Much Delayed Blog Post: Mary Jane's First Flight

Due to overwhelming laziness, illness, and distractions, I have not tended to my blog as much as I should have in the past six months.  But here are some pictures of Mary Jane's first airplane flight: a brief jump to Phoenix.

Here Mary Jane is gleefully pulling her luggage through LAX.  Most people think it's a complete drag but for her, it was a badge of honor.  Many times I offered to hold her bag for her.  She declined adamantly every single time.

Here Mary Jane enjoys a dinner out with Daddy.  She gets to chow down on a burger, some fries, and an orange juice.  Wow.  Special!  Normally she doesn't respond to close-up pictures like this but she was so in the moment regarding her food that she was surprised. 

She took over the camera at some point and took a nice photo of me completely zoned out by the window.  I guess I went into my own sleepy Zen mode waiting for the call for our plane flight.

 

I love this photo.  Here Mary Jane stares off into the vast blueness of sky and sea.  We had taken off and are slowly turning around from the westward trajectory of take off to the eastern path we must take to get to Phoenix.  The awe that she has mirrors the glow from the window.

And down there is the Palos Verdes Peninsula.  Somewhere down of the far eastern side is San Pedro.  Go Stars.

Hiatus

Oops, I've been away for a while.  Sorry about that.  But life, vacations, illness, laziness, idleness, and (fill in any other appropriate noun) has kept me from my appointed duties.  I shall add more pictures shortly.

Jack is now five months old and he can roll over.  He has the ability to hold a bottle for at least a few seconds at a time.  Oh, that's a huge milestone for parents.

Betsy Jo is speaking with greater clarity... although that low mumble voice she does in the morning can be unsettling at times.

Mary Jane is now three and has had a big cake for her party.  Yes, Deborah the Zebra was there to keep an eye on it. 

Really, more pictures and posts to follow.  I always wish to have more posts than the previous year but sometimes... life just gets in the way.  Kind of like a big truck passing another truck on the 10 East when we're trying to get to Phoenix.  They pass even though they know I'll be stuck behind them for an extra five minutes.  Hey, I have crying children in my car!!!

Wait, I'm ranting... I best be getting back to grading now.

Off-Roading

While Mary Jane and Betsy Jo were napping in Arizona, Miss Jill decided to take Mister John for a ride through the desert.  Due to Mister John's lack of ability to drive a stick shift, Miss Jill took it upon herself to ride through the bumpy desert as seen here.  This is only a 30 second snippet; otherwise this might have been a bit too nauseating to watch.  While Mister John claims that the stadium where the Super Bowl was held is off to the right somewhere, it is quite difficult to see.  Maybe a little pause and some squinting will help.

None of the cacti were injured during the filming of this video.

We All Scream...!

Ice cream is always needed after a long day. After a many hour drive through harsh desert, we arrived in Phoenix where it was a much cooler... 115 today. Nice. After that I think we all deserved a nice scoop or two of ice cream.

We all scream for ice cream, right?

Dodgers Do Well in All-Star Game

While the Dodgers may be scuffling to stay out of last place (thank you, Padres), at least their three All-Stars came through tonight. Kemp and Ethier both came up with hits and Ethier had an RBI as well. Meanwhile Kershaw pitched a clean inning with one strike out.

It might be a long painful season for Mister John but at least tonight was a brief reprieve from the madness. It also helps to have a cute little girl smiling at you every day. That overwhelms any need to check the box scores every morning.

MJ Returns Triumphantly from Arizona

Mary Jane made it to and from Arizona with no problems whatsoever. Last time she was in the hospital over Christmas which was a downer not only for her (goodness, hospital food?) but also her dear doting parents. She remained healthy and slept quite well in the western areas of Phoenix.

For her tremendously good behavior, a big party was thrown for her and she received a cake. Every baby needs a cake!

Mary Jane Improving at the Hospital

Our poor little girl came down with a tough case of RSV (Respiratory Syncytial Virus) for those like me who are not in the know. She came down with a bad bout of congestion and we were lucky that we were right near a children's hospital in Phoenix. She's been in for a few days now and all is looking better for her.

It is kinda sad wandering the halls and noting all the sick children who are missing out at being at home with their families over Christmas. Santa did make a visit through the hospital floors yesterday and little Mary Jane did get a cute stuffed animal. It's quite kind of people to volunteer their services for such beneficent duties. Not only that but all the children received a multitude of games, gifts, and stuffed animals from people's donations. It's one of the few times that you can see the other side of giving gifts to charities. While MJ is still fighting her illness and does not quite get those whole stuffed animal thing yet (oh, she will some day!), it still does make her parents smile. At least I think I was smiling, I just got off the night shift so my sleep was negligible to say the least.

Anyway, throw some prayers in the general direction of Phoenix. We'll hopefully be home in the next day or two. Tonight Miss Jill will be the recipient of the night shift so I might be able to type up another update then.