Skatepark Review: Santa Cruz City

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Jasper says: Three stars. There are lots of ramps and jumps that I like. There was a place I could go off of on my skateboard. I gave it three stars out of five because it was little. It was good not great and I would go back again.

DaDa says: Nice park on the side of the San Lorenzo River in Santa Cruz. Nice for beginners and for high intermediate/expert, but not much for the low intermediate sweet spot we are looking for. We'll be back and try the bigger bowls. Thanks Brian Pieratt for joining Jasper in the bowls.

Jasper ready to shred.

Check out the wave-shaped full pipe in the background.

Tom Sawyering in Santa Cruz

While Jasper and Brian were shredding it up at the skatepark, Silas and Maya wandered the San Lorenzo river bottom. Finding buried treasure, tossing rocks, and exploring the dark places under bridges. Snuck up on a blue heron and an egret who flew to safer harbor in the middle of the river.

The sand bar finally runs out


Under the bridge trying to figure out what the river has done

Noodle on a Paper Guitar

Tuesday evening art project led to tracing bodies, Hedgie, Hampy (notice the stuffed hamster tracing in the middle of the guitar Silas is playing), and my new fretless bass guitar. Silas diligently colored in the tracings with the force of Pollack and the insanity of Van Gogh. Then he demanded we cut them out and he proceeded to pick up the guitar and play! Then he rocked out until dinner time.

On another note, I have really begun to connect with my new fretless bass guitar. I got a cheap guitar and amplifier with some great built in tones (off Craigslist of course). A fretless takes a lot more feel to get the right intonation. It took me a couple weeks until it just clicked and now it's like butter.

The California Cousins

Thanks Beth and Andy for sending us great pictures of the California Cousins Mia and Shaq (Hayden). They led to a major Shaq-attack for the boys this morning. Silas had to run through the slide show three times.

We are looking forward to the cousins getting together in mid-May for a week on the beach in Del Mar.

The Crocker clan expands and they are growing up fast.

Four Gramma's are Better than One

Silas and Japer are quite lucky. They have four grammas My mother Ila and her partner Renee, my stepmother Janice and their mother's mother Garda. For part of my time away in Korea, Grammas Ila and Renee (NayNay) spent at the house with the boys. Movie night, ice cream, rock painting, and grown up Monopoly was only a slice of the fun. Nay Nay and Japer are quite a team, both with stong seven-year old boy energy. And Silas had Gramma Ila read until her voice fell off. Thank you Gramma's for you love and support, looking forward to other Gramma's coming soon to!

There is Pooh Everywhere

Even in Korea. Pooh's are quite the phenomenon in San Francisco. They can be purchased for one dollar from special vending machines through out the city, mostly in the Chinese neighborhood stores. We usually get ours from Eggettes a little Hong Kong waffle shop near our house. It is quite the ritual and the kids can't get enough. The grown-ups call them Pooh crack for obvious reasons. I lucked out and found some unique versions in Korea and they were quite the hit.

Jasper says: Pooh's are interesting. They have strings and they're in costumes. My favorite Pooh is the Rabbit and the Honey Pot Pooh that DaDa brought back from Korea.

Silas says: My favorite Pooh is the Hamburger Pooh, but it is mine. I didn't know they had Hamburger Poohs. Today is the first day Hedgie meets my Hamburger Pooh. Hedgie tried to eat my Hamburger Pooh.

Are you an old Seoul?

Been here in Seoul for a couple days now. Having been to Beijing and Tokyo in the last year, Seoul feels familiar. Everyone is well dressed, the streets are clean, there is a lot of neon and street signs. The city is laid out along the meandering Han river and nestled within a series of hills and mountains. Due to this geography the city's road network is not quite a perfect grid. I pride myself on having a solid sense of direction, but yesterday I got quite lost and quite wet during an afternoon stroll. My presentations ended at 3pm so I headed to the Seonjeongneung Royal Tombs, housing two emperors and an empress from the 1500's. A nice bit of nature in an overurbanized metropolis of 14 million people. I have lucked into the short season of the cherry blossom here in Seoul. The peak of my day yesterday was sitting at the top of a hill between tombs, listening to the magpies under a canopy of white cherry blossoms. From this vantage the city was gone and my heart opened and I released a lot of emotion that had accumulated on my journey over hear and away from my boys.

