Category Archives: Friends

Food, Friends, Photo-A-Day, Travel, Vlog

#KBBDads Event Day 1 Adventures

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Sunset over Newport Beach Harbor
Photo-A-Day #4123

Today was a great day in Irvine California. While I did wake up at 4am and could not go back to sleep I was okay most of the day. The information that I learned at Kelley Blue Book Headquarters was invaluable for my next trip to the dealership to negotiate for a new (either actually new or new to me).We learned all about the Kelley Blue Book approach to evaluating cars during the morning session. We broke for lunch, which were burgers from TK Burgers. They were awesome. So fresh and delicious.

After lunch there was a Facebook Live session with a couple of Kelley Blue Book Executives and Tommy Riles from Life of Dad. You cna see the video at the Life of Dad page or this link – https://www.facebook.com/lifeofdad/videos/10154245776211427/. It was fun to be a part of that Live event.

After the Facebook Live event we took a road test with one of the editorial staff in one of the five top Dad cars that were picked from the top 16 Family cars of 2016. I chose the Honda Civic to ride in and it had come a very long way since my 2002 EX.

Later on we took a bus down to Newport Beach to take rides in some Duffy Boats. The Newport Beach Harbor is incredible. So many boats and so many million dollar houses. Simply too much to take in.

When we were finished with the Duffy boat we then had a great dinner at 3-Thirty-3 Waterfront Restaurant. Dinner was way too much food and great conversation. Try not to drool on today’s vlog.

Family, Food, Friends, Photo-A-Day, Travel, Vlog

Eva’s Amazing Singing at the 4th of July Neighborhood Parade

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Falmouth Fireworks
Photo-A-Day #4100

Our 4th of July celebration began rather early today. Andrew was up at 4am. Allison graciously took over trying to get him to go back to sleep. No luck. So when I got up and before the annual neighborhood parade she took a nap while he watched some videos on Netflix. I can’t even tell you what I was up to this morning except for maybe some coloring in my The Coloring Notebook. Eva did some sketching while I colored.

Around 11am we went over to the Dartmouth Ave Annual 4th of July Neighborhood Parade. We’ve been doing it each year and this year Eva said that she wanted to sing “God Bless America”. Well, I have never heard her sing a whole song before, except for goofing around at the house or in the car. I was utterly blown away to hear her sing “God Bless America”. She got right up on that picnic table and sang her heart out and did it so well. She had no musical accompaniment, just her singing. She was so poised and confident. It was a very proud dad moment.I caught it on video and it is in today’s vlog.

After the parade I went with my Dad, Uncle Wayne and cousin Scott to see the Hōkūleʻa over in Woods Hole. This is a double hulled canoe that is sailing around the world with no instruments. The sailors use the stars, waves and other means of navigation. It is a really amazing thing. The boat is 62 feet in length and has spots for 10-14 crew. I know one of the guys on one leg of the journey and thought that he would be there, but he wasn’t.

When we came home it was time for the beach. I went over and Eva and her friends had dug a large hole. They intended to sit in it to watch the fireworks but the tide had other plans. Then it was back home for showers and a cook out. We had a good amount of visitors and it was a very enjoyable meal.

Then it was time to head back to the beach for the famous Falmouth Fireworks display. I set up my camera with the fish-eye lens in order to capture the fireworks. They were good this year and luckily the winds blew away most of the smoke before the next firework went off. I was able to get a few decent photos.