Catalina Island

Just off the coast of LA is Catalina island where we are spending a few days holiday. Its about an hour by boat ride and the main town of Avalon reminds me a lot of the smaller greek islands. Like a lot of island nature preserves, this one has been kept free from pests like McDonalds and Starbucks (from what I have seen so far) which really gives it a genuine island charm. There are also very few cars on the island, instead everyone drives golf carts which may sound lovely however they're actually really noisy.

Merry Xmas

Merry Xmas everybody, this is what I ate today!

Baby Prom!

I hosted a "baby prom" for Annabel's playgroup this week... basically just a normal playdate but the kids got dressed up in the fancy outfits that have been hanging in their closets gathering dust.

Here are a few photos of Anna and some of her friends...

Princess Annabel

Ooh, I like your dress Athena!

Uh, Jackson, I don't think that's appropriate prom date behavior?

Checking out the boys with her friend Bevyn

Becoming American

Step 58: Win a bowling trophy. DONE. Scored 170 at a work event. The best part about this is some people I work with bowl regularly and they didnt even come close.

5 months old yesterday!

Bye Bye NZ Sport

I watch way too much sport. Here in America I am loving football, college football and baseball is getting better and better every season as I learn more about the game. We live next to a hockey stadium (San Jose Sharks), and although hockey on TV is not great viewing this town is hockey crazy so its hard to avoid. Indycar is my favorite motorsport. Basketball is rubbish, except March Madness (a college basketball tournament). With smart phones I am wired to the action, stats, odds and news 24/7. So something has to give, and unfortunately the only thing I am prepared to let go is NZ sport, sorry. The All Blacks won the world cup, so they have peaked, and the Black Caps are 83/6 at lunch on day 1 versus a shitty australian team (some things never change). Good luck and all the best, send me an email if anything really interesting happens, bye.

Stu's first inhaler

Stu had a pretty severe bout of croup a month or so ago (11pm visit to the ER - not fun), and has pretty much had a remnant cough ever since. We went to see the Dr. again yesterday... diagnosis: bronchiolitis. Which, the Dr. explained, is what they call an episode of "wheezy coughing", and which, if it keeps recurring, will probably be re-diagnosed as asthma.
So Stu has his first inhaler : (

Jingle Bells!!!