The Zoo

Yesterday found us escaping the 100 plus degree heat of Antioch in favor of the 56 degree lovliness that is the San Francisco Zoo.

Not only did the girls have a blast, but not melting at home was a niec change of pace.

It's baby season at the zoo and every display with a new baby had a sign and a picture with description.
Morgan seemed most interested with the map, asking for one while we were still standing in line. She would consult the map each time we left one exhibit and point to another one. "Where's my map?" was a common sound this trip.
Eliza saw most of the animals from her perch at the bow of the double stroller, pointing at animals and saying "Dhere!" She was first to pet the snake in the kids' zoo and the last to pet a goat in the petting zoo. She was also keen at finding hidden animals.

The big attraction these days is the baby gorilla. We were able to see him latched onto mama's back and enjoying the ride. the silver backed male in the group looked to get aggressive at one point and she grabbed the baby in one hand and ran. The big male just wandered into a corner and sat, bored.
More pictures are coming soon in a slideshow, along with some video from that day, but wanted to give you a taste of the day we beat the heat at the zoo.

Paparazzi aplenty

These girls are just too much fun together. If you ignore everything you want to get done and just jump head first into their world, it is a BLAST!

Kim posted a bunch of new stuff on You Tube, most specifically, Morgan and Aiden kissing at the beach. It was not easy to type that just now. Her teen years will be trying.


This from the new camera we got. This new one has no view finder and takes the nice 720 video in widescreen format, fitting the TV and youtube format nicely.

Here is Eliza trying to avoid Morgan taking pictures of her cheese today:

All Done

At least as far as I can go. I'll admit the crown moulding idea I had didn't look nearly as good as I had hoped and was like putting a cheap hat on a nice suit, so maybe another day if we find something we like.

Here it is, cabinet and window seat:

Almost done

The girls are coming home soon and I can't wait!

I'm also just about finished with the build. Here it is from this afternoon:
The can lights are in, the pieces have been attached and thanks to Mr Reinhold, we were able to tie into the dimmer for the lights in the kitchen, making for a very nice built in effect.
It has indeed been a learning experience, with me learning how builders of tract homes cut corners and run wires into empty cavities. It also taught me that when you don't have to keep a 3 year old from tackling a 1 year old, you can do some pretty neat stuff.

Yes that is almost former governor Sarah Palin on the screen. I waited a commercial break to get her picture on there.

I also learned a new phrase the other day that got entered in the Urban Dictionary: Pullin' a Palin. It means to up and quit something you claim to care about for no apparent reason and then lie about it. Or something like that. I think she got it from when McCain suspended his campaign to fix the economy. Remember that?

HA

I'll be finishing the crown piece tomorrow and getting the house ready for the little ones to return. Kim too.

There will be many more posts from Kim about the trip, I'm sure.


hint, hint.

That was just a pain

The whole invited readers only thing was a pain, and since the England project is moving slower than expected, I think it's "safe" to open it back up. So there.

In other news, Kim and the girls have been away for a few days giving me a chance to get to work on our built in entertainment center.

I've been wanting to do a build like this for a long time, so I'm going all out.

It started with pulling the drywall and quickly became a fun project.
This picture is from the end of the first day and shows the area I'm working on. I had to remove a number of studs as well as bad drywall and insulation. That silver tube is the chimney stack and the dark area behind it is the chimney enclosure. I was able to reclaim some of this space and sink the unit into the wall a few inches as well as adding some space behind the component area to your hand doesn't get stuck all the time moving cords around.

The most annoying part so far has been running all the cables, wires and what not through multiple studs, past a gas line and down under a window where a custom built cabinet will house all the components. What a chore.

I have had 3 full days work on the project and despite some minor injuries I am slightly ahead of schedule.
This is the dry fit from the middle of day 3, yesterday. Everything is coming along and after this photo I took a long break, then found myself in the garage painting and staining, trying to get farther ahead of schedule. I HAVE to finish this before the girls get home or it will never be finished.

I'll post more when I do more!