This is our third week in Port Hueneme, CA. The weather has been anything but the sunny California weather I was expecting. It's normally chilly and windy most days. We have been able to get out every weekend to see some sights. Audrey is finally crawling around the apartment so it's time to conduct some kid proofing.


Kenny Loggins concert aboard the USS Midway Aircraft Carrier


USS Midway Aircraft Carrier


Standing in front of the Command Center


Strawberry Shortcake at the Strawberry Festival in Port Hueneme



In front of the Penguin Center


Manta Rays abound


I was given a Shamu when I was a kid. Now Audrey has one. She threw her first one away on the ground but fortunately we were given a replacement.


Lunch break in the park


Feeding the man eating sea lions


Mom keeps pestering me


Shamu 1, 2 and 3


Shamu #4


Nuff said.


If I am reincarnated, I will come back as a sea otter.


Giddy up!


Polar bears need some screen time


Giraffe. Yawn.


Audrey loves playing in the sand


Field exercise training at Ft Hunter Liggett. Here we are setting up camp.


So many balls... So little time.


Snaggletooth


La Jolla valley hike, close to Pt Mugu

OK! That's it for now.

So we have arrived in Port Hueneme. Just for a quick recap, Shawna has been living in Boise while I have been temporarily assigned to the National Naval Medical Center at Bethesda, MD. Shawna and her parents flew to Pennsylvania to visit relatives in mid April and shortly after Shawna met up with me in DC. We flew back to Boise on April 30 and packed for our road trip to Port Hueneme. I will be spending the summer attending the Naval Civil Engineer Corps school while Shawna and Audrey turn into California Beach Bunnies. Unfortunately no pictures are available from Pennsylvania or DC due to our camera being stolen from our car. Word of obvious caution: lock your car, even if you are sleeping in a tent two feet from it. Our first day was spent at the Honeyman Beach campground on the Oregon coast which is where we were so inconveniently hijacked. The next couple days were spent at the Redwood National Forest which have been witnessed by the following pictures...


Audrey gives a "beary" good foot massage


Widdling canoes from a sturdy Redwood


Attack of the Lupines


Smile!


Inside a Redwood Tree


If hobbits didn't live in hills, this would certainly be their second choice


Trees large enough to drive through..


A Big Tree.


Interesting features abound


Gold Bluff campground, Prairie Creek Redwoods


One of the many coastal state parks in Oregon


Definitely windy

After the Redwoods we visited one of my childhood neighbors in San Francisco. We were also able to check out the Golden Gate bridge and Fort Point just below it. From there we stayed in Monterey, CA and drove the coastal cliff line with the intention of visiting the Hearst castle. The greater powers that be decided against this and blocked our passage with a rather large landslide at mile #67. We were forced to drive a very windy road through the Limekiln State park and across the Ft. Hunter Liggett Army range to get back to an acceptable route to Port Hueneme. We will be staying here until Aug 26th so stay tuned for more frequent updates this summer!

Falling Into Fall

Audrey has been enjoying her fall in Denver. At her doctor visit she weighed 12lbs 4 oz, so she is still on her way to becoming a midget according to dad.

Downtown Denver had a zombie crawl. We were going to participate but didn't have time to dress up. We went down to 16th street mall to check it out. There was some very cleaver costumes. Others your generic tattered clothes and blood. We found this one to suit Audrey.

Took Audrey to the Denver Zoo free day.
Which should be renamed stroller day.
I have never seen so many strollers or kids in one place.

Baby giraffes can stand 1 hour after birth.
Audrey still working on sitting 7 months.

Our sweet little baby was a bunny for Halloween.

Audrey had her first babysitter, while the adults went out to play. We were worried that she would scream the whole time since we have a needy baby. The baby sitter said she was quiet all night. Maybe we should drop her off more often.

Audrey enjoys her bath time so much,
we took her swimming at our complex. Had the camera in the pool and it still works. It held up to its promises of being water tight,unlike Audrey's esophagus.

Three States and Counting!

Hello everyone! It's time for an update. I have completed my internship in Missoula, renovated my townhouse, and am now living in Denver, CO. Shawna decided that Denver would be her portal to a job in dental hygiene so we are living near downtown so that she may begin her job search. I leave for Officer Candidate School (OCS) in Newport, RI on November 13. It will be a monstrous change from being a complete slacker and slob to vice versa. The transition may just kill me. Audrey and Shawna will stay in Denver during the interim so hopefully they are able to make lots of friends.

