San Diego with the Bankheads

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We visited the Hotel Coranado across the bay. Incredible Hotel. Our say at the Sharaton was nice, but not THIS nice! Wow, what a place! It was built in 1888 - right after the railway system hooked the rest of the U.S. up with California. Touring the hotel was akin to eating dark chocolate. It felt like we were visiting the set to Somewhere in Time, a favorite of mine. Especially when she yells "Richard! Richaaaaaaaaaaaaard!"


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This was the view from our hotel. It was a bonus that California time is earlier than ours. We woke up 'early' every morning, enjoyed the sunrise, did yoga, went for a jog, or whatever we felt like for 4 days. I had an orthodontic conference in the middle of the day, which was awesome, but I was always ready for a diversion, also known as real life, when we finished the seminar each day. Lisa actually went to a real yoga studio and worked out REALLY hard after going running the same morning. The next day she treated herself to a massage back at the hotel. She deserved it for more than just working out. She's overworked - like so many moms, and I was SO glad that I was able to talk her into coming along. So, by the way, was she.


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So we went to an AMAZING, apparently famous restaurant called OceanAire. It was beyond good. Brent and Laurice kept posing for smooching pictures as an excuse to show public affection.? It inspired me and Lisa to do the same.

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And this was BEFORE we tried the food!

This was one of the desserts that our waitress set on fire. Lovely!

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Brent votes for Key Lime - but we ate: Key Lime Pie, N.Y.Cheesecake, Creme Brule, and the thing she lit on fire. Still don't know what that was called!


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Scotty's Nest - And Other Sleeping Habits

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Sunday morning I usually hear Scott calling out from his room. He wants to be picked up and carried downstairs, or into our room. Often, he is in a Scotty Nest, also known as a wadded up blanket. Usually he is in his P.J.s, but occasionally we find him just like this (in his tighty whiteys). However we find him, he is always in the mood for a good cuddle and a hug. Scott, like my Lisa, both wake up slowly in the morning. They need a period of time that they call "wake up time". As for the other three of us, we usually go directly from being asleep to being awake. Indeed, we can usually jump out of our bed AS we stretch, usually within a minute of opening our eyes. The opposite at night time is also true between these two groups: Parker, Thomas and I can fall asleep close to instantly, while Scott and Lisa have a 'get ready to sleep' time, that is about the same length of time as their wake up time.

A Night in the Life

We were having an old favorite called Yakiniku (Japanese sauce on meat and vegetables cut paper thin, and cooked on a fry pan on the dinner table). The sauce is amazing! Tangy, spicy, and rare. We treat it like gold, as it's difficult to come by. The kids do OK with chopsticks, and LOVE rice as much as bread in this home. It helps that Lisa is an amazing cook, and served a mission in Hong Kong. She makes more Japanese food than Chinese food. Thanks Lisa! They say you tend to give to others in your 'language of love'. For Lisa, 'Acts of Service' are at the top of her list. Fortunately, she doesn't expect me to cook anything more than corndogs for the kids. I served a mission in Japan, so I am de-LIGHTED to eat anything Asian that she makes!

Parker likes his octopus cheater-chopsticks, but will usually take the real thing if given a chance. This evening, his brothers took the real thing. I am slowly bringing Parker along in the ways of SUSHI, starting him out with California Rolls, which I always call SUSHI. He eats them now any chance he gets. He has already had a few rolls with fresh (and uncooked) Maguro (fatty tuna), which he liked. Soon I'll have a buddie to eat all sorts of SUSHI with, since Lisa takes no interest in the REAL stuff. By the way, Lisa doesn't eat s either unless the preparation is perfect. She doesn't like the 'slimey' texture, and she deTESTs Enoki s. It's so sad. Enoki s make a boiling pot of NABE just right. Oh well. Otherwise, she is open to a VERY diverse variety of foods. Indeed, on our first date she boldy declared "I just love good food, and I love to eat!" I didn't know what she meant, since I was raised on Hamburger Helper (bless you mom), but Lisa can really spend a LOT of time cooking something delicious, even if she knows the kids won't eat it. We are perfectly content to eat the good stuff, and throw a corn dog or chicken nugget in the microwave for a disaffected child. Their loss, not ours.


Oh, regarding the pictures on this blog that are often taken in our too brightly decorated kitchen - please excuse the interesting paint job we inherited when we moved in a year or so ago. At least it's bright!

We ARE planning on redoing the kitchen, after a few more major projects are finished! :)


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You may noticed that Scott LOVES to dress up. This is his latest design in paintball gear. He has on my ski helmet, and a neck pillow with a communication device fashioned from a pencil, a broken toy, and some tape. His goggles are from his recent birthday, and the chopsticks...well, this was SUPPOSED to be dinner time. Those goggles are his 'night vision' goggles. He loves them, even though they are nothing more than cheap glasses with a flashlight installed between the eyes. Cute kid! You have to give it to him, he's ultra-creative.

