Gun 'N Roses Concert

I was on my way back from California with Maxine and the Fagergrens when Merril called. He was talking to Justin Campbell and he had tickets to Guns 'N Roses in Vegas but their kids were sick and they couldn't leave them. He wondered if we'd go. So I had the Fagergrens drop me off and I met up with Merril. Guns 'N Roses aren't exactly our style but it was still fun. 

I was wasted from traveling with Maxine for a few days so we didn't stay for the whole concert. Slash still had it though man! He rocked! Axel Rose, a little less so. He was mumbly and you couldn't hardly hear him.  

The opening band, Mammoth, was awesome. The lead singer is Eddie Van Halen's son. 

 

Monterey California with the Fagergrens

Ellen and Amy Fagergren invited Maxine and I to Monterey as a fun vacation before Ellen starts college. We drove the first day until we got this cute VRBO. 

We spent the first day in Sequoia National Park. Maxine and Ellen loved the BIG trees!

We climbed Moro Rock viewpoint.

We got out of Sequoia and were starving and found a taco place.

The next day we drove to Monterey and had tickets to see humpback whales. We followed 

three whales around for a few hours and they were so big and slow moving. One of the whales was missing half of its fluke. 😥 Maxine was struck by how big they were. She said it's so different to see pictures and imagine the scale. 

The next day we went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, which was probably my favorite part of the trip! Jellyfish are always awesome. I shot video of huge schools of sardines.

This eel was creepy!

We went shopping afterwards at Cannery Row. We also drove to Carmel-by-the-Sea, which I've only heard called Carmel. We found an expensive ring shop (one of the rings was $150,000!) We also found a candy shop and an antique book shop. Everything was expensive and we didn't really buy anything. We found an art gallery with paintings between $30-100,000. Crazy, who has this kind of money?!

There's a place off Ocean Avenue, where I used to sit and talk with you.

The next day we spent cruising around the coast and enjoying all the beautiful things that Northern California has to offer!

This was called Pfieffer Beach and Maxine and I climbed to the top of this rock for a picture.

I spotted this license plate and loved it! Sometimes we yell Maxine's name all high pitched and say Maxeeeen! I can hear it in my head when I read this license plate.

Then we drove all the way home. Good times!

First Day of School 2021

Everyone is all ready for school!

Jack didn't want to pose for me on the first day of school so I snagged this a few weeks later.

Seems like this year is going to be great! Mark seems less nervous about school. It's weird not having Maxine start school. 

 

Backyard Chair Fix

This is a little random but I fixed this chair the other day. I bought these chairs used and one had a bent leg. When I tried to straighten in, it broke off. I bought 7 of these metal chairs so they could stay outside by the fire pit and the whole family would have a seat. Then I broke one. I was bugged. I kept it around with the idea of trying to fix it. 

I ended up ignoring it until Maxine said she wanted to have a party outside with some friends. I had an idea of bracing the leg with a rod and bolting a piece of metal on both side of the break. It's perfect! I think it will last for a long time like that! And that is why I love fixing things! Making something useful again makes me feel good!

 

Mark vs. Nerf Dart

Summer has filled my house with tons of neighborhood kids! We have a basement and that's a great place to hang out and have Nerf wars. During one such battle, Mark got a Nerf dart in the eye! He was crying and so I brought him upstairs and put a wet washcloth on his eye, in hopes of calming him. When he allowed me to inspect it, I realized his eye might need some medical attention. His iris was filling with blood. It was already 5:15 p.m., late for an optometrist office to be open. I didn't feel like taking him to the E.R. because they'd look at it and refer me to an eye doc. 

I opened Google and searched for ANY open optometrist office. Luckily, one was open until 6:30 p.m. I called and asked if they could squeeze us in or if we should go to the E.R. I was told to bring him into their office. This is the picture I took as we got into the car. The blood is partially covering his pupil. Mark said it orange-tinted his vision but he could see okay. Eyes are important and that's a little unnerving. 

We waited and the doctor examined his eye. He thought it would be okay but wanted to get a second opinion from the St. George Eye Center. They prescribed 3 different types of eye drops, one to dilate his eye, one to reduce swelling and inflammation, and one for to reduce the pressure. This is the first night. The dilation makes his eye look crazy. He had to sleep with his head elevated to help drain the blood.

We saw a specialist the next day. He was advised to take it really easy during the next 7 days, so as not to reinjure the eye. If it bleeds again, it could be very difficult to stop.

He was told to be the ultimate couch potato and watch a lot of tv. I banned him from rough housing and riding his bike. We bought him some sunglasses and told him to be careful. 

Update: It took about 6 days for all the blood to disappear. We went to a follow-up appointment after 8 days and he got the green light to resume normal activities! We are keeping up two of the drops for another week but he'll make a full recovery. Yay!