Our last weekend (late August) in Missoula we visited Glacier National Park and saw the gamut of wildlife, did a 20 mile backpack from Jackson Glacier Overlook through Gunsight Pass to Lake McDonald, and ate a sordid amount of greasy hotdogs over the campfire.


Just finishing up the Ptarmigan Tunnel. Shawna apparently just murdered someone as well.


Ptarmigan Tunnel Overlook, South Side


Iceberg Lake. Shawna wouldnt take my dare to swim out to the larger iceberg.


Swan Dive!


A moosey looking creature


Shawna trying to be a scary troll. FAIL.


Gunsight Pass

In September, the Spirit of Boise balloon rally was graced with the presence of Shawna's dad, a balloon aviator. Incredulously, I was invited to take a ride the first day! Approximately 30 balloons flew each day, and flights last an hour or so. No casualties were reported.


It was damn cold that morning. Fortunately I was well prepared with shorts and a t-shirt.


Takeoff from Ann Morrison Park.


Landing at a Public Charter School in Eagle. Shawna and Audrey pose for the camera.

Audrey has been doing well. She had her 6 month wellness visit and took 5 immunization shots in the legs like a trooper. She is now in the lower 10% class weight wise, and improvement from 3% a couple months ago. Slowly but surely as they say. She survived a 12 hour drive from Boise to Denver, and then another 10 hour drive from Denver to Bozeman shortly after to visit my family one last time before I leave for OCS. Audrey has now lived in Idaho, Montana, and now Colorado. She will probably visit all 50 states before I do!!


Road Trip!!


Walk through the park


Trying to sit

Summer Pics

I guess it's time to update this thing. Missoula has been a great place to live for the summer and Audrey seems to be enjoying it, mostly. Shawna and I have rafted the Lochsa River, saw Tom Petty at the Gorge, went to a Balloon rally in Stevensville, and visited Bozeman twice. Audrey's stomach is still troubling her, so it makes for a dearth of sleep some nights. Her medicine she takes to calm her is a godsend. Hopefully she grows out of it soon! Otherwise, when she's not cranky, she's a joy to be around. She weighs around 10 lbs now and just turned 4 months old. She still has some major catching up to do but Audrey likes challenges.


4th of July dress


Audrey and Shawna on my dad's electric 4 wheeler


Rare moment of happiness


Random video - happy to unhappy

Plans for the Summer

I know that Audrey's adventures are much more exciting than her parents' but irregardless I decided to give an update on us. As many know, I have an internship in Missoula, MT for the summer. It was a tough decision, as I was was offered a summer research position with the NEES doing earthquake and tsunami research in Reno, NV. In retrospect I should have chosen the latter but Missoula will certainly have its perks. I will be driving to Missoula next week while Shawna takes the long way around through Bozeman, MT to visit my family. Everyone there is anxious to see the incredible Audrey. See post below for some new pictures from the weekend!

The First Road Trip

All babies hit milestones during their development. Audrey, at two months, secured her first 5.10 climbing ascent at the City of Rocks in Southern Idaho. Instead of tending to finals as I should have, Shawna and I traveled with the Keller family down the the climbing mecca for some R&R. It was also Audrey's first venture out of the Boise area. The weather was fickle, almost as much so as Audrey's mood. We were battered by rain, gusted by wind, and forced to layer on the winter clothes to evade the cold. It may sound like misery, but each stage was followed by delightful sunny weather capable of sustaining T shirts and shorts. What did Audrey think about all this? She was wrapped up comfortably in her wool blankets and fed milk warmed to perfection by a jet boil stove. Ahh, the life of a baby. And now, since many are complaining about lack of updates, we present to you our little Sherpa!


Audrey's focused concentration on the climb is insurmountable


Enter the Keller family, where the two females can out climb the male. The male
can certainly gripe more that his counterparts however.


Rocks, rocks, everywhere


Cliffhanger theatrics


Stripe wall paints the background


Approach to the Castle Rocks


Our schmoo


Audrey's famous popeye impression


Daddy.


Mantle Dynamics, a 5.10a led courageously by Cindy Keller.
I would have led, but you know, i had baby duties... :)


En route to the next climbing wall


Someone's having fun


Nice overview of a fraction of climbing options in the park