April Activites

Since May is now here I thought I'd take a minute to do a quick recap on some of our activities for the month of April.

Kevin went to the 'Rugby on the Rocks' Rugby tournament hosted by Duke. He went to it last year and had a blast so I was glad he was able to go again. They played pretty well and even made it to the Elite Eight! Kevin took a disposable camera with him and I was hoping he would bring back at least a few pictures but he didn't get around to it.

The following weekend his team had a friendly game against UCLA that I was able to go to. The Stanford team dominated and Kevin scored a try! I didn't have my camera with me but I took a group shot using my cell phone.

Kevin's intramural softball team had a double header to kick off the softball season. They managed to win one game out of the two. I didn't have my camera (again) but I did have the disposable camera that Kevin never handy.

Group shot!

Sarah and Jonathan hosted a sushi making night which was a lot of fun. I went shopping with Sarah for the supplies and now I'm inspired to make sushi more often.

Kevin attempted to make a roll without using the seaweed wrap but it became just a mess. Still tasted delicious though.

Cheers!

Kevin, Brian and I all went to the Easter service at the Stanford Memorial Church. Moria was singing in the choir that day and they actually got to sit up in the front of the church (Usually they are in the back balcony and you would have to turn around to see them singing). Since it was so crowded there they opened up the side balconies and we got to sit up there. It was fun seeing the beautiful church from another angle since they normally don't allow people up there.

Afterward we sat out on the Oval on campus and had a lovely picnic with friends. It threatened to rain early that day but it turned out to be a perfect day to spend outdoors.

We played a little Poison Ball with the croquet set which was pretty fun. I wasn't originally playing because there were only enough mallets for 6 but later I stepped in to cover for someone and ended up winning!

I realize I look a little silly in these pictures. I had meant to bring a set of clothes to change into after church but left them at home. All I had in the car was this red pair of pants and I figured that was better for sports than just the dress.

After croquet we set up the net and played a little badminton, volleyball, and volleyball using a Giant volleyball. This is Kevin after serving.

There was no Easter egg hunt but we did play a game that Brian used to playing growing up in New Jersey. Apparently it is from the Great Depression Era and I think it was called 'Epper' Basically you hold the egg in your hand and the other person uses their egg to hit yours. You do it on both sides and if your egg cracks you give it to the other person. Then that person challenges the next player and if they lose they give both eggs to the challenger. Winning is getting all the eggs and therefore having the most food. I had never heard of it before but it was a lot of fun!

We were having such a great time that we ended up staying the entire afternoon and into early evening. It was a wonderful day and I loved being able to spend it with such fantastic friends!

Coit Tower and Golden Gate Bridge

Last week I had a couple of day long workshops in San Francisco for continuing education. One of the workshops was on Friday so we figured we'd take advantage of the trip and try to do a few things on our list of 'Things to do while still in the Bay Area'. Kevin had to go to Berkeley that day so he dropped me off in the morning and met up with me that evening (after sitting on the Bay Bridge in traffic for over an hour).

We had a hotel near Union Square so we walked there and had a lovely dinner at Annabelle's Bar and Bistro. The next day we had an early lunch at this adorable place in North Beach called Piazza Pellegrini before heading to Coit Tower.
The tower was built in 1933 on Telegraph Hill with money donated to the city by Lillie Hitchcock Coit and serves as a monument to the firefighters of San Francisco. We were there on a beautiful day and had a great view of the Bay Bridge, Alcatraz, the Golden Gate Bridge, and the rest of the city.

The famous Lombard Street as seen from the tower. Driving on the crookedest street in the world is a little overrated but you should definitely do it once if you have the chance.

In the viewing area of the tower.
The Bay Bridge and the San Francisco Ferry Building.
Golden Gate Bridge in the background if you