And now, a bunch of random photos of the view from the balcony of that fancy hotel my wife and I stayed at… including some really awesome sunsets… even though I’m still not ready to tell you why we stayed there…

Posted on February 9, 2016 by pouringmyartout

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Spending the day with me… from a kid’s point of view… the final chapter…

Posted on February 9, 2016 by pouringmyartout

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Hey, as long as I am already balancing on your knees… do that thing where you open them apart, and then grab me right as I start to slide through the gap… I love that thing…

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Yeah… I’m totally ready… do it…

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You know, it would be a lot easier for you to read to me…

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If you didn’t always have the camera in your other hand… just sayin’…

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Okay… seriously… dude… you wore me out…

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I think it’s nap time…

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No… I have no idea why I can only fall asleep when I cross my legs and stick them up in the air, cover my face with a blanket, and clap my hands… don’t judge me…

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You’re just the babysitter…

Posted in Stories of my life | Tagged , , , | 28 Comments

Spending the day with me… from a kid’s point of view… part 2…

Posted on February 9, 2016 by pouringmyartout

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Hey… wait… Arthur… you want to see something really cool?

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Are you ready? Because you are definitely going to want to get pictures of this… wait… let me pick up my blanky…

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I can walk!!! All by myself!!! I know, right? Oh… the blanky? I don’t know… it just helps me balance.

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I am just going to hold onto the balloon… so you stop bouncing it off my head…

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Yes… I know… I see the pretty flowers… you ask me that every time we come out here…

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Stop taking pictures… I want to look at the airplanes…

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Seriously? You tie-dyed this shirt all by yourself?

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Yes, I do like the way that, between all the silly games and the funny faces and noises you make, that you tell me real stuff about life and the universe. Yes, I can see why you think doing that with your own daughters when you were a stay-at-home dad contributed to making them so smart… so, you’re telling me that the big, hot ball in the sky is really a star, just like the little tiny lights I see at night, only much closer??? You have given me a lot to think about…

Posted in Stories of my life | Tagged , , , | 25 Comments

Spending the day with me… from a kid’s point of view… part 1…

Posted on February 9, 2016 by pouringmyartout

I am, as I mentioned, babysitting little Olivia this week, the daughter of some friends of ours. I am going to do a quick series of posts using the pictures I took today, to illustrate what it is like to spend the day with me… if you are just a little over one-year-old… and using Olivia’s own words… because I totally speak kid…

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I like it when you come over, Arthur… you are a funny man…

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So… what’s for breakfast?

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These are some seriously tasty nummies, dude.

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Alright, what’s next on the agenda?

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Okay, this is a good book, but not as good as the two books you wrote and illustrated… just for kids like me. No. I don’t know where dad stuck my copies of your books… he moves stuff around all the time.

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Wait… you know I can’t really read yet, right?

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Here, you read it to me.

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Yeah, go get your glasses… I will meet you at the big, comfy chair.

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Hey… I see you holding the camera in your other hand…

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Dude… seriously… focus…

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Some like it hot…

Posted on February 9, 2016 by pouringmyartout

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Some of you may have already recognized that hotel we stayed at this weekend.

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It was one of the stars of a very funny movie… and the room we stayed in is right there… between Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis… behind the palm tree…

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The hotel still has posters and photos of the movie scattered about… it turns out that when Marilyn was around, nobody could focus on anything else.

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And the hotel really is a piece of living American history…

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You feel it as you walk around…

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It has soaked into the wood…

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This place goes back to before people even really went to the beach to swim…

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We often take out-of-towners to the hotel for a meal, and to just walk around the grounds.

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But walking in there as a guest was a little different.

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It felt a little like playing pretend.

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It had a decided air of make-believe…

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It was like we were dressing up for a part in a play…

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Or maybe… a part in a movie…

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And really, isn’t that what a good getaway should feel like?

 

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Babysitting the squishyface…

Posted on February 8, 2016 by pouringmyartout

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So, if you have been around for a while, you probably remember little miss Olivia. She is the daughter of some close friends, and I babysit her when they need me to… like I am doing for four days this week. (Feel free to type her name in the search bar if you want to see more pictures of my adorable little buddy)…

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It is not difficult to tell when she is getting sleepy.

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Right before she falls asleep… and I am not sure if she is fighting sleep off or this is how she relaxes… but she tightens her legs up and raises them in the air… it is the cutest thing ever… or at least I thought it was… but now she has a new trick…

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If you look closely at the picture above… and the one above that, you will notice that she now claps her hands together rhythmically as she falls asleep… which is extra cute, because she always puts a bundled-up blanket over her face, and when she claps, the blanket tends to get between her hands while she is clapping.

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And then, all of a sudden, she goes out like a light, and rolls on her side.

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That kid loves me… hey, all babies and little kids… and dogs and horses… love me… but I will admit, the biggest smiles come when her daddy gets home from work.

 

Posted in Stories of my life | Tagged , , , , | 12 Comments

Before I tell you about why we were where we were, I should tell you more about where we were…

Posted on February 8, 2016 by pouringmyartout

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The Hotel Del Coronado is famous. It has been in movies… and I will get to that in later posts… and kings, presidents, and Hollywood royalty have all stayed there. You should Google it.

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Ha… I knew there was something missing from that last picture! The thing about the Hotel Del… as everyone who is anyone ends up calling it… (Hey, I haven’t had a ‘thing’ in one of my posts for a while!!!)… but the thing about this place is that you can’t not take pictures of it. It is one of the most photographed buildings in the world… seriously… Google it…

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And we spent the weekend in one of those rooms…

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This place is an actual historical landmark.

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On top of that, it is right on a beach that was voted one of the top beaches in the continental… (not including Hawaii)… United States every year since they started voting on nice beaches. Oh, and the Navy Seals do training right near by… so… uh… yeah…

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As I already mentioned, this is not the kind of place my wife and I stay at on a regular basis… or ever…

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I mean, that picture right up there… that is the back of the hotel…

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Yup… even the back looks that good.

 

Posted in My travels, Pictures of me, Stories of my life | Tagged , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Now, don’t get the wrong idea…

Posted on February 8, 2016 by pouringmyartout

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I very rarely dress like this… mostly just for weddings and funerals…

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And we hardly ever stay at hotels this fancy… in fact, I think this is the only time I ever stayed at a place this nice…

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With a lobby that looks like that…

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In a room with a balcony with a view like that… especially not in a hotel that is only a half hour drive from where we live… but there was something cool that happened this weekend… which I will get to sooner or later…

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And that will explain why I look so devastatingly handsome… and more than a little drunk…

 

Posted in My travels, Pictures of me, Stories of my life | Tagged , , , , , , | 12 Comments

This is where I was this weekend, in case you were worrying about me…

Posted on February 8, 2016 by pouringmyartout

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It is a long story, and I have a ton of photos…

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So it will take a few days to tell this story… and in the meantime, I am going to be babysitting little Olivia again for the next three days, and that is going to slow the process down…

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There may have been some drinking done this weekend… maybe even a little too much drinking…

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And there were romantic sunsets…

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And romantic sunrises…

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Oh… and I may have been wearing a suit at some point…

Posted in My travels, Stories of my life, sunsets | Tagged , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Okay… I’m back…

Posted on February 7, 2016 by pouringmyartout

But… uh… I am too busy and tired to post anything about what I did yet… and I have another cool thing to do tomorrow… which I will also post pictures of… if I’m not too tired… HA!

Posted in Everything Else, stuff about blogging | Tagged , , | 2 Comments