13 August Ollie's Grand Entrance

<-- 12pm all's well, scoffing an icy pole

2pm waiting . . . -->

It was nice to get in a day out before the big one. Marie saw the doctor in the morning. Turns out the fluid was amniotic, so they wanted her to go straight in. At 2pm, we were fine, then the pectosin started to kick in, and the pain too. At about 4pm, the nurse told us we were 7cm. She couldn't believe it, and had another nurse confirm it. This is when Marie asked for an eppy. At about 4.30 we were 9cm, and around 5 the eppy was just like magic, we were 10cm and ready to go. Our doctor took her time, answered a couple of calls, including while we were pushing. She did tug o war on a vacuum pump. His head appeared, then she strangled the poor boy to get him out. At 6.39pm, Oliver arrived.

<-- doc thought he's going to be a little one

taking a bath at about 15 minutes of age -->

12 August - A nice day in the vineyards

<-- checking out the bridge in the morning

tasting a few in the afternoon-->

We hired a car, and with Marie due anytime, we headed off, about an hour north of the city, and went wine tasting in Sonoma (not Marie). Marie's water broke at 3pm. She wasn't sure, so we kept on tasting.

<-- Golden Gate bridge

the view from Twin Peaks over the city -->

11 August 2007 We're overdue

<-- the new setup

where's Olly? -->

Lucky there's no late fees, as having a kid is expensive enough. Olly keeps getting well fed, and Marie had half a glass of wine tonight, so he's in no mood to come out into the cold.

Anna and Vicky visit

<-- Anna and Vicky check out the city

<-- Marie and Anna sit on the wall.

"Postcard alley" is a few blocks from our place. The houses near are typical of the area, and there's a nice view of the city.

Wandering the neighbourhood

We're near a few hills, strangely enough. All have beautiful old Victorian houses and great views for miles away. You could get some serious air time down the streets here, but the middle of town is even a bit better.

At the moment, we're both working from home. Tomorrow, Marie is off on leave as a disabled person / my personal cook.

3 weeks to go

wo oh wo oh wo oh wo!

4th July 2007

Independence from England. I think I've heard it said more as "4th of July" than July 4th. They had some good fireworks, and we got the day off.

Lassen,Quincy,Downieville 29 May 07

<-- McArthur-Burney falls were pretty huge. -->



Home came via historic highway 49 via the gold rush towns.




<-- the museum at Quincy



gold built Downieville with skinny streets, and gorgeous buildings -->

Lassen Volcanic National Park

<-- boiling springs lake
bubbling up -->

Staying in slightly strange Chester, we headed into bubbling, smoking Lassen Volcanic National Park with it's beautiful lakes.


<--smokey hole. (often throws mud - is that dangerous?)

Lassen Volcanic National Park 4 day weekend

<-- a lake in Lassen, and active

between Chico and Chester -->

May 17th was the memorial day weekend. Me and Marie took an extra day on top, and headed north. Now we can say we've been to Princeton. That's Princeton, CA, population 400. First stop was luxurious Colusa casino. Bargain luxury room, and a buffet breakfast with deep fried chicken steak, omelette, gravy, etc. Then on to tranquil Chico where we skipped lunch and laid in park.

<-- one of the frozen ones, hopefully not active.

The latest...

<-- Bernal Heights. Marie is 6 months

Historical F-line trolley goes near home to town -->

Here's the latest: not much is happenin'. So when there's nothin else to do, we just go for a bit of a walk locally, or whatever.

Portland, Oregon. 20-22 April 2007

<-- bikes abound

heritage buildings and tram tracks -->

Portland is one smart city. Free WiFi, free public transport in the central area, beautiful historical buildings and tree lined streets that don't have too many cars.

It is surrounded by trees, including huge Washington Park, with it's patches of different greens.


<-- the ceiling of Union train station

golden doors in the financial district -->

Flavel House, Astoria

<-- the formal room near the entrance

a dining table set for none -->

v. spooky -->

Barrelling around Flavel House was a lot of fun. There's so much space, you can feel yourself going insane. 14 feet ceilings, three levels and some interesting antiques gave it a millionaire eccentric feel.


<-- staircase to the third floor, with the ghost of Marie checking out the camera

step outside yorself and let your mind stray -->

Wandering around Astoria, Oregon

<-- near Cathedral Tree

near the Maritime Museum -->

Astoria is full of surprises. We walked around it's quaint streets on the side of a hill overlooking the wide Columbia river, and close to the Pacific Ocean. Nice coastline there, with those small rocky islands, and misty rain.

<-- some wharves wait for restoration

The waterfront trolley is immaculate and fun -->

Calaveras Big Trees

<-- ones that are still up

one that fell down -->

The trees here are big enough that they could cut a hole in one and drive a car through it. Another stump was big enough to put a pavilion on it. A few of them are still standing even. Those ones are amazing. You can't guess how high they are until you walk along one that fell down. That takes a while.

Yosemite National Park

<--Mark & Marie

Yosemite -->

Yosemite has huge valleys, steep rocky mountains, and waterfalls. We had a nice walk around the place. We drove a bit much, so everyone ended up catching a lot of sleep in the car.

Weekend away 7-8 April 2007

<-- Mark skates amoung the teepees

Having a go in the carpark -->

This is Mark's new skate thing. It's like a snowboard. It's got 6 wheels, and the ones in the middle swivel around, so it's really unstable. We crashed it once each.

Mark visits

<-- Mark

Marie -->

Mark is Marie's nephew. He was snow board instructing in good ol' West Virginia. People from over East have false teeth with their initials engraved on them, so if they leave them behind, they can ring up wherever and get them back. He had his couch thrown onto the fire, along with anything else containing wood.