Troublemaker

Andy was in the hallway the other day acting mischevious as we were trying to get ready to go for an outing. He was playing with his new Darth Vader glasses instead of putting on his shoes.

Me: "Andy, what are you doing? Get your shoes on..."

Andy: "But DAD... I have to tell you something!"

Me: "What, that you are a troublemaker?"

Andy: "No, I'm a CAKE-maker!"

Me: "A Cake-maker?"

Andy: "Yes, I like cake."


You kinda had to be there for this one, but something about it made me laugh out loud for a bit. I was quite impressed that somehow my 3 year old was able to channel the conversation into a declaration of his love of cake.

Water and Rocks

Sometimes the best adventures are right in your back-yard. And since we don't have a back-yard, we have to settle for the local open-area city park. Mainly Marion Bear Memorial Park, which is less than a mile from the house, and really nothing more than a really big strip of undeveloped land. The girls went shopping at Target -- so and me and the Andyman hiked around a little bit, until we found some water with lots of rocks. Andy must have thrown about 300 rocks into the water before he started to get tired of it.

Sun Sun Sun, Here it Comes

We got a taste of swiming while we were in Santa Barbara and the kids have been in swim classes here in San Diego to get ready for the summer season. The days are definitely getting warmer, and spring is in the air. Our pool is still not quite warm enough, but I am eagerly checking the temperature every day, scrutinizing every millimeter of movement on the guage -- patiently waiting for the red bar to get into the 80s.

Do Not Enter

A few nights ago, I was playing Hot Wheels with Andy. Katie came over and decided to take Andy's favorite car and refused to give it back to him. I interceded, resulting in Katie running off to her room, slamming the door, accompanied by some yelling and crying.

Pretty normal everyday stuff.

Now I understand that she wants some attention, and that she is angry because I am spending time with Andy and not her, and that she is not able to put this together into words so she acted out. I get it, it's just I'm not about to reward that kind of behavior, and it been a long day, so I decided to let her pout it out.

About 10 minutes later, I notice that it is too quiet. I head down to Katie's room and find the door is closed. I try to open the door and realize that she is barring it with her body from the inside.

Fine by me, I head back to the Hot Wheels and a kid who doesn't seem to despise me so much.

10 Minutes later again, I head down to check on my distraught daughter and I find the following sign:

Now, to appreciate the full creativity here, you have to understand that Katie can't write. She has a book called, "Fancy Nancy" in which the character, Nancy, becomes upset at her parents, and makes a sign (very much like this one) and places it on her door. Katie knows the story, and decided to emulate the experience and mirror her anger by copying the sign, letter for letter, from a picture in the book -- not knowing exactly what it is saying.

Musta took her a while!

I especially enjoy the fact that the little guy standing in the rain under the clouds is me! Oh the cruelty!

Mission Trails

A cool new park we had not yet explored. We drove slowly with the windows down. It was hot and the warm breeze was strange and exciting, like being on a safari. We followed our instincts which led us to shade and running water. Katie touched moss with her toes. Andy climbed rocks. Daddy held hands and carried juice boxes and yogos.

Easter

I love Easter because it has that awesome 'wake-up and find a surprise' element that kids just go crazy for. This year, Jen and I decided to have a wake-up-egg-hunt in the back yard -- the trick was finding a way to allow the easter bunny time to hide his eggs...

Things worked out great, after a disappointing 5 minute searching session with mommy of the FRONT yard, the kids were pretty discouraged, thinking that the easter bunny had missed thier house. This made things all that much better when a winded daddy ran out to inform the kids that he thinks he saw the easter bunny in the BACK yard.

The highlight of the day for me was heading over to Mission Trails Park in the afternoon and exploring some new nature areas we hadn't seen yet. Ill give you a post on that next...

Eqq-celent

Grandma and Grandpa are in town and helping us get ready for Easter. One of the events was to do some old-school egg decorating. I must admit, I am pretty impressed with the output.

I Fish, Therefore I am Not Here

Certainly the most defining virtue of my dad was his love of the outdoors. Anyone who ever knew him, knew this. I am extremely lucky in that my dad took the time to share his love of nature with me and my family. Many of these experiences were a blend of camping, boating and fishing.



The picture above is one of those early experiences. As you can see, if you are old enough to sit at the picnic table, you are old enough to go camping. The symbolism in this picture is just so thick -- I was spoon-fed nature from a very early age.

My dad loved it, and either by geneitcs or conditioning, I now love it too. I am so thankful to have had those experiences, and to have been able to share them with him. But most of all, I am thankful that my father taught me how to enjoy life with my family and my children -- through the outdoors.

I can still remember the first time he let me bait a hook. I can also remember the last time we went fishing togehter... and in between those two memories, I have thousands more.



