The good news: The Scripps National Spelling Bee just completed Round 5 and the Finals are tonight on ABC at 8:00pm! 15 spellers remain and will continue on to the Finals.
The bad news: Our buddy, 13-year old Samir Patel, was just eliminated in Round 5 of the Semifinals. It was his fifth and last National Spelling Bee appearance. He got out on the word 'clevis.' He spelled it 'C-L-E-V-I-C-E.' It's a term we use quite regularly here at work, but a word that our buddy Samir Patel will never forget. He says "But I just outsmarted myself. It was an easy word. I just made a stupid mistake."
Poor Samir. I'll have to watch the defeat on TiVo when I go home tonight. Farewell, Samir. You had a good run.
Not sure if any of you had the opportunity to check out the Star Wars Convention this past weekend. It was awesome! Okay, well I'm a huge Star Wars fan, but I think there was entertainment for everyone. Stephanie, Joanne, Jack, and I made the trip over to the LA Convention Center on Monday. Needless to say, I took lots of video and pictures. As soon as we got there, I took my picture with a couple Stormtroopers. Those guys were everywhere!
Here's an overview video just walking into the main convention hall. Check out the Darth Vader Samurai!
Jabba the Hutt was there. "Cheethah, peechalk wonky Chewbacca."
As you know, the costumes are one of the best reasons to check out one of these conventions. Tons of people came in full dress and even more had lightsabers in hand. Check them out!
The highlight of the day was the Autograph Hall. They had tons of people signing...Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher), Anakin (Jake Lloyd), Chewbacca (Peter Mayhew), Darth Vader (David Prowse), Darth Maul (Ray Park), C-3PO (Anthony Daniels), R2-D2 (Kenny Baker), Ewoks, Jedis, and Jawas.
I decided to get autographs from Anthony Daniels (C-3PO) and Kenny Baker (R2-D2). In the video you can see me getting the autograph from Kenny Baker.
Anthony Daniels was a really friendly guy who speaks EXACTLY like C-3PO! It was pretty amazing. Check out the autograph:
Kenny Baker, on the other hand, was really tired when I got his autograph. REALLY tired. He fell asleep in the middle of my autograph! Look at his signature...see that line below the 'a'? That's where he rested his Sharpie during his 10 second nap I guess R2 was having a pretty rough day.
Jack had a great day at the convention. He spent most of his time in his Bjorn on my chest. It was lots of fun.
By the end of the day, he became a full-blown Jedi.
And to end the day, I finally got to see the R2-D2 mailbox! Was I the last one to finally see one?
I do have one more video if you are interested...(LINK)
I'm not sure if you saw last night's Lost season finale, but it was fantastic...especially after seeing last week's Heroes finale. I won't say anything in case you Tivo'd it and are waiting to watch it tonight, but I think you'll enjoy the 2 hours of action packed plot development which has been lacking from the show the past 2 seasons.
Are you still watching Lost? Vote in the poll to the right.
I'm sure everyone enjoyed Mother's Day this past Sunday. Joanne especially enjoyed it since it was her first one as a mommy! Stephanie got Joanne these flowers to celebrate. We all went to celebrate at Sambi Restaurant with our families. It was a great Sunday brunch! Where else can you enjoy scrambled eggs, steak, teriyaki chicken, and sushi all in the same meal?
After brunch we came back home and little did we know that Jack would have a gift for his mom. He rolled over again, but this time using his legs! He did it once when I wasn't filming, so we tried to figure out how to repeat the event. Just follow daddy!
Afterward, we played some Cooking Mama on the Wii! It's a pretty simple and fun game where you cook different meals using the Wiimote. Here you can see one of the games where you have to spread the butter on the frying pan.
And now for more pictures of Jack...
Sometimes we run across some great outfits for Jack. But then, when the outfit is chosen by Dad, it doesn't turn out that great. I liked it. I call it frogs and dogs.
As you can see the Boppy (the light blue pillow with white polka dots) can have many purposes. He can use it to help him balance his toys,
or create his own little playground,
or even turn them into headphones!
Needless to say I am still enjoying my 4 week vacation. Only 1 more week left!
For the past two weeks, Joanne, Jack and I have been able to enjoy a vacation together as a family. It's been a great experience...it's too bad Joanne goes back to work next week. I'll have two weeks with just Jack and I...my true test as a father. I think I'm ready.
Lately, Jack has been cracking up a whole lot. Mom is definitely the best at making him laugh. Check out this new video clip of those two in action:
Jack has also learned how to play his first instrument...the trumpet!
We've also been able to pay a visit to Disneyland with Daniel and Amy. Jack went on his first ride...The Disney Railway! We're going to try going to Disney's California Adventure tonight!
We also met my coworkers for lunch on Wednesday. Good ol' Back Home in Lahaina. Thanks guys for making it out to meet Jack! And no, I'm not missing work.
Here are some other new pictures of our favorite little boy:
Spending time with Jack has made my 4 week vacation so rewarding. Normally I have to wait until the weekends to enjoy the daylight hours with him. On Wednesday, the Hirotsu family took their first day trip and we had the best time.
We drove down to Del Mar to enjoy a picnic lunch at Seagrove Park. Joanne and I had last visited a year before Jack was born and it was a beautiful day to be back.
Seagrove Park is right on the coast and you get a great view of the beach and the coastal Amtrak line (great for traveling to the Del Mar Race Track).
Jack especially enjoyed his day in the shade.
All that playing required a heavy nap.
We then drove up to Carlsbad to check out the Flower Fields (in bloom until May 13th)
Next door we had to do some shopping at the Carlsbad Premium Outlets and then head home. It was a great day and Jack was such a good boy.
Let me tell you...I was very disappointed that I didn't have my camera an hour ago. We were going through the drive thru at McDonald's, when we witnessed the street break down the middle and spew sewage into the street! Okay, it wasn't a geyser, but it was coming out quick. The pipeline down the middle of the street caused the asphalt to raise about a foot! The only bummer is that I had to drive through some of it on the way out.
Then, on the way home, we saw a guy pushing a shopping cart (full of his very favorite belongings) on a unicycle! How ingenious and what a workout! Can't ride a bicycle and push a shopping cart at the same time? Solution: unicycle.
