Easter has a lot of meaning for us. As practicing Catholics, we believe the Son of God rose from the dead as a symbol to all of mankind that we will have eternal life.
Pretty deep stuff that today gets shrouded in Easter bunnies and colored eggs filled with jelly beans.
But for my wife kids and me, this Easter marks one full year since Daisy entered our lives.
Tomorrow I begin a job as the Director of Marketing and Communications at THINK Together that in many ways brings me full circle to something I started nearly 20 years ago.
THINK, which is an acronym for Teaching, Helping, Inspiring, Nurturing Kids, was started by Randy Barth, a businessman and visionary whose goal is to improve literacy rates and give those children who have little educational opportunities and avenues a new chance to be successful.
I love what they do and am so proud to be part of this wonderful team.
Nathan, Kristen, Emily, Danielle and Makenna enjoying a frosty morning before getting their 15 minutes of fame.
It was 40 degrees and the ice was looking pretty inviting to my kids and their two friends. Not because they knew how to skate or anything, but because all they had to do was glide around the cold stuff a bit and voila! — TV fame.
And sure enough, they did. They all got cameo shots on Monday morning’s Good Day LA broadcast.
Nate staying a head of everyone else!
Ever since high school, I’ve rarely missed an opportunity to do a surf camping trip. Most of my trips have been with my surf buddies, Larry Ramos or Michael Duke. Or as my son calls him “Mikeduke.” I don’t think Nate knows what Mike’s last name is.
This year, Larry and his family couldn’t make it, but Mike and his family, wife Lilly, sons Warren and Merritt and daughter Angie, all joined me, Beth, Danielle, Kristen and Nate, for a beach camping trip at the new Crystal Cove El Moro beach campground, which formerly was home to mobile homes. The campground opened to the public the beginning of July.
As a journalist, I often wrote about the mobile homes that were situated on state park lands. They had been there for years as a part of land deal with the Irvine Co. that is too complicated to explain today. But I reported, with much criticism from the mobile home owners, that the land needed to be available to all the public. This trip proved that correct.
Watching the Alaskan racing pigs at the OC Fair.
I’ve written before on this blog how important I believe it is to preserve the Orange County Fair for generations to come.
Recently, I met Guy Lemmon, one of the principals of Facilities Management West, a private firm who had the winning bid to purchase the fairgrounds property. Even though the appellate court has struck down the sale, I wrote about my impressions of Lemmon and how I believe he also has the best interest of the fair at heart, and the Daily Pilot, my former newspaper, published it. You can read my op/ed piece here.
Parenting issues