Mateo and Mission Hills High School Marching Band

 

We had a chance to watch Mateo perform as a part of the Mission Hills High School Marching Band this month.  It was a lot of fun to watch!

That's him heading towards us.

Another shot of him.

Getting ready with the rest of the band.

A shot of him without his hat.

The entire band did a great job.  It probably helped that our team won.

The horn section.

It was almost the perfect temperature.

After the performance.

Independence Day

 

We had a great time at an afternoon party at a friends house on July 4th.  Here are Dave and the boys playing a bit of b-ball.

Troy and Teo enjoying the pool.

Old pros in the pool by now!

Which one of us is wetter?

Troy Loses A Tooth

 

We went out to dinner at Miguel's.  During dinner, Troy lost a tooth, a molar.  He won't be losing too many more as he is quickly turning into a young man.  

Mateo's Birthday Dinner

We have a tradition in our house - we go out to eat as a family each Friday night and rotate who gets to pick the place (or they can choose to have delivery done).  Even the kids get a turn.

And when its your turn closest to your birthday, price is no object!  

Each year, Mateo chooses either Shogun or Katsu, where they cook the food right at the table.   This year he chose Katsu.   That's a happy birthday smile if I ever saw one!

Our chef is getting ready to make the rice into a beating heart.

 Troy enjoys it also, though he usually picks another place on his birthday dinner night - which is coming up soon!

In The Car With Ruby

 We took Ruby with us to pick up a car in the shop yesterday.

She was as thrilled as the rest of us to be out and about.

 Teo especially got a kick out of it.

Chillin In The Back Yard

I have been working from home since March 17th.

My wife and my son have been working from home since March 23rd.

We've kept fairly busy completing the backlog of projects we had intended to complete.Yard maintenance is now complete.  Light fixtures replaced.  Storage unit built.  All that's left to do is move things from the garage to the storage unit.

Here is an evening with Mateo and Troy chillin in our back yard.   That's been another benefit of the Stay At Home restriction - we've spent more time together in the back yard.   I'm especially thankful that we pulled the trigger and had the back yard completely redone last year so we can sit back there as a family and reflect.  Otherwise we'd be spending much more time indoors.  The back yard overhaul was money well spent.

Teaching Troy How To Use Chopsticks

 Troy is ten now, and is becoming curious about using chopsticks.  Here is his first lesson.

Actually, Troy and Teo both tried sushi, something they hated when they tried it a couple of years ago.

Teo ate it quickly - he actually liked it!

Football Practice Has Started

Troy in red shirt, Mateo throwing football over goalpost.

Texas Roadhouse

 Each Friday, we have Family Dinner Night Out and we rotate who gets to pick the location.  Last week, it was my pick and I chose Texas Roadhouse.

Here is Mateo enjoying his new Samsung Galaxy Tab Active2, his holiday gift.   His father David and brother Troy are watching.

If you haven't been to Texas Roadhouse, we highly recommend it.  Great good, great drinks, and great atmosphere.

Basketball

The boys picked basketball as their after-school activity this year, and we're underway!

Mateo Barker.

 Mateo waiting for his brother's practice session to end.

 Troy Barker in a reflective mood during a break in the practice.

Troy at the end of a great practice session.

Bullet-Proof Car

 When Troy came home from school on Thursday, he handed me this drawing he made of a bullet-proof car.  He's stated that on the drawing and he dated it.

Later than evening,  Elon Musk unveiled Tesla's new Cybertruck, which he billed as bullet-proof, complete with videos showing bullets failing to penetrate the body.

Very strange coincidence indeed!

Disneyland 2019

 It was Troy's pick for the fall amusement park trip, and he picked Disneyland!

Here are Troy and Mateo entering the park.

 Troy and Mateo having breakfast with the characters!

Del Mar Fair

 We found time to make it to the Del Mar Fair this year, and we made it the first evening trip with the boys.   Every other time they have been to the fair in the daytime.  I think they are the right age to enjoy the night atmosphere, and I think they agreed.

 We did our traditional visit to see the animals.  Here are my animals, Mateo in the front and Troy in the rear.

 Troy looking at the Peruvian horses.

Teo doing the same thing.

 From here, we split up.

 The rest of the crew went to the rides...

 ...and I went to the art displays.  Here are a few of my favorites this year.

 We finally met back up.  Here is a photo from the end of the evening, back on the main drag where the food stands are.

 Mateo brought this toy home.

And Troy brought this one.

A fun night!