Check it out

Barney Rubble getting ready to swim at the Slate Quarry BBQ.

Chillin Poolside

Got word from Gords..."pool is now open" Caden took to water like an agitator in a super duty machine. Had a great time with some good friends.

Sunday Heat

The day began nice and cool. We had some morning playtime. Little did we know temps would rise into the triple digits by early afternoon.

Charlie's natural mode of transportation is cruising. He can side step along any wall, chair, couch or person to get where he needs to go. Caden on the other hand, is a drop and crawl machine. He showed a particular liking to pushing the bedroom door open to wake a napping cousin, aunt or uncle.

Here's our morning. Caden quite enjoyed playing with empty yogurt cups. Ah the simple things in life...

Saturday at play

Caden's first roadtrip. A 450 mile drive up the belly of the state. We left the ranch at 1p and made San Jose by late evening. By 6:30 Saturday morning the cousins were ready to play.

Hit the showers

All that playtime and it was time for a bath. Nothing like sharing the bathtub with your cousin and the paparazzi.

13 Months for Sir Crawlsalot

A whole month and no posting??!?! I may have to fire myself. Since this was the first time I truly neglected the blog, I decided to give myself a written warning.

A common theme we've come to experience in our conversations with others. 'Is Caden walking?'...'not at all, but he crawls faster than half the rabbits out in the yard' I'm sure he'll take to walking when the time comes, but for now he's just happy to scoot about. Into the laundry room to dump the dogs water, into the hall bath to chew soap, up to the front door to chew on dirt, hands in the VCR, drool in the brassiere drawer...no corner of the home to be spared.

Thoi Noi Kurth

Since the Kurth kids grew up in the western world, they had no such ceremony as our young Caden and millions of others. It seems a shame to rob an innocent child of something as important as your fate and direction in life. So we improvised. I like to think of it as blindfolded childhood thoi close enough.

So there it is. Skylar found the microphone putting her on the fast track to Radio, News, Film and Entertainment. Ben, with the comb is destined for a smooth carefree life. Wee Emily came to grips with the (once) mighty dollar and wealth appears on the horizon. Isn't life simple...

Thoi Noi

Join us for Thoi Noi, a Vietnamese first birthday tradition passed along from Linh and Bruce in Vancouver. Take a handful of symbolic items, spread them out and let the lil buckeroo choose his destiny in life. You can pause the start to read about all the items. Full screen works best.

Happy Birthday Caden

Toys 'R' Us for Geoffrey's Birthday Club.

A quick stop at the office

The handsome boys club had a meet and greet.

Birthday at the Zoo

Fresh off our big day at Disney, we packed up the lil guy for a birthday afternoon at the San Diego Zoo.

Caden took quite a liking to the orangutans and gorillas.



Any day in the stroller is good day for Cdog.


What a fun afternoon.

Time to unwrap some presents

The day came to a close and wee Caden opened up his many gifts.






Hang on Huckleberry

No Foolin'

Out the door before dawn. Work a long day. The sun is gone by the time you park the car in the garage. House is quiet. Sure, you haven't eaten, it's late and you're plenty hungry. May as well check on the little guy before you start cooking. You barely hear him breathe and his chest hardly moves. But you pause to take it all in. That is the highlight of the day and you can't believe how lucky you are.

Fashion

I have to be honest. I don't know what to make of this. A one piece racing stripe shorty jumpsuit with full hoodie. I don't know dog, it's like some euro piece that I'm not feeling. You gotta bring some flavor. What.

Like any weed

Out here on the ranch, weed growth patterns are quite obvious. Under the shade of tree, weeds flourish. Out on their own, forced to deal with the elements...sparse at best. We get a week of rain, followed by blistering sun, back to chilly or mild. Not much pattern to the weather pattern up here in the mountains.

Interesting to note that young Caden's hair is growing according to nature's plan. Sparse and barely noticeable up top and on the sides, the elements are winning the battle. Glance back to the hinterlands near the rear collar and you'd think you found rogaine lane.

First came the mullet references.


We had a couple good laughs. But then came the Riff Raff comparisons.


Fearing for the worst, Gayle took matters into hand. Today Caden had his first haircut. Really it was more an inverse trimming of the bangs. But we saved a lock for the scrapbook and cancelled his membership to the redneck yacht club.