The Carrolls in Vista

Yeah Baby, Vegas!

2011-11-30T20:18:00.000-08:00

Thanks to Sheri's parents taking the boys for a few days we were able to have an adult get away in Las Vegas. We met up with John and Sheila and Adam and his new wife Amy. Seems like we were able to do quite a few things and see a lot in a short time.

Here we are waiting for the Treasure Island volcano to erupt. A guy with a back pack came by and sold us a couple of ice cold beers.... only in Vegas.

There's no excuse for being unemployed in Las Vegas. Really all you need to do is get yourself a costume and stand on the corner. I don't know how much these people make working for tips, but they must do o.k. because they're everywhere. Sheri got this pic of Bumble Bee for Caidan.

Adam having a snack by Caesar's Palace. Go big or go home, eh?

The newlyweds Adam and Amy. She's really nice and I think they are a good match.

Some of the gang waiting in line (yes a line) to get into the Pawn Stars pawn shop. It seems to be a pretty popular tourist destination these days, and since we were tourists, we went.

Me and my girl at the top of the Stratosphere. Adam & I went on the XScream ride at the top. I sat in the front see and I'll admit it was pretty scary. You can look it up on YouTube, but you're pretty much shoved off the top of the building and left hanging, looking down at the city below.

They have quite the garden at the Bellagio. We went to the Cirque Du Soleil show there. It's something Sheri has wanted to see for a long time, so I'm glad we were able to see it.

Finally !! Desert Season.

2011-10-22T08:16:00.000-07:00

Desert season (October-March) is when we do most of our Jeeping and camping. We kicked it off this season with a trip to the Truckhaven area near Salton City. I have to admit it takes a lot of work and effort to get us all out there, but I think it's worth it. The boys are already asking when we're going camping again.

It was hot in the middle of the day, about 96 degrees, but we spent that part of the day in the shade and playing with water.

A little wheeling, a little geocaching, and hanging with friends.

This used to much more of a cave, but it has collapsed in recent years. The Salton City area gets a lot of earthquake activity; it's on the south tip of the San Andreas fault.

This is an insane new obstacle at the Truckhaven 4x4 Training Facility. I'd never attempt it in my Jeep, but we had fun playing around on it for a bit.

No more monkeys jumping on the bed!!

2011-09-04T19:11:00.000-07:00

We turned our back on the youngest monkey for a split second and what happens? He jumped off our bed and broke a bone in his foot. We don't know exactly how he landed, but judging by where I found him he had some pretty good distance on the jump.

I guess the tech at the doctor's office knew what he was doing when he gave us the boot that goes over the cast... it's been hard to keep Collin from walking around. Stir crazy , terrible threes, and refusing to nap all rolled into one right now.

Caidan's first day of kindergarten. He really already knows most of the curriculum that they're expected to know by the end of the year, but he has a really good teacher and it sounds like she will give him work that is challenging and interesting for him.

Sheri & grandma took the boys up to Double Peak today. No hiking obviously, but a nice outing for them. It was a little too foggy to see all the mountain tops around the county that you can normally see from there.

Tent testing

2011-08-08T22:04:00.000-07:00

We had a back yard camp out last weekend and tested our new family size tent. It's your basic cheapy tent, but it should be fine for beach camping and the odd desert trip if we leave the toyhauler at home.

Caidan was just a little excited about it in case you can't tell from the picture.

Collin is so easy breezy, he never gives us a hard time about going to bed. If everyone around him is happy, he's happy.

This is our crawdad fishing spot at one of our favorite local hiking areas. Typically we just bring a string with a little bait in a zip lock bag, snag a couple of crawdads then continue on with our hike and/or geocaching. Catch and release of course.

We used to bring home buckets full of these critters from the park pond when we were kids. Just to show everyone I guess. We didn't know what to do with them after that so we'd just leave them in the bucket by the back door in the summer sun. Yeah, Mom was never too happy about that.

More projects:
This one is a compost tumbler for the garden. I don't know how glad Sheri was to hear that this is her birthday present, but Caidan & I had fun putting it together.

I found the 55 gallon food grade drum on Craigslist (of course) and the wood was leftovers we already had.

The galvanized pipe axle connects to a flange fitting. Hopefully it will still be easy to turn when it has the weight of the compost in it.

Video description by Caidan

THREE !!!

2011-07-17T20:24:00.000-07:00

The days of being two and a half are now behind us as we celebrated Collin's third birthday this weekend. "I can do it myself" is becoming the most used phrase around here.

An Elmo birthday was the order for the day; third year in a row.
Sheri has perfected the Elmo cake.

Sheri tries to read the game instructions, direct the kids and hold a parachute all at the same time. Moms are good multi-taskers.

Cheap pizza: For the kids, it's just something they have to get past in order to get to the cake and presents. for me it's, well.....cheap pizza.

The Graduate

2011-06-12T20:10:00.000-07:00

Caidan has graduated from pre-school!

He made some good friends and he had excellent teachers.
Sheri was able to help out in the class on occasion.

I'm not sure he's going to need any more schooling.............
he already thinks he knows everything.

Spring, 2011

2011-05-18T20:31:00.000-07:00

Pictures and descriptions of what we've been up to lately. Maybe I'll have a chance to fill in some of the blanks since my last post. We finally replaced an old frumpy home computer that was making life on the net nearly impossible.

Collin kick'n it in the reading area at Caidan's pre-school.

Caidan and Collin at church Easter festivities.

The bounty. We ration it out so diligently it lasts for a month.

The boys & I painting a flower pot shelf to give to Mom for Mother's Day. We love projects!

Caidan test drives a go cart we put together from old Power Wheels parts and some lawn mower wheels. The very next day after finishing it I found some freebie large diameter wheels. When we put those on, this thing should really scoot. I call it the Runt Rod.

