An Ode to Rachel

Before coming home to LA, we had Shelley's youngest sister Rachel out for a month-long visit. She just graduated from high school and sacrificed some of her last summer at home with friends to be with us. To say we were ecstatic to have her here for a month is an understatement.

Anthon of course glommed onto Rachel, claiming her as his and referring to her as, "my Rachel". He'd say, "I need my Rachel" and "Where is my Rachel?"

As you can see from the pictures below and in the corresponding gallery of Rachel-centric pictures, we kept busy while she was here. We tested her food limits - she even tried sushi - and took her all around the Tokyo area. She got up close and personal with the local women, though we couldn't quite get her to buy a cosplay outfit (like the one below) to wear on the plane home. And, like Shelley, fell for the wiley charms and sugary lips of the Buddah.

Thanks for coming all the way out to see us, Rachel. Good luck at the Y.

Day Trip to Kamakura

Shelley and I haven't really discussed who's on our top 5 list of famous people that we could kiss if we had the chance. If I had to guess, I'm sure Matthew McConaughey would be right up there at the top - as would Carrot Top. But I never in my wildest dreams thought that my wife would have the hots for the Buddah. I guess I should have read into her getting into yoga with a bit more scrutiny than I did.


The Japanese can be very hospitable hosts. We certainly didn't expect to be welcomed to Kamakura with a sign welcoming the "Great Kannon." I admit I am flattered. Not to be a nitpick, but couldn't they at least spell our names right?

And finally, as Shelley said in her blog about our trip we happened upon a couple who were getting married in this very public place. On the one hand I felt excited to see this, but I also felt bad that I was opportunistically snapping shots of their special day. While I was taking these pictures, Shelley was watching Anthon, who decided that he wanted to just go exploring on his own. Well, that didn't see well with Shelley who went after and resulted in our son, who has a pretty good set of pipes, screaming all the way back to his stroller after Shelley caught up to him. Nothing like being the one with the screaming kid to disrupt a wedding ceremony. Like a good father and husband I pretended I didn't know them.




All of the pictures are linked to a page of photos I shot from the day. Or you can clik on the link to go there.