Labor day getaway

Hey.  It was record-breaking heat everywhere in California, and even at the coast, it was still the high 90's.  We decided to go to Sacramento and spend two nights in a hotel.  Last time we stayed in a hotel was Monterey and it was a good experience.  This time, we lost Mister's blanket (baba) and he did not do well without it.  Plus, the infant was up throughout the night.  The hotel experience was not so rosy.

Heidi and I enjoyed ourselves throughout the day with the activities we'd chosen but the kids, it seemed, could not stop complaining.  Moaning.  Whining.  I had to wear my ear plugs all day and all night.  Once we got started on our activities, the kids enjoyed them.

Initial bike ride along the Sacramento river was essentially a fail due to unpleasant attitudes from the kids.  The bikes worked well, though.

Gold Rush days was going on in Old Sacramento and that was cool.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints had a pavilion at Gold Rush days but they weren't labeled as such.  They were "Historical Experts" and taught skills like rope making, calligraphy, fire building, and gold digging.  It was the coolest part of the exhibit.

Can't go wrong with a visit to the train museum even though we spent most of our time chasing after Mister.

 The fish hatchery was cool too but Scott and Tyler were throwing a fit about having to see it in their church clothes.  I should have taken a picture of the chapel we attended because it was so cool:  a two story brick building on 51st street.  But no picture.

This is the Nimbus hatchery in Rancho Cordova, 6 minutes from the temple.  There's a salmon run from the river and they also grow several varieties of trout.

 At the Sacramento Temple.

 I really like my new lens.  This 1/1250 at f4.  Bokeh not bad for such a wide lens.

Timer on a tripod.  That's pretty much how we do all of our family photos.  Usually I take a few and then select the best one, then edit it.  This was the only one we got.  It was about 111 degrees and someone was always melting down.

The arboretum at UC Davis was probably the coolest thing we did.  It was a trail along a river and the kids enjoyed riding their bikes despite the excessive complaining beforehand.  

Tour of the Jelly Belly factory for Tyler's 10th birthday.

6th kid: Announcing Hanna Ruth McMillan

Hi everybody.  We are going to hear about this from my perspective.  A few words and a lot of pictures.

First nurse is an iron man triathlete

Anne Marie had her baby on the same day

 Grammy came out for several days

Taken by the babysitter:  The announcement that the baby was a girl.  Priceless.

Everyone always says, "Let me know what I can do to help."  It's a nice thing to say but hardly anyone ever speaks up.  Except me.  I texted Devin and said, "Hey Devin.  The baby's here.  Will you get me a homestyle chicken sandwich from Jack in the Box?"  And he did!  Nice.

7 lbs 10 oz.

Heidi is bouncing back pretty fast.  The boys, although they are smiling in these photos, are either neutral or lukewarm.  Parker generally likes the baby but doesn't know how to be gentle.  He likes to smother her.  Kira is the most excited at finally having a sister.  Her demeanor is okay.  She doesn't seem to be as fussy as Parker was at that age, but there's still a lot of maintenance that you forget about.  I haven't been able to stay awake for a single episode of our show since she arrived.  Fortunately, Heidi does most of the work.  There's not that much that I can do since she's nursing.  

We named her Hanna Ruth for several reasons.  Heidi's mom, Jacquie's, middle name is Hanna and Jacquie's mom was named Ruth Hanna; Hanna being her maiden name.   Jacquie and Walt's anniversary was 8/22, the day Hanna was born.  I wanted to do the palindromic spelling, Hannah, but Heidi wanted to retain the familial spelling.  

Six kids.  Wow.  Okay, bye.

My new lens!

Really I should be posting this on my blog but the photos are of the kids and Heidi's blog gets more viewership and everyone loves cute kids, so here.

The craigslist ad was for a 70-200L f2.8 version ii plus a 24-105L f4.  The asking price was reasonable and I was planning on low-balling him for both lenses.  We met in Vallejo on the way home from Vacaville and I checked out both.  The 70-200 was beaten up, the glass was not pristine, like a 7/10, and there was lint on both ends of the lens.  Even though it seemed to focus correctly and it worked at 2.8 and 32, I decided against it and felt good about it.  I did buy the 24-105 though.  I'd wanted one for several years but the opportunity was never compelling enough to justify a trip for just that lens.

I know their faces are dirty and some of their smiles are less than natural.  But I am happy about the lens.  The colors are richer, the bokeh is better, and the f4 is nice.  Now I can sell my old lens on craigslist and keep looking for a better 70-200.

Lots of people have been hounding me about whether the baby's here.  No.  I want to just take the pictures and put them on facebook, but everyone wants a personal text.  Last week Heidi was convinced the baby was gonna come.  I said, "Can't you wait until next Monday (which was yesterday)?"

She said, "There's no way I can make it that long."  Now she thinks the baby will come today because it's her parents' anniversary.  We'll see.  Okay, bye.