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Mr Thomas loves to get on the table. They were hungry and ready to eat when I took these pics. Such a silly, cute little boy. Tonight, while shopping at Trader Joe's, he stopped a man he didn't know, and said "If you see me again, you can say 'Hi!'" You should have seen all three of them, with little shopping carts, following us around the store. For those who don't know Trader Joe's, a California favorite, it is as important to California dwellers as In-N-Out. We are very, VERY lucky to have one here, as the next closest Trader Joe's is in Chicago, Nashville, and Indianapolis.

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Scott's First Written Score

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Ok, I had to grab the camera today when I realized what was happening here.
Scott was dictating to Lisa a song that he wanted written. We're not talking
lyrics - Scott was singing a song he made up note by note, and Lisa was transcribing
the simple melody into music. The song was simple, but it was so historic, and cute
at the same time. Scott is SO happy when he is creating anything. Now he is applying
what he has learned from 2 years of Suzuki to his creation pallete. (spell check that one)
Look how satisfied he is in the picture. Notice that he has to climb on the counter when
he is in a deeply creative state as well. Very Scott. Very cute.
Note also my sweet wife, who takes his creative splurges in stride. Sometimes they are
impractical, messy, or just not a safe idea. We like music composition, as it is non-of-the above.
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Parker's Amazing Valentine's Day Party

Parker had an incredible Valentines party, which consisted of playing Bingo, xchanging books, and eating lots of good food. Oh, Parker just corrected me on that last point, he said it was "pretty much just ice cream and pretzels".

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Parker is in a class of 11 in a program for bright kids. In the picture, Parker is sitting with some of his friends in the program. PEGS - Program for Exceptionally Gifted Students.


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My Valentine

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Lisa is wearing the jewlery we got when we were in at Put-In Bay on a cool island on Lake Eire. I loved that day. When she came downstairs wearing that jewlery I was like "Wait, I have to get my camera!" She doesn't have very many outfits that the jewlery goes with, so if you have our address, please send her anything that would go well with the jewlery, because she harldy ever wears it!

Ok, this was going to be a tribute to my sweetheart. Here it goes for real. Lisa is AMAZING! If you know her at ALL, you already know THIS FACT: LISA IS AMAZING. To me she IS my life. "Ain't No Sunshine When She's Gone" is a fact of life for me, but helps me to realize how much I love being with her. When I am in a bad mood, she will help me get through it, or ignore it, depending on what she thinks will help me out the most. She doesn't complain a lot, but makes her preferences clear in the few instances when she wants things a certain way. She makes me laugh about the little things that happen in our lives, especially regarding our children. Together we have developed mutual tastes for certain things that I'm sure nobody can possibly enjoy as much as we do: 1) Good Theater, 2) Good Chocolate (Dark, or Very Dark in all its varieties), 3) Travel - this last year we did Utah (which doesn't count) & NYC, the year before we did Florida and Seattle. In 2005 we did Hawaii (where she went to school). Next year we will go to the Carribean near Belize. 5) HGTV 6) Pride & Prejudice 7) Music - When I asked her on our first date, and told her it was going to be a musical date, she said "Well, I'm Musical!" So cute! We love that our boys are all taking Suzuki, which Lisa is the driving force behind. I love it whenever she is singing - it makes my soul rejoice. She is THE vocalist, and I'm the INSTRUMENTALIST in our musical relationship 8) Bungalows and Craftsmen homes, 9) The Gospel (Ok, I should have put it first - gee!) But seriously, we SO love the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and love to empower eachother in taking our part in the PLAN seriously. We love the Temple, and are SO lucky to have a Temple in St. Louis! We love going! We love ward temple night 10) We love people. We love the same people. It is hard for one of us to like someone without the other person falling in love with that same person. 11) Good food - I kind of said that already, but have to say it again. We love to eat good Indian, Japanese, Chinese, Mexican, etc. Oh, and chocolate! I love you Bert!

P.S. - Bert is her nickname - it came from "Lambert", her maiden name.

Pinewood Derby Madness!

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Ok, so those are my dental loops. I don't use them much anymore in Orthodontics, but they came in really handy for going OCD over my son's Pinewood Derby car this year. I finally had to accept the fact that the car pulls a few degrees to the right, in spite of all my hours and hours (oh I don't even want to tell you how many hours). It was a blast, I must say, or else I wouldn't have been so sucked in! Scott loves it too, can you tell?

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