Food has been the other highlight and adventure. Lots of soups and Korean BBQ. I am loving the requisite Kim Chee (spicy pickled cabbage), but also versions with beets and lighter vinegar sauces. Every meal is served with several plates or bowls of unidentifiables. Last night it was mud octopus in red vinegar chili sauce and cows blood soup. The cows blood is frozen and served as a brown blob in a beef broth, tasted like liver.

Meeting with customers and partners for the next few days and then hop the pond back home. Love you all.

[Image borrowed from another blogger]

Thunder (Beardy) the Bearded Dragon

We got little Beardy in June of 2005. She was born on Mother's Day and was given to Jasper as part of a deal. Jasper had to pick his clothes up for 30 days and if he did it he would get a lizard. We chose a bearded dragon because they don't live in a wet environment, they are not nocturnal, and they only live for 8 years. DaDa wanted an iguana as a familiar because his band in college was called Night of the Iguana. But, Iguana's grow very large and live for decades. The female component of our home was not amused and the lizard became sole responsibility of the boys in the house. As you can see from the pictures Beardy started out small and has become quite a BIG and beautiful lizard. She used to eat so much, two live mice and 10 silk worms in one sitting. Now in her young adult life she spends more time chilling out than eating.

Silas says: Beardy puffs up her chin but we do not see it too much (see picture). Beardy has a cool cage and the cage looks cool with all of Beardy's stuff in it and with Beardy in it.

Jasper says: Beardy used to be cute, but now she is as big as my arm.

Beardy at just over one month old.

Jasper at 5 with his reward.

Big Beardy showing her big beard.

41 is a Prime Number

For DaDa Charlie's birthday (today April 4) Silas and Jasper got a Star Wars Imperial Cruise Lego kit. It has over 1300 pieces and took us 3 days over our Spring Break in Tahoe to complete. Now DaDa gets to play with it.

Jasper says: "The Imperial Cruiser was fun to build and it is about 2 feet long!!"

Silas says: "I like my Pokemon shirt and my Scooby Doo one. The Imperial Cruiser is cool because the top comes off." Now Silas will type his own name: SILAS

Chalet Truppelli for Spring Break

Awesome 4 days with my boys at the Truppelli Chalet in tahoe. A great open floorplan with a sense of being in the trees. The long weekend, my part of the boys Spring Break, focused on building lego, playing in the snow, learning to ski, and watching Star Wars movies. Some details from the trip are in the last two blog entires. Thanks Gar and Lara and their kids Seaira, Canyon, and Ember for making us feel at home.

Lon and Terri in Tahoe

It is always great to see old friends, especially when you have not seen them for awhile. It is even more poignant when they show up with two kids 5 and 2 who you have never met. Lon and Terri and their precocious brain children Logan and Kailas (yes Silas noticed that Kailas rhymes with Silas) joined us in Tahoe for a night on their drive back to Colorado. It was brief, but magical. Kailas blazed into the house and introduced herself and Logan quickly displayed his knack, like his father, for remembering everything he reads or sees.

Uncharacteristically we just chilled out. Lon and I in the past would not have been satisfied sitting around. You see, in 1988 Lon and I spent every weekend in Yosemite, he taught me to climb, and together we bagged some of our biggest climbs: Half Dome, Leaning Tower (see picture of Lon 1989), and many long free routes.

Also, he and Terri joined the 1995-1996 Chuckwagon (Tan 1978 VW Westfalia) climbing tour of the US. Both Lon and I are in a time in our life where a little chill time and relaxation with friends is needed, though for very different reasons. Here are a few shots from our recent time together.

Lon and my boys

Lon risking life and limb.

Jasper following Lon's lead.

Silas getting thrown down by Lon

The yunginns: Logan Silas, Hedgie, Jasper, and Kailas