Hmm...

 

The morning after Eleanor and I flew into this great land, we went for a walk on Fuller's campus. This sculpture is one of the first things we encountered (Matt took the picture when he was here in April). I was a bit concerned how Eleanor would react to this graphic portrayal of Christ's crucifixion. Eleanor is a child who gets upset when reading Hop on Pop because of "sad dad." Before we got very close to the sculpture, two grade school aged kids approached with their father. They proceeded to climb all over Jesus. I was a bit taken aback, but at the same time somewhat relieved that I didn't have to explain the crucifixion to a two-year-old.

The Young Girl and the Sea

 

Eleanor throughly enjoyed her first encounter with the cold water that is the Pacific Ocean. She also really liked chasing the sea gulls (although she called them eagles).

The Bed Bed Book House

 

 

 

Ahhh. We've finally made it to our new abode. We've finally unpacked enough boxes to be able to walk through the place without cursing and rueing the day (as much). We've finally managed to find an unsecured wireless network in our building (well actually that was one of the first orders of business). I've been here a week, the girls a little less and we thought it was time for an update.

Above you see several photos we just took (this is live, up to the minute stuff folks) of Melody and Eleanor on Eleanor's exclusive balcony on this Craftsman style home. The building is over a hundred years old and comes with some accompanying quirks but we're starting to feel at home. Our neighborhood is wonderful and we already feel welcomed by those living here in Ford Place. Across the street is a special little courtyard with some collectively shared toys. E has become obsessed with the Blue Car: a plastic, fisher price car sized just for toddlers. She hasn't managed to figure out the flintstones style engine but is very content to sit in it, pushing buttons and turning the wheel before getting out and back in again. We've met several other "babies" and Eleanor is loving them (though today she was talking about riding "more airlplane" and about "Mimi and Momou."

For more exciting pics from the roadtrip of Jason and Matt, check my picasa web album (see link to the right) a little later.

Contact: at the Very Large Array

Bloggin to you from a very nice Flagstaf, AZ Quality Inn via their very nice highspeed internet. Road trip to LA in progress and going well.

Pics from today's expedition to the Petrified Forest (which is actually a fossilized logjam, not a forest) will be forthcoming. In fact, my recently re-discovered GI Joes have been traveling with us and greatly enjoyed a chance to get back into the field.

But today you get pix from the Very Large Array. The VLA is a very large radio telescope used for gathering information about the universe. It was also featured prominently in the film, "Contact," starring Jodie Foster in which she uses the VLA to listen for space aliens. The Very Large Array is a series of very large satelite dishes that can be configured in a variety of ways for different applications, sort of like a zoom lens on a camera.

My brother Jason and I stumbled upon it and were duly wowed by it in all it's nerdy glory. This is the array that provided evidence for the existence of black holes. Very cool. I did my best Jodie Foster imitation.



Even Jason got in on the action:

More Birthday

 

Matt and his brother Jason share a birthday at the end of August. (They aren't twins, but three years apart.) They celebrated their birth last night with a feast of Bart Simpson cake. Eleanor was super excited about the cake, but being the mean mom I am, we had it after she went to bed.

Eleanor Helps Pack

Eleanor wanted to make sure that we didn't leave any necessary items, so she packed her own box using the stomping method to make more space.