We have a new Marine in the family. Jason graduated boot camp last week from the Marine Corps Recruit Depot in San Diego. Congrats and thank you to him! John, Shiela and family all came to the graduation and were able to spend a few days in town. It looks like Jason will, at least for awhile, be stationed at the same base as Adam at Twenty Nine Palms.

Caidan & Collin are happy to meet their buddy, I think.

Tylor's youngsters Aiden & Bailey. They're great kids. All the kids played well together.

The next generation. Caidan and Collin both dressed in green so we can keep track of them easier.

Kim and Tylor. It's always fun to spend time with them. Tylor is a crack up and has as much energy as all the kids.

Aiden & Caidan on a train ride. Say Cheeeeese.

The whole gang on the way up at one of the SeaWorld rides. It was already raining a bit so what's a little more water gonna hurt?

Waiting for the Pet's Rule animal show to start.
Front row: Jason, Bailey, Adam (our other beloved jarhead), Caidan, Aiden, me
Back row: John, Sheila, Donna, & Sheri.

Another water ride at SeaWorld. This one got us good. Most of us walked around with wet clothes for the next couple of hours since it wasn't a particularly sunny day. A couple of yahoos on the sidelines sprayed us royally with the water cannons. Hmm, come to think of it, my wife was curiously missing on this ride.

More of the gang. It was great spending time with some family. Sheri has her family close by, but this is a rare treat for me getting to hang with some of the Carrolls.

Halloween Happenings

2010-11-02T19:18:00.000-07:00

C.J. and Collin were both cowboys this year for Halloween. Easy enough, except for getting them to wear the mustaches.

"Why so serious pardner?" Mean ol' Mom, making you wear that hat.

This is just one of the fun things there was to do at a local church event.
Caidan didn't realize it until he was safely at the bottom, but the slide was a blast.

Candy for the kids after every game; can't beat that.

Yet another church function, making spider webs with marbles and paint.

Striking a pose just before heading out for trick-or-treating at Grandma and Grandpa's house. Luckily for us the caps that go in the the cap guns were "lost" so at least we didn't have to compete with that in addition to the boys being hopped up on chocolate and sugar.

Cache is King

2010-10-10T19:37:00.000-07:00

Been hiking again the last couple of weekends. We went to Jack's Pond, another local trail. Nice and mellow, no steep grades. We snagged a couple of geocaches while we were there.

This Saturday Sheri had errands on her mind and I had hiking on mine, so she took Collin and while Caidan and I set off for Oak Riparian Park again. There's plenty of ground to cover in this area, so it will probably be a few more trips before we've seen it all. We were on a roll and found six caches. Wow, Caidan brought home a lot of "treasure." He helps me navigate and he's becoming an expert at spotting the cache (after Dad gets him close).

Caidan is required to bring a bunch of his old toys to trade them for anything he wants out of the geocaches we find. Sheri & I will also add a few extra goodies to the ammo cans when we can. This helps to keep us from accumulating more ... uh .... stuff.

Here's a picture of "the peak" and the lake from where Caidan & I were on Saturday. On Sunday we all went and we made it to the lake. We found four more caches and picked out some routes for our next adventure.

This was an area where we stopped for a snack. Boulders make the best tables and chairs. It's south of Lake Calaveras at the base of the peak. That peak will be our destination the next time we hit the trails.

Double Peak Conquered

2010-09-21T21:17:00.000-07:00

We went back to Double Peak again on Saturday, this time starting from a trail near Ledge Street that is closer to the summit, but still gave us some ground to cover. The steep paved water district access road ends at a saddle and from there we took "Secret Trail" to finally reach the park and overlook at the top of Double Peak.

Secret Trail has high vegetation on both sides and provides pretty good shade.

There's actually vehicle access to the top via Double Peak Drive, but we were there for the exercise and the geocaching. We found three more caches. Good fun.

The coordinates to treasure sent us down this more difficult trail. We assumed it would eventually lead us back to near our point of origin ..........

and it did. It was about a three hour tour for us, which worked out perfect.

On Sunday afternoon Sheri & I were still feeling quite proud of ourselves for keeping up with the exercise and the peanut gallery said they wanted to go hiking again and find more "cache". So I hastily input some more coordinates into the gps and off we went to Oak Riparian Park. We covered some new territory from when we were there last and found four more geocaches.

This one is called Rhino Rock. Both kids were getting their share of scrapes and bruises, but having a good time none the less.

Here's Sheri giving Caidan a boost as we traversed this eight foot deep gully.

Like'n the Hike'n

2010-09-11T14:34:00.000-07:00

We went out for some hiking with the boys last week and this weekend as well, so we're on a roll. Sheri and I both need the exercise and the boys are always up for an adventure. These pictures are from Oak Riparian Park, a few miles from our house. Nice and mellow, not too difficult for the boys to negotiate.

Saw lots of stuff...including poison oak. "Stay on the trail Caidan."

Low bridge. "Duck Collin."

A couple of water crossings added to the ambiance. Nice to get away from the concrete jungle for a couple of hours.

This weekend's the trip was to Double Peak in San Marcos. There's a bunch of trails criss-crossing the hills in the area. Starting from Discovery Lake we climbed up, up, and more up towards Double Peak. After about an hour and a half we decided to head back because it was getting pretty hot out and we'd left our lunch at the car. As usual Sheri & I end up doing double duty by carrying the kids part of the way. No camera today, but we did bring the gps and we found 4 geocaches along the way. Maybe we'll make it all the way to the summit next weekend if we're able to get an earlier start and beat the heat. Rumor has it there's a park and Ranger Station at the top.

From a Land Down Under

2010-07-25T15:33:00.001-07:00

My (now) Aussie cousin Kris and her family were in town for a visit recently. We all went to Torrey Pines State Park for some hiking and sight seeing. Kris and Boris wanted their girls to see one the places they liked to go when they were living in San Diego. Awww.

