Kinda off topic
In the light of the lack of updates recently (due entirely to me spending upwards of 13 hours a day at the office, not to mention weekends) I thought I'd post this little artcile link.
Its quite teccy but if every there was a decent article about why what "us games people" do is actually pretty hard work, and is far removed from "just messing around playing games all day" - which I have been accused of on countless occasions - well this certainly goes some way. Enjoy, even if its like a foreign language!
http://tinyurl.com/28l7dbNote that the article itself is a little badly linked - you need to click on the "Here are the 10 greatest challenges" link towards the bottom of the main paragraph then click "NEXT" at the top of the popup window to go through the individual challenges.
Wine and... HUEY!
While Natalie was away and we had babysitter access I took a drive down to Saratoga, a beautiful town near San Jose, about 90 minutes south of here, south of the city. Its stunning down there, the highway 280 is a beautiful road lined with redwood forests and very tranquil. I am told its voted one of the most beautiful roads in the country. Definately its the area we'd like to move to if we decide to stay here for any period of time. Anyway Saratoga is a beautiful place, very "exclusive". I went to the Mountain Winery - as it sounds its a vineyard on a large hill - they have a lot of concerts there as well as a beautiful winery, and a great restaurant on the hillside. You can see literally tens if not hundreds of miles from the top on a clear day, the view stretches out forever. And the wine is stunning, expensive but stunning, shame I was driving really! Anyway, guess who was playing that night... the one and only Huey Lewis and the News! Yeah baby - Back to the Future! Very cool - they played a very cool set with a lot of jazz stuff rather than just the 80s hits. Nice way to spend an evening - we'll certainly go back.
Entertainment with Dad
Last Friday, when Kyle was in drop in and it was the day I was off - myself and Karina went to the lcoal beach which is very close to work, walking distance in fact, and right near the Golden Gate Bridge so its a quite stunning vista. I'd never been there before and didnt really expect much but its great - a long sandy beach with small areas of rocks which are alive with small fishes and lots of crabs! Just the kinda thing I used to love back home as a kid in Whitley Bay, South Shields etc but without the arcades and candy floss! If we'd have known it was so cool there we'd have taken bathing costumes and toys... so we'll definately go back. As you can see from the shots, Karina loved it there...
Emergency trip to Russia
Not quite so jolly a report this time. Last week Natalie had to take a rather rushed trip back home to Siberia as her father is really sick. Those of you who know us well will know the score so I won't go into any detail, suffice to say things got a lot worse lately and we decided we had to get her over there ASAP. Despite the horrific journey (48 hours door to door and a complete ass of a cab driver), we had an equally torried time just trying to get flights, or at least flights that would only
partially bankrupt us rather than fully. Long story short, we got them sorted out and she scooted off for 8 days. Bet you're wondering what happened to the kids right? Daddy Day Care, thats what! I can safely say I had the hardest, longest week of my life. Its hard as hell being a full time Dad but its harder still when you are actually working at the same time - yes, I was working! I took 2 days off (to be made up at a later date) and the rest was an very expensive hassley combination of baby sitters, relying on friends for a few hours, and signing Kyle up for "drop in day care" at Karinas school. Surprisingly enough it worked out and I'm just about alive and sane. Just about. The good side of cousre was Natalie spent a quality week with her Dad, which I'm so relieved about. Also, Kyle loved school it seemed. And even better - they loved him, apparantly hes the most angelic kid they ever had - they didnt wanna let him go!!! In fact one morning when he came in crying they were shocked: "I can't believe Kyle actually cries!!!" Great stuff. Mind you they wouldnt say that if they saw him waking me up at 3AM last Thursday night! I didnt realise the hours from 3 till 7 could be so long, quiet and frustrating.
No matter... all is good and Natalie came home safe with nice vodka and assorted gifts for everyone.
Her Dad is doing "OK" for now, very determined to get back to normal, and thats the most powerful thing he can have - positive thought. We all wish him the very very best and of course we're thinking of him - he's a great guy and a great Dad so our prayers go out to him and to Natalie and family because its been very tough on them lately.
Ringling Brothers
A couple weeks ago the circus was in town - Ringling Brothers Circus - thats the same one Natalie and the kids went to see back in Boston with my "lovely" ex-producer and family. This time it was "the Stephensons only" and we had great seats. Before the show they had some entertainment for the kids and everyone was encouraged to go into the ring and watch the clowns, acrobats etc as well as getting involved - dressing up in real circus costumes (of course - Karina gravitated towards anythign remotely pink!), face painting, etc. Great fun... we had a blast. Despite being stuck in Oaklands finest traffic jam - over an hour just to get out of the parking lot and it was about 95 degree heat. Lurvely. Those Oakland drivers sure know how to... errrr... not drive. They're bloody experts :)
Great kids!
Look how the 2 little terrors are growing. Its impossible to stay annoyed at them very long - ahh, so sweet ;)
Day in San Francisco
A long overdue update is in order! Its been manic here lately - you'll see that from the coming posts...
A few weeks ago our neighbour who is good friends with Natalie (and also Russian!) offered to take the kids - she has 2 children, Naiomi and Dena who are good friends with Karina - into the city for a day out while I was slaving away in the office. They ended up going to the science centre which is a lot ot hands on activities for the kids, as well as the huge permenant indoor carousel thats located quite near to the apartment we lived in when we first arrived, in the heart of downtown near the baseball park. Great weather, and it seems they had a fantastic day out as they didnt return home till around 6PM :)