I spent the week after my father's passing at his house in Santa Barbara. At his front door there is a doormat. On this doormat is a picture of a man in a boat, below it the words, "I FISH, THEREFORE I AM NOT HERE". I must have walked over that doormat about 100 times during my stay, and thousands of times before that. At some point within the last week, while I was crossing over this message I noticed myself smiling. It was at that point that I actually stared to balance the loss of my dad with the comefort that he is is a far better place.

Thanks for everything dad. I owe you so much, and I miss you even more. Save a couple of heavenly fish for the rest of us.

Honoring a Great Man

Galen Sandwisch
March 29, 1938 – March 8, 2008

A special soul, Galen Sandwisch (aka Boofin, Papa, Big G, Sangy) passed peacefully into God’s presence Saturday, March 8th at 6:15 pm. Galen had been battling with Inclusion Body Myositis frontotemporal dementia, a rare degenerative muscle disease, for nearly 10 years. Galen was born in Toledo , Ohio on March 29, 1938 to Joe and Dorothy (Nuhfer) Sandwisch. He spent his childhood in Woodville , Ohio – hunting, fishing, swimming, and nurturing his love for the great outdoors. As he grew older, he worked with his father on the family business, building many of the homes in Woodville. Galen then attended and graduated from the Ohio State University with honors in 1961, receiving a Bachelor’s Degree in Electrical Engineering.

Galen was quickly recruited in General Electric’s elite ABC training program, which took him to Vermont , New York , and finally Santa Barbara in 1963. Galen fell in love with Santa Barbara ’s unique blend of mountains and coastline, and chose to spend the rest of his life admiring its natural beauty. Galen also met the love of his life in Santa Barbara , where he applied his charm and good looks to sweep Sharon Heldt off of her feet, marrying her in 1966.

Galen then advanced his engineering knowledge with a masters degree in electrical engineering from the University of California at Santa Barbara . He continued to work for General Electric, HDR, and later General Motors, and IST, specializing in developing technologies used for national defense.

Galen was the proud father of his 2 children; Steven Jay was born in 1970, and Tanya Lea in 1974. Galen was a very patient and loving father – he took great joy in teaching his children and their friends to appreciate the wonders of nature through many camping, boating, water skiing, and snow-skiing adventures.

Throughout his life, Galen was passionate about the outdoors. His love of hunting and fishing was accompanied by tremendous respect for animals and nature. Galen also enjoyed boating, riding and racing motorcycles, SCUBA diving, skindiving, and hiking. He loved to watch the stars and to imagine what wonders they held. Galen also loved to work with his hands and was a craftsman, an artist, and a photo/videogropher. Galen spent his life exploring the splendor of the wilderness, and uncovering the challenges it has to offer.

The family would like to extend their deepest gratitude for all the wonderful support from Galen’s caregivers, doctors, Hospice, and the many friends who honor his memory.

He will be dearly missed by the family he leaves behind – how we wish he could have been able to teach his beloved grandchildren; Katie and Andrew Sandwisch, and Megan and Zoe Anderson, how to appreciate the outdoors, its beauty and all of its seasons.

The family is collecting donations to purchase an enhancement in one of Santa Barbara ’s city parks. Memories and wishes can be sent to the family at Sharon@megzo.com.

(Posted from my father's obituary)

Moon Sand

Nana usually brings pretty fun stuff for the kids to play with on her visits. This time was no exception with "Moon Sand". It's wierd stuff -- kinda like play-dough meets sandcastles. It's also quite messy. Needless to say, wierd and messy are very interesting to my kids. We need to find a house with enough space that we can have rooms dedicated to this kind of stuff -- kinda like a kid-laboratory.

FORE!

Nana came to visit this weekend, which is always a lot of fun. Amidst the many adventures, one of the things we decided to do was to try miniature golf. There is a new course in Del Mar that caught our eye so we headed up to try out our put put skills. The course is really nice with a fun surf theme.

The kids were all over it, each with a different style. I was surprised at how good they were at getting the ball in the hole. I was a little worried we were going to have some frustrated kids, but I couldn't have been more wrong. Katie would use gentle persistent short shots, and Andy would use the club like a broom with the ball never really leaving the club face. Pretty funny stuff.

Thanks Nana for the treat!

Ssss-Hark

We play charades around here quite regularly. Andy and Katie typically hog the lime-light and will do pretty much anything to stay center stage and do the 'acting' for as long as possible. The other night while we were playing, Andy started doing this on the floor (see picture)...

Andy: "Grrrrrrr, grrrrrrrrr!"

Me & Katie: "Bear? Lion? Tiger? Dragon?...."

Andy: "No, I'm blue and I live under the ocean, and I have a fin on my back..."

Me: "ummm... a shark?"

Andy: (Long pause) "No, keep guessing..."

Katie: "I think he's a shark daddy..."

Me: "Me too... Andy, are you sure you are not a shark?"

Andy: "Nooo.... I'm a Sss- HARK"


Apparently he was trying to change the way you say shark in order to keep us guessing. Nice try buddy.