Kris, Tory, Boris, and Kaiya

We really enjoyed seeing them. It's always great to catch up with family. I wish we could've provided better summer weather for them, but the June gloom was still in effect. Beware if you take your date for a hike at this local treasure, you might just fall in love.

Torrey Pine Tree - I now call this "The Mating Tree"

Not a bad view, even on a cloudy day.

I don't remember what everyone was looking at, but I'm sure it was awesome.

When the little ones get tired, Mom and Dad get an extra work out.

Caidan played shy-boy for awhile, but eventually warmed up to his second cousins.

Projects

2010-03-04T21:14:00.000-08:00

We have no shortage of projects. I took a break from working on the Willys Wagon to make a pedal car. It started out as two crusty old bikes and grew from there. Still working out some bugs and fine tuning it, but it's a runner.
Some of the places we camp require metal fire rings and don't allow the typical circle of rocks for a camp fire. This old washer tub should do the trick. Caidan has been earning a few bucks (nickels and quarters) by helping out around the house.
I made the legs adjustable for changing the height and more compact storage.
The boys are suffering through another brutal southern Califonia winter.

Pedal Car video:

Fool's Gold

2009-11-22T17:34:00.000-08:00

We bought a few gold panning pans this summer and we haven't had a chance to use them yet on any of our camping trips. So I set up a tub in the yard with some dirt and water for a little panning practice.
I spiked the dirt with some lead shot and bee bees to act as our gold and give us something to find.
Since Caidan and I are always up for a project we made a wooden sluice box to improve our productivity.
Then of course we needed to see how well it was going to work, so we hooked it up to the garden hose to simulate a running creek. Hey look, it works!
Later I attached a bilge pump to a 12 volt battery to recirculate the water. Now we'll be able to just fill up some buckets with soil from our nearest glory hole and bring them back to camp to separate our riches.
Mostly it's just something fun for us to do together. What boy doesn't like to play with water and dirt........ a.k.a. mud?
Me and the boys hard at "work".

Calico Ghost Town

2009-10-25T08:54:00.000-07:00

We've been busy. Desert camping season is in full swing now. We kicked it off with a trip back to Calico Ghost Town for some wheeling and camping with friends. Hard to believe it, but the last time we were there was three years ago. We arrived a day before the rest of our group so we could spend a full day at the Ghost Town. We covered it all, a mine tour, train ride, hiking, etc. etc. A blacksmith made some neat little horse shoes for the boys.

Caidan got a chance to use his new taillights on the Power Wheels Jeep. Maybe I'll hook up some headlights too, but I'll need to add another battery to run all that stuff.

We also tried out some new car seats in the back of the Jeep. Collin is now old enough to go on some easy rides. We found some really narrow car seats that worked out pretty well. Our first short afternoon ride put them both to sleep. That's one way to get them to take a nap. Usually there's just too much stuff going on when we're camping to get anyone to slow down enough for a nap.

Lunch break in Odessa Canyon.

Another dirt lover as you would expect.

I only took Caidan on this run since we were going to be out for a long time and it was more bumpy than Collin is ready for. Caidan is really good in the Jeep. This trip we had an older boy in the group that befriended him and kept him company. We've also discovered that a walkman player with cassettes of his favorite kids songs is a good thing to have with us to give him a change of pace. Yeah, there's no stereo in the Jeep.

No, Old Guys Don't Rule

2009-09-10T21:29:00.000-07:00

More beach camping for Sheri and the boys at San Elijo. I actually paddled out to get a few waves while I was there. I was successful in adding a shoulder burn to my farmer tan.
For Sheri's birthday I took her on a one night get away and we really enjoyed it. I surprised her with rose petals on the bed. We both agree that the steaks at The West Restaurant in Carlsbad are the best we've ever had.
We spent Labor Day weekend camping/Jeeping at Big Bear. I had been looking forward to this trip for months, so I was more than a little frustrated when I had THREE blow-outs on our trailer tires on the way there. Oh well, we over came and I think everyone had a fun weekend.
Caidan finally pet this grizzly bear, but refused to stick his head in the bear's mouth, even with my reassurance.
Ignorance is bliss I guess; Collin was ready to yank a tooth from that Griz.
I'm pretty sure getting to climb this cool oak tree was Caidan's favorite part of the trip.

Dad's Day

2009-07-08T19:16:00.000-07:00

We went to the Vista Antique Gas & Steam Engine Museum for Father's Day this year. We've been before, but that weekend they had all the engines up & running. There was also live music, crafts, vendors, exhibits and a parade of the vehicles.
Something tells me this isn't the way this tractor came from the factory.
In a strange turn of events this train robber actually gave Caidan a gold nugget rather than stealing from us. When he first showed up with guns a blaz'n Caidan was somewhat scared; he fell for the act hook, line, and sinker.
Sheri & the boys spent a week at San Elijo Beach Campground with Sheri's mom. Lots of friends came by to visit. The pull wagon has been modified into a steerable push car and kept the kids entertained when they weren't at the beach.
'Walk Hard, The Collin Carroll Story'. The young rebel hungers for the surf that is just beyond his reach due to his inability to walk more than six steps without a face plant and not being able to crawl faster than his Mom can run.

No News is Good News?

2009-06-11T19:22:00.000-07:00

It appears it's going to be harder than I expected to reach my goal of posting once a month. Anyway, here's what we've been up to:

We managed to make it to the beach a couple of times recently. Collin is pretty good about not eating the sand, but we of course end up bringing a bunch of it home with us in their clothes.

I've just about given up on trying to get them showered and cleaned up at the beach; just carry them into the house and head straight for the bath tub.

We're trying something different with the garden this year... tubs. Everything except the pumpkins are up off the ground in some tubs I got at the recycling yard. It's less area to weed, it's away from the gophers, and it's a lot easier on the back. It seems to be working out okay. I'll probably add a few more tubs next year.

