were at the end of the hallway.

The rooms were also very awesome.















While Nick was doing work.....I sat by the pool.




















After the Bellagio we downgraded to the Luxor. Well, anything would be a downgrade after the Bellagio.

We saw Yellowcard, which was cool. But then we realized that we actually didn't know very many Yellowcard songs.

the elusive Ichiro autograph...

So Nick and I spent the weekend in Phoenix AZ for baseball spring training. Let me break it down for you, baseball, then some baseball and then a little more baseball. There was some shopping, but it was for baseball t-shirts.

Day 1:
We arrived in Phoenix (HOT!!) and drove to Peoria. Our game was at 1:05 and we were within sight of the ballpark by 12:00. Then it took us 40 minutes to move less than 1 mile. Our seats were on the lawn and it was HOTTTTT! Then we went back to the hotel and jumped in the pool.














Day 2:
So this was our only full day in Arizona, so we were going to do the full baseball thing....batting practice, autographs and the game. So we went to batting practice, where we met up with Kristen and her fam. We saw Ichiro take a few hacks.....he never really looked at me, but here is the best picture I got. I like to pretend like he's staring into my eyes.














Then we had a huge surprise. Buhner was in town coaching! And he even signed some autographs and took pictures with us!

Here's me getting Buhner's autograph.



















Here I am acting like I'm 12.



















Here's Kristen with Buhner.














I was actually pretty impressed with Buhner. He stayed and signed autographs for EVERYONE!
Once again the M's lost. Here's the back side of Ichiro.














Day 3:
We were going to go to a mall today. But it was Easter, so the mall was closed. Thumbs down! Today's game was in Tempe. We played the Angels. It sucked. We lost again. But the weather was a smidge cooler.














The best part about this picture is the woman over my left shoulder. She probably never dreamed she'd ever be on an internet blog. All in all it was a fun trip. We are hoping that the M's got all the losing out of their system. I got a lovely tan and Nick didn't get burned, so it was a successful trip for all. Mochi stayed with Brian and spent the weekend watching the NCAA basketball tournament. I think they drank beer on Saturday. It's cool, he's almost 21 in dog years.

Mochi the giant shih tzu

So Mochi was scratching his ears. I took him to the vet. He has an ear infection. Poor kid. But what was even more astounding was his weight. He weighs 15 lbs and he's only 6 months old. He was only suppose to be 12 lbs total. The vet thinks he could be as much as 20-25 lbs full grown. She says to me, "We have 1 or 2 other GIANT Shih Tzus that come in." WTF?! Mochi is a giant!

What have I been doing lately?

Well that's an excellent question.

Let's see, since our last blog update.....we've successfully painted 1 wall in the bathroom and 1/3 of a wall in the kitchen.


































So it looks a lot greener than it really is. I mean, it's green...but a little more muted than the picture makes it out to be. Nick picked it.

I've also honed my cake decorating skills. Caresse and I made Tyler (Caresse's boyfriend) a cake for his birthday. It was our first attempt using fondant. While it is no Ace of Cakes, I think I see a future for us in cake decorating :-) I can see it now....Bryn, Cake Decorator, Hair Dresser Extraordinaire.















And what blog experience would be complete without an update in the life of Mochi McMocherson.

Here he is eating a treat.

"Muhaha....I will get you!"














"Gnnaaa, got you sucka!"















"Victory"














"Hey, what are you lookin at?"