The last hurrah as Two

There isn't much time now until baby comes! Allegra and I have decided to take a few little day trips to enjoy our last few weekends as a twosome. We went to Marin Headlands because leggy craved some fog, and we certainly got some. It was nice and drizzly and foggy and twilight. A beautiful day. If you go, take the low trail along the edge of the cliffs by the furthest parking lot.

With everything happening in life lately, I havent been taking many pictures or blogging! But leggy created this pics for me on some yearbook website, and they made me giggle. hopefully you will too.

We marrieds!

We went to the alameda county clerks' office this past friday and tied the (legal) knot!
There were two homo couples in line ahead of us, and the energy was high and festive!
(until we had to sit there for an hour waiting for our judge to marry us!)

We got married by the "marriage commissioner" who happened to be a lady with a judges' robe and motorcycle boots! (in the club, perhaps?) It did seem unusual and sweet that after performing our ceremony, she asked to take a picture of us. We are making history, folks!

My coworker Ann made us an amazing cake and bought us the most beautiful bouquets. A most unexpected surprise! It just made our ceremony so special.

We honeymooned in Gurneville, CA by the russian river. The weather was iffy, so we spent some time in the redwoods at Armstrong Woods. An amazing place, 3 miles outside of gurneville.

This is me and Colonel Armstrong, a 1400 year old tree.

This is the place on the river where we got our own little funky cabin, complete with private deck and kitchen!

Tragedy on the Lake

This weekend my parents came to visit and we spent a lot of time on wonderful lake Merritt! We were hanging out at the bird preserve when we saw it: the first duckling of the season. Allegra and I had been waiting for a long time to see this little guy. He was adorable.

I hunted around the preserve to find another but he was the only one. The problem was, he seemed all alone. No parental ducks would claim him. He chirped for help but no one came!

And then it happened.
Almost before I realized it, the Evil Seagull appeared.


Sure you may think they are innocuous seabirds, but they have an evil agenda.

They eat ducklings.

And before I knew it, I was watching this sweet duckling being crushed and swallowed up by the seagull. It was really violent. I surprised myself at how disturbed I was.
And then there were no more ducklings.
My dad said, thats just nature. But argh! That was horrible.

they just call it Twang

This is Twang, the newest incarnation of my dad and his pals' musical talents.
They recently played McKenna's on the bay in Long Beach, a real classy joint.

Notice the nice photoshop job Dad did. Very professional looking with the "enhancements".

The band gets ready to play. Yes, they turn off the TV when they played.

Dad really sung his heart out this night. It was magical! I only regret the sound clips i tried to record on my camera did not come out; otherwise, you could experience the magic too!

We spent the rest of the weekend relaxing in chilly southern california. An Excellent trip, thanks to Mom who planned the whole thing. Good work all around parents!

cataract creek

In Marin there is some amazing hiking a few miles out of the town of Fairfax. The entire trail is straight uphill, but there is waterfall after waterfall the whole way!

The entire trail is also shaded (which you are thankful for since it is so demanding) and culminates in a beautiful meadow where you can lunch at picnic tables and use the questionable latrine.

Definitely a must see.

famous people like allegra and jesus

Easter weekend we were graced with Allegra's Dad and Debbie's presence. They bought us this wonderful kitchen island! It is my new favorite thing. We can play
(mini) ping pong on it.

Allegra's mug is now on a billboard in SF at Valencia and Market streets. Its like 20 ft tall, just her face!

Another Easter brings another hunky jesus contest! This was the best year yet, with the inevitable win by "fewest clothes jesus."But I always hope cross-carrying jesus will win.

Hiking in East Bay Hills

We have been exploring our new neighborhood, including some amazing hiking just a few miles away in the hills. We went to Chabot regional park (although we thought we were in redwood) and saw some huge cows, really close up (too nervous to get out the camera for that). Andy wanted to pet them. I said no.

Its a really goregous spot, and at the top, there are some great views.

home sweet oakland

Look mom! new house pictures!

This is my new beautiful kitchen! notice the dishwasher!

Our bedroom has super high ceilings and tons of light.

The bathrooms (yes thats 2!) are immaculate!
Now everyone has to come visit because we have room for guests!

xmas 2007

We had a very eventful christmas this year... A quick trip to southern california and then back to SF to hang out with Leggy's mom. It was really nice to spend the holidays together!

There are some twisted people in southern california. This house celebrated the holidays by putting this convincing dummy up. My mom walked by and almost tried to save the guy.

Burnt christmas trees abound in san francisco; someone bothered to drag this one all the way to the palace of fine arts to burn it.

We had a great time with Leggy's mom, and took her to see some sights.

My cousins and niece at my dad's house.

Matt came to Christmas eve and it was great. Looks like Matt is about two feet taller than grandma now.

point bonita light house

If you have never been to the point bonita lighthouse near Marin Headlands, you should really go. The lighthouse is rather old and the rickety suspension bridge that leads to it is so questionable, they only let two people on it at a time! The view of the bay and the golden gate is gorgeous from here. And the trip over the bridge really gets your heart pumping. Don't look down.

This is Andy at the end of our hike at the lighthouse.