Mmmm carrots: pull'em, hose'm off, eat'em up.

Collin flashing his baby blues in a matching sweater a family friend made for him. Currently speed crawling and wall assisted walking.

We went to Cabrillo National Monument for a Mother's day picnic and to check out the Point Loma Lighthouse.
Tommy, Sara, Sheri, Me, C.J., Sue, Jack, & Collin

Caidan promises not to break the fresnel lense.

What do you do with an old Power Wheels jeep when the motor goes bad? Cut it up and turn it into a trailer! We picked up this gold one used for $40. It didn't come with a battery, but we just used the old one from the green Jeep so we're set! And in case you were wondering, the trailer has since been reinforced to support my fat butt and the Jeep actually has enough power for Caidan to pull me around in the driveway. I always knew I'd have a chauffeur some day.

March Madness

2009-03-30T21:58:00.000-07:00

March was a very busy month for us.

We had some concrete poured in a couple of places at the house, so it was quite a thrill for Caidan to get to see a concrete mixer truck up close and in action.
My nephew Adam graduated from boot camp at the local marine training facility here in San Diego so we were lucky enough to able to attend the ceremony as well as have John & family in town for a visit. We're all very proud of Adam and want to thank him for serving his country. We don't know where he'll be stationed yet, but it seems likely that he will eventually be deployed overseas. He'll be at Camp Pendleton (in Oceanside) through April, so hopefully we can meet up with him again before he ships out.
We spent one day at the beach before Tylor, his girlfriend and Sheila's mom Donna had to go home. It wasn't the best weather, but any day at the beach is a good day in my opinion.
We took a tour of the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Midway which was really cool. There's a bunch of planes, helicopters and other interesting stuff on board. John talked me in to getting an annual pass for an extra $7, so sure enough we have already put it to use - we went back to the Midway last weekend. Sheri came this time (she was sick the first time). We also brought Sheri's dad Jack, her sister Sara, and Sara's fiance Tommy. I got to see even more of the ship that I missed on the first trip and Caidan had a blast again as you would expect.
We played a little putt putt golf when John & crew were in town as well as trying our luck at the batting cages. Man, the fast pitch was brutal. I think I'll be sticking to the softball slow pitch from now on.
We also celebrated my birthday while the gang was here. I've been requesting from Sheri banana split cake on my birthdays, reliving a joy from my childhood I guess.

We took lots of pictures as usual. Too many to post here, so I've uploaded them to Photobucket.
See the pictures here

Video: "Sheri and the Joystick"

Mr. Fix it

2009-01-31T21:53:00.000-08:00

Caidan requested that I get his tool belt out for him and put his school bus up on blocks. Why?
So he could work on the axles of course. This could be a sign that Dad has been spending too much time under the Jeep lately.

Well, Collin is trying, but it's really more like flopping than crawling right now. He probably just needs Caidan to show him how a few more times.

Tractors and Trains

2009-01-13T18:46:00.000-08:00

We finally made a visit to the Vista Antique Gas & Steam Engine Museum. We've driven by it many times, but had never got around to checking it out. A nice morning of strolling around looking at some history.

They have a nice collection of old stuff, from steam driven tractors and construction equipment to this old Snow Cat.
Sheri & Collin in front of a horse drawn road grader. No engine at all, gas, steam or otherwise. Go figure.
An antique roller.

There's a black smith's barn where some club members were hard at work.
The piece de resistance, at least for Caidan, was the new model train building. About half of it is still under construction, but they have some really well done sections already operational. Lots of friendly people there, happy to show us around and talk about their hobby.
They have a working model of a drive-in theater. Playing an actual movie ('Finding Nemo'), complete with sound.
Top it off with an afternoon at the beach and stick a fork in me - I'm done! Caidan played around in the waves with some friends, but it was too cold for me. I threatened to go surfing, but the wave height to water temp ratio just didn't add up for me. I at least got some needed exercise playing frisbee on the beach with some friends.

Christmas 2008 and other stuff

2009-01-11T07:59:00.000-08:00

Finally getting around to an update. I hadn't realized it's been so long. Caidan scored a street sweeper and a couple of heavy duty Tonka trucks for his birthday. He had also asked for a "really big school bus", but there weren't a lot of options out there. Santa came through with a school bus/toy box that his elves made at the last minute (in the garage).

We also have a couple more camping trips under our belt, our first with baby Collin. Gotta break-em in early ya know. We went to Ocotillo Wells (dirt/rocks) over Thanksgiving weekend and Glamis (sand dunes) over New Year's.
All's good with the camping, but the driving part can be a challenge at times. We just have to factor in a lot more stops for feeding, pooping, peeing, etc. Caidan actually got car sick on the way home from our last trip. Oh the joy.

Grampa showing Caidan how the castle blocks go together.

Too Many Pictures

2008-10-28T21:14:00.000-07:00

We take pictures using the law of probability. If we take enough, we'll probably get a few good ones. So here's a few of the hundreds that we took while John & Sheila were here, in no particular order (because I'm tired and lazy tonight).
We crammed a whole bunch of fun into just a few days. Legoland, the beach, Seaworld, Bates Nut Farm and even an In-N-Out burger for Sheila.

Sheri oversees while we play at Legoland

Sheila & Bailey getting some air time. This was probably a lot easier on Sheila than the flight from Kansas.

Caidan and Bailey waiting for us to catch up.

Caidan now picks his own pumpkin and rolls it to the wheel barrel.

I'm not sure who is happier, John or the animals.

Collin is about three months old now. Happy babies make happy parents.

Two peas in a pod. Caidan is his idol.

The eyes are still blue, the hair color is undetermined. We'll see.

Yes, these are the same ponies as last year and the year before. I got him to smile this year (Caidan not the pony).

Bailey. The spit'n image of Tylor.

No, John & I did not sneak away for a ride in the teacups by ourselves, Bailey and Caidan are in there somewhere, really.

