San Marcos Fire Department Open House - police car

 The boys were very excited about sitting in a police car.

 You can tell by the smile on Troy's face!

 Teo decided he didn't want to sit in it, but as we were walking off he tugged at his dad's hand.  His dad bent down and Teo whispered that he wanted to go back to the police car.  He had changed his mind, and gave us a nice big smile once he was seated!

He wasn't in long though before he hopped out.

Troy and Teo Birthday Celebration at Chuck's Place

 As a part of the boy's birthday celebration, we took them to Chuck E Cheese.  It's becoming something of a tradition.  The boy's birthdays are about a month apart, so we pick a weekend in between and head to Chuck's place. Teo is turning 4 and Troy is turning 6.

 Teo enjoying his pizza.  I like the way the pizza is perfectly still, but his head is in motion.

 Troy enjoying his pizza.

 I'm actually getting kinda hungry now.

 Teo sees Chuck E Cheese walking through.

 Onto his dad's lap!  He enjoys watching the mouse from afar, but does not want to approach him at all.

Enjoying watching Chuck.

I tried to get a portrait of Lucy and the boys, but I couldn't get Teo to be still.  So here is a portrait of Troy and Lucy.

My Trip To Australia

 I made a business trip to Australia last month.   I didn't have a chance to do much sight-seeing, but did snap a few photos in one of the cities I visited.   This is a photo along a main thoroughfare in Canberra.

 Another shot looking another direction.

 The view from my hotel.

 The big news in the papers during my stay was the election of a new Australian Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull.  But - what's this?  At the bottom of the front page on my first day in Australia?

 It's Ghibli ad!  What are the odds?

But yikes, look at that price!  In the US, Ghiblis start at $70K.  Converting $150K AUS to US dollars yields $105K, so that's still quite expensive, any way you look at it.

 The VW diesel scandal had just broke in the US, and it was all over the Australian papers also.

 Just outside of Melbourne.  Not sure what the yellow fields are.

 Canberra airport.

 I flew business class on Qantas.  It was a 14 hour flight from Australia to Los Angeles.

Back in San Diego!   I was trying to take a photo of the moon in the sky, but also happened to catch two count'em two Teslas.  And two Lexus SUVs stopping in the middle of a lane to unload!  The white one in the background with the tailgate up,  and the one in the foreground is just rolling to a stop, making no attempt whatsoever to get close to the curb so as not to impede traffic.  Sigh.

Avenue Hotel

 So what are the hotels like in Australia?  Here's one!  Following my normal routine, I took a few photos as soon as I arrived at this hotel.  Stepping in the door, I sat down my luggage, turned to the left, and took this photo.

 Turning a little to my right...

 More to the right...

 Continuing right...

 The bedroom.

The bathroom.

 Here is the top of the honor bar.

Prices are in Australian dollars.  About 70 cent US is equal to one dollar Australian.

Ron and Beth's Wedding

 We went to Ron and Beth's wedding reception yesterday.  They had a small private wedding on the beach, and then invited us all to their reception.   It was a very fun time!

Winding down late night at their home.  That's the happy couple in the center - great people!

Pala Casino Concert - Toto and Yes

 We went to the Pala Casino in early September to see Toto and Yes perform.  The concert started unusually early - 6:30 PM.  Scroll to the bottom to see a few video clips of Toto and Yes from that evening.

 I've been a big fan of Toto since I was a teen, and this was actually my third time seeing them perform.

 They played a pretty good set...most of my favorites from the early days (except they didn't do Georgy Porgy!)  and some new stuff that I didn't know at all.

 Then Yes took the stage.  This was my first time seeing them live.

I'm less familiar with their work, but they did do a few songs off 90125, which is the material I know best.

 Now the lights started getting wilder!

Pala Casino opened a "wine cave", so we went down to check it out.  Here is my wife and our friends.