Three rides in a row on this fun one. Life if good when you get to the park as soon as it opens and there are no lines.

Way Behind

2008-10-27T17:30:00.000-07:00

I've got lots to catch up on as far as the Blog goes. I just haven't had a lot of free time lately. Baby Collin is doing well. He is a bigger baby than Caidan was. He's in about the 75th percentile for height and weight. John & Sheila came to visit this last week and we had a great time. Tylor's daughter Bailey came along for the trip as well. Caidan and her had a love / hate relationship and kept us all on our toes. I'll sort through all the pictures and post a few more (soon), but I think this picture sums up our week pretty well.

Da Boys!

2008-07-19T14:41:00.000-07:00

Well we are all home from the hospital and adjusting to our new addition to the family. I could not be more proud of my two boys. Collin weighed in at 7lbs 6 oz, 19 inches. He is healthy and happy. Caidan is a caring and cooperative big brother.

I'm especially proud of Sheri. She's the one doing all the hard labor. She's gone through two labors AND two C-sections, the worst of both worlds. Lucky girl! If I could only get her take it a little easier for awhile while she recovers. It's not like I can't fix dinner for us. I do have a phone ya know.

I Don't Get It ??

2008-07-10T22:19:00.000-07:00

Just a quick post with a few pictures.

"How's this supposed to work again?"

I can't wait to show this picture to Caidan's girlfriends when he's a teenager.

We are counting the days now until Sheri's due date (July 23rd).

There seems to be a bit of a learning curve for the Slip-n-Slide.

My Bro in the Know

2008-05-25T20:30:00.000-07:00

I heard it from a friend who,
heard it from a friend who,
heard it from another that
John & Sheila went to the REO Speedwagon concert.

Hang'n backstage with Kevin Cronin.

Dang man, I didn't even know John could play the guitar.

Rock on Bro!

Oh Boy!

2008-03-16T10:28:00.000-07:00

Somewhere between the time frame of when you're not supposed to say anything and when it's o.k. to announce, I lost track of who we told and who we hadn't told. So my apologies to anyone that didn't get the word - Sheri is pregnant! We found out at the last sonogram that we are having another boy. Sheri and baby-to-be are doing fine, except that Sheri is battling a seasonal cold like the rest of us.

Her due date is July 28th. We've started to talk about names, but haven't decided on anything yet. It's funny, Sheri and I were convinced this one was going to be a girl based on all the old wives' tale tricks. I guess the Carroll boy genes were just too powerful.

Now I just need to get off my butt and remodel the third bedroom to get it ready for the baby.

The Slot - Anza Borrego Desert

2008-02-11T21:36:00.001-08:00

We went to Ocotillo Wells this weekend for some Jeep'n. We did a little exploring in the northwestern part of the state park. We came across an abandoned mine and then went to "The Slot." You can drive part way in, but then it becomes too narrow and the rest has to be on foot.

Another December Gone

2008-01-05T15:12:00.000-08:00

With a second birthday and another Christmas now under our belts, we are jumping in to 2008.

Sheri made a really cool monster truck birthday cake for Caidan that was as much fun to play with as it was to eat. "Don't mind our fingers."

Caidan got this piano for his birthday and a guitar for Christmas. Singing Jingle Bells is not just for Christmas anymore. When he plays his favorite pre-set beat, he turns into a danc'n fool. He is possibly the worst dancer I have ever seen! I only mention this because I am relieved that there is now someone else around that dances worse than I do.

Christmas Eve was a long day in a suit for CJ. First to Church, then to Grandma and Grandpas, then to a friends house for dinner and a visit from Mr. and Mrs. Claus. Caidan wore it like a champ without complaining or destroying it, which is good because the suit was borrowed from our friends.

One of the "nobody asked Dad first" presents was a kitchen set with a sink, oven, microwave, and pretend food. That one stays at Grandmas house, but he really likes it and I guess you can't play with monster trucks and race cars every day, all the time.

Just Jeep'n

2007-11-30T21:06:00.000-08:00

We spent Thanksgiving weekend out at Ocotillo Wells, our local desert.
Warning: The video is kinda long and not very interesting.

It's Alive!

2007-11-20T22:34:00.000-08:00

Thomas the Train came to town so we were obliged to pay him a visit. Aside from the actual train ride there were crafts, music, food, and other train cars to see. Caidan really liked the train ride is is still talking about it a week later. Not a full sentence mind you, but saying: "Mommy, Daddy, Caidan, traaaaaaain," acknowledging that we all rode the train together.

The place was so crowded, we didn't really feel like staying long, but we got some entertainment out of it and a day out of the house. The line to see Sir Toppin Hat was way too long, but we did see Bob the Builder do a little song and dance. No one is still talking about that!

Back to the Farm

2007-10-21T20:54:00.000-07:00

Bates Nut Farm that is. We went on our annual fall festival trek for pumpkins, hay rides, and farm animals this weekend. Caidan took a couple of rides on the ponies this year that he was too small for last year. He loved it, but kept a serious demeanor while actually on the horse.

We turned the pumpkin patch into a high speed wheel barrel obstacle course and had a great time!

Wheel'n, Work'n, Camping

2007-10-03T21:58:00.000-07:00

We spent a few days up at Big Bear last weekend. That will be the last Jeep trip to the mountains until next summer. It's starting to get cold up there (at about 7500 ft). Now it's time to get geared up for desert season. On Saturday our 4 wheel drive club did some maintenance on our Adopt-a-Trail. We got rained on a little, but it still turned out to be a productive day. The forecast for that weekend had been for some snow showers, so all in all the weather turned out great. Sunday and Monday were sunny and calm.

Caidan loves camping! The first thing he did when we got unloaded was to take his bike and head for the the biggest rock he could find. He's way into the monster trucks and rock crawling right now. He took a spill while trying to scale the rock and gave me this look like "Why did that happen?" Then he got up and headed off to a slightly smaller rock with the advice from his Mom.

On Sunday Sheri & I left Caidan at camp with Sheri's mom Sue for part of the day so we could take the Jeep out on some nearby trails. We had fun exploring some areas we hadn't been to before. We scouted out a bunch of new camp sites that we're anxious to stay at next year. One cool group site is Coon Creek Cabin. It's an old cabin, no doors or windows, but it does have a fireplace and bbq. Still, probably a little primitive for what Sheri is used to now with the toyhauler trailer. Maybe that one will have to be a guy trip.

Caidan knows how to take time to stop and smell the roses - or wildflowers.

Link to some more photos:Heart Bar Photos

Surprise Visitors

2007-09-17T18:27:00.000-07:00

I got a call from Sandy on Tuesday night saying that her, Darin and the kids are taking the red-eye to San Diego and will be in town on Wednesday. What a fun surprise for us! It was a lot of fun having them here. Sandy's kids are a delight. Everyone went to Legoland on Thursday (except me - I had to work). Sheri has a "Thursday pass" for the park so it worked out well. Everyone really liked it. It's geared for the young ones so there's lots for them to do. Caidan is about a half an inch short of being able to go on some of the best rides. They tried the old stick a hat on him trick, but the ride operator was on to them.
Montana is a cutie and she really warmed up to Caidan and Sheri. On Friday when Sandy & Darin took the kids to Seaworld. Montana did not want to leave the house without Caidan. She was very upset that he wasn't going with them. Michael is only seven months old, but appears that he will be walking very soon. We rounded out the week by letting the kids run loose in the yard and a trip to Chuck-e-Cheese for pizza and games. Caidan's favorite game was one with a model train. He had to stand on my lap to operate the train. Great for Caidan - not so great for dad's knees! We traded in about 487 tickets for a plastic shovel, so it's all good.

Chef Darin cooked up some delicious steaks for us on Saturday night and even bought us some cheesecake. The strange thing is - Darin doesn't eat cheesecake ?? Oh well, more for me.

Why does this photo remind me of J-Lo and (insert beau's name here) on the red carpet on their way to a premiere?

Been Awhile, Eh?

2007-06-17T21:14:00.000-07:00

Daaang, long time no Blog. Thought I'd post a few recent pictures of the boy. Time has sure gotten away from us lately.

Busted!

Look at the curls ! Best we can figure is he got these from Grandma Karen.

How's your Aspen? I never get tired of saying that. We went for a short hike in our local mountains. Yes we actually do have a few Aspen trees in So. Cal.

Thanks to a fair put on by a local Public Works Department Caidan now knows what the bucket on a front end loader tastes like.

We bought a pool for the boy, but he's already out grown it.

Caidan got to meet his uncle John for the first time a couple of weeks ago. John was in Anaheim for a work convention and we were able to meet up for the day. Caidan took to him right away.

Calico Mountains / Ghost Town

2006-11-29T20:16:00.000-08:00

We’re back from another wheeling weekend. After celebrating Thanksgiving at Sheri’s parent’s house we took off to meet up with our 4x4 club at the Calico Ghost Town campground. The ghost town is the remnants (or replication) of an old mining town that once was. Really it’s a bunch of touristy type shops, but there are some cool exhibits and artifacts there from yesteryear. One cool set up they had was showing how they made rope by twisting three strands of twine together. Also, being Thanksgiving weekend, Santa was there for a photo op with the boy. Seems like Santa’s lost some weight since I saw him last. I meant to ask him what “plan” he's on. Thanks to Sheri going to a cookie exchange party – I am now on the “cram my face full of all the cookies in site plan”.

The Jeep’n at this area is awesome. There are two difficult canyons that are the main draw for the off roaders. We had a group of six vehicles. Many narrow spots and off camber drop-offs added to the excitement with the potential for body damage, but we all completed the run without issue. One of our club members went through an extremely difficult section of large boulders. Very impressive. It was a lot of fun to watch. One other attempted the climb, but was forced to retreat. The rest of us (the sane ones) took the bypass.

We didn’t spend a whole lot of time exploring the many abandoned mines in the area, maybe next time. By the afternoon, Sheri and I are always anxious to get back to camp to be with Caidan. We hate to leave Grandma stuck by herself at camp with all of the babysitting duty for too long of a stretch. By the end of a full day in the Jeep, we’re just beat. I think being out in the wind and the cold all day rather than sitting cozy in a newer Jeep with a top and a heater really takes a toll on us. Oh well, it’s worth it. We really enjoyed the run. Sheri has become a lot braver and more trusting of what the Jeep can do so I think it’s more fun for her now.

More pictures here: http://smunwin.smugmug.com/gallery/2177270/1

Caidan’s Bad Ass Buggy Build Up

2006-11-22T22:59:00.000-08:00

Well technically, I guess it’s a wagon. Anyway, I needed to practice my welding and messing around with scraps of metal gets boring pretty fast so I decided to make something fun for the boy (and me). It’s a bit on the heavy side because I used the 1” square tube I already had rather than buying something smaller. I rigged up some springs for a couple of inches of suspension on the back axle.

The main thing I wanted it to have was a steering wheel. For that I used an old Skilsaw blade and wrapped it with two layers of rubber hose. I originally set it up so that with the handle detached, Caidan could actually steer the buggy while I pushed him from behind. I connected a drag link from a post on the steering shaft to one spindle and then had a tie rod going to the other wheel. It worked pretty well, but with that set up the pull handle wasn’t able to control the steering good enough to “override” the driver. Plus Caidan is still a little young to fully grasp the turn the wheel to miss the tree concept.

So I scrapped that axle set up until he’s older and went with a conventional vertical pivot point for the front wheels and handle. I had to raise it up a couple of inches from its original height. As a steer-able buggy, I wanted it to sit low, but as a wagon, you’ve got to be able to swing the front tires under the frame for a better turning radius. It still has a steering wheel, but it’s not connected to anything. Don't tell Caidan.

The biggest cash outlay was for the 10” tires ($40) and the fabric for the seat cushions ($20). We already had the foam. Oh yeah, and the heim joints that I ended up not using ($24). Paint and miscellaneous parts pushed the total to a little over $100. Not too bad considering the price of the All Terrain Wagons. And yes, I know it won't fit a cooler and a bunch of beach stuff in it. That’s not what it’s for. It’s for the boy (and me).

There are a couple final touches to complete still. We’re working on a license plate and Sheri wants to hook up a horn. I’m gonna be looking for an old bicycle to get parts from so I can turn it into a pedal car down the road. By the way, my welds still look like crap.

Glamis Weekend

2006-11-12T21:35:00.000-08:00

We spent our Veteran's Day weekend at the Glamis sand dunes.
A buddy of mine took me for a ride in his new Extreme sand car. Wow! Fast and smooth. The new buggies have come a long way compared to my "old school" ride. Mine gets me through the dunes fine, I just have to absorb all the bumps with my back instead of a real suspension. Damn I'm getting old.
Up until this weekend, Caidan's only been able to sit on the "Voom Voom" in the Garage, so we did some cruising around at camp.

To show his appreciation, he bought me a beer afterwards.

Last, but not least, I can't let today go by without saying Happy Anniversary to Sheri! She's been putting up with me and my antics for four years now. I guess I realized she really did like me when we were dating and she got certified for scuba so she could spend more time with me. What a trooper!

Wheel'n in the Desert

2006-11-01T21:37:00.000-08:00

I met up with some Jeep buddies last weekend at an area called Truckhaven near the Salton Sea. Lots of fun terrain. See the link for a few more pictures.

http://www.imagestation.com/album/pictures.html?id=2099975447
I can't get the link to work. Cut and paste it to your browser.

New Traditions

2006-10-22T19:39:00.000-07:00

Sheri is big on "traditions" and doing traditional things. She even has a book on how to create family traditions. So it seems a new one for us will be going to Bates Nut Farm to pick out pumpkins and do some fall festival activities. We went last year B.C. (Before Caidan) and again this last weekend. For Caidan, that means getting thrown into a bunch of pumpkins for a photo op. For Sheri, it means leaning back against a hay bale and having to walk around with peices of hay in your pants for the rest of the day.

We'll stick with the regular, jack-o-lantern sized ones for now, but one of these years I'm gonna bring home one of those gia-normous pumpkins that barely fits in the wheel barrel. Let the carving begin!

Poser Pictures

2006-10-04T20:25:00.000-07:00

Okay, I've got lots of stuff I've been meaning to post, but just haven't got around to it. Here's a few shots of CJ. He's learning to cope with his Mom and Dad taking pictures of his every move and actually becoming a bit of a ham (especially with the ladies).

Caidan's first balloon! He was in awe of this freebie for about
two days. Guess I know what to get him for his birthday now.

We had a great time with Uncle Butch and Aunt Babe visiting. We went to the museum at Balboa Park. This picture is from Oceanside pier. The sun broke through as we were headed back. I really liked hearing their stories of the things we used to do as kids. How did our parents ever survive us? Uncle Butch's laugh is infectious. Whenever Caidan heard it, he copied him. Aunt Babe made a really cool quilt for Caidan. Lots of bright colors and Mickey Mouse too! Thank you very much!

He Ain't No San Diego Chicken ...

2006-09-06T19:13:00.000-07:00

He ain't no San Diego Chicken, but he'll do. We had skybox tickets (through work) for the Padres game on Labor Day. The Friar came by to sing happy birthday to one of the kids. Great game! The Padres came back to win it in the bottom of the ninth with a three run homer. Sheri wasn't sure how may quarters are in a baseball game, but she had every item on the dessert cart memorized within 30 seconds.

We had the strawberries with
whipped cream by the way. That's kinda healthy isn't it?

Mmmm Jeep'n

2006-08-07T17:30:00.000-07:00

We went to Big Bear for some camp'n and Jeep'n last weekend. These are our local mountains, about 2.5 hours from us. It was really nice being there on Thursday and Friday. We felt like we had the mountains to ourselves. We logged about 50 miles on the Willys without issue, which was nice since it had numerous mechanical problems the last trip out. Most of the trails we did were easy, but being that we were there by ourselves, we decided not to go on anything too difficult.

We went up to the Lookout Tower at Butler Peak. The Tower has a great 360 degree view

This is the view from the tower looking towards Big Bear Lake. The volunteers at the lookout showed us how they use the Osborne instrument
to site and pinpoint forest fires. Neato.
What's an Osborne? http://www.fs.fed.us/r1/centennial/osborne.shtml

Here's Aunt Sara with Caidan. Sheri's mom and sister joined us on the trip and kept the rug rat entertained while we were out on the trails.

Life's a Beach

2006-07-06T18:51:00.000-07:00

Sheri and her mother Sue took Caidan to the beach the other day. Everyone had fun until Caidan was unexpectedly overtaken by a 6"tsunami.

Lights out! You know you're sleep'n good when you've got that drool coming out the side of your mouth.

Styx Rules !

2006-06-24T15:36:00.000-07:00

Sheri and I had a fun night last night. We had a company meeting at the San Diego County Fair and afterwards saw Styx at the grandstand. It brought back a lot of good memories from my high school days. There wasn't a concert that came to town back then that we didn't go to. Styx was no exception. Good tunes, good times. They opened up with "Blue Collar Man" and ended with "Renegade" for the encore last night. I know you're all singing the songs in your head right now. :D

Price of a ticket in 1983: $13.75
Price of a ticket in 2006: $14.00

That's my kind of inflation. Wish I could say the same for everything else.

Utah Road Trip

2006-05-27T22:27:00.000-07:00

We're just back from a few days in Southern Utah. Lots of cool scenery. We came across a group of big horn sheep in Zion. We also went to Cedar Breaks which is an awesome view of some rugged country. There happened to be a rockcrawling (buggies) event going on in Cedar City the same weekend so we caught part of that as well. Despite what Sheri may think, this was a complete coincidence :)

We also went to the Coral Pink Sand Dunes to have a look around. ATV riding is allowed there, which I didn't realize. They have about a 10 mile stretch of dunes boardered by the highway on one side and mountains on the other.

All totalled, we did about 1200 miles. Our first major road trip w/ Caidan. Overall it went pretty well, but we made lots of stops and tried to be sensitive of his regular schedule. It was nice to get away, but we're all glad to be home.

I'm Bored !!

2006-04-08T10:46:00.000-07:00

"Oh yeah, bouncy, bouncy,bounce.
Yada, yada, yada

"I'm so bored I could just .....
oops."

"Wow, watching Mommy
do dishes,
how exciting".

Why suck just a thumb when
you can have the whole hand?

It's supposed to rain all next week, so I guess we'd better get outside today and enjoy the nice weather. Maybe go to the beach for a walk along the boardwalk. Maybe that'll break up the day a little bit for Mommy & Caidan (both bored). Sheri's Mom wants me to get our garden ready to plant, but I've been putting it off for more important things (like wrenching on the Jeep). Besides, the only good vegetables are corn and tomatoes and I've seen those at the grocery store.

I finally got the Chevy truck and the Willys both running at the same time. Here's a link to some photos from a desert run. I can't get the link to work so you'll have to cut & paste it to your browser. http://www.earlycj5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=27427

Hmm, What to do on my 40th Birthday?

2006-03-23T09:45:00.000-08:00

Thanks to Sheri's parents coming over to baby sit, we were able to go out for a quiet relaxing evening on my Birthday....... so we went to Hooters. Gotta love that "atmosphere". I am sad to report that I was not the winner of the chicken dance contest.

I haven't posted for awhile. I've been dealing with truck issues. The big, bad truck I bought for the express purpose of towing our trailer - won't tow our trailer. So, the brainiacks at the dealership are scratching their heads, searching on the computer, and calling NASA to try to figure out what's wrong. Meanwhile I've had to turn back on 3 different weekend trips because of the little engine that couldn't. We also cancelled a Death Valley Jeep trip for this weekend. Oh well.

Caidan has settled into a fairly regular schedule, although it's not exactly the schedule Sheri was hoping for. He still gets up once in the middle of the night and is awake for the day at around 6:00
(probably me getting ready for work that wakes him). Darn kid isn't potty trained yet (3 months old). What gives?? Should I buy him a how-to-video or something?

What They're Thinking

2006-02-13T19:15:00.000-08:00

Sheri: "My baby looks so cute in his sun hat."

Caidan: "I wonder why all the other babies
were making fun of me today."

Gramps: "Hey, what's that smell?"

By the way, thanks for help'n out
Grandma, Grandpa, and Sara.

Alby:"Why doesn't anyone pay
attention to me anymore?"

Me: "I'm the luckiest
guy in the world!"

Happy Valentine's Day Sheri.
All my Love!

Why Jeeps Are Better Than Women

2006-02-09T21:49:00.000-08:00

1. You can drive your Jeep any time of the month

2. Jeeps don't have parents

3. Jeeps don't whine unless something is really wrong

3. Jeeps don't care how many other Jeeps you've ridden

4. When driving, you and your Jeep can arrive at the same time

5. Jeeps don't care how many other Jeeps you have

6. Jeeps don't care if you look at other Jeeps

7. Jeeps don't care if you buy Jeep magazines

8. You'll never hear, "Surprise! You're going to own a new Jeep!" . . . unless you go out and get it yourself

9. If your Jeep goes flat, you can fix it

10. If your Jeep is too loose, you can tighten it

11. You can have a Jeep of color and still bring it home to your parents

12. If you say bad things to your Jeep, you don't have to apologize before you drive it again

13. Jeeps don't get headaches

14. Your Jeep never wants a night out with the other Jeeps

15. If your Jeep doesn't look good, you can paint it or get better parts

16. The only protection you have to wear when driving your Jeep is a seat belt

17. Your Jeep is never embarrassed to go topless in public

18. A rocky relationship with your Jeep is actually fun

19. You don't have to remember your Jeep's birthday, when you first met, or anniversaries

P.S. Sheri, I love you (way more than Jeeps) !

Our new baby

2006-01-29T08:12:00.000-08:00

By Sheri:
Now, from the beginning, in December of 2005 we were blessed with a baby boy! He was 6 lbs 7 oz. and 19" long. On the previous day my sister and mother hosted my baby shower and after arriving home that evening and going through all the new goodies my water broke!! (11:30 PM) Wow, what a surprise. I took a shower and we got prepared to leave for the hospital. We got there at 12:30. Labor was extremely difficult and Caidan was having some sort of distress, (as well as his mother!), so we ended up having an emergency c-section. C.J. came out the sunroof at 6:35 am.

Fast forward to present day (8 weeks old). Mike has started the surfing lessons on a cool play mat from Caidan's uncle John.

The Carroll Clan

2006-01-04T20:37:00.000-08:00

O.K., after seeing my cousin's Blogs Sheri & I were inspired to set up our own. As if I don't spend enough time in front of the computer, when I should be in the garage working on my Jeeps, err... I mean spending quality time with my wife and new baby boy. By the way, many thanks to Auntie Babe & Uncle Butch for the cool "Daddy Gear" utility belt. The goggles especially, have come in handy. I think you all know what I mean.

So, in the month's to come we will post a little more about what we've been up to and how we are spoiling Caidan.

Greg, posting pictures of Jeeps even before I post pictures of my wife and child would get me in trouble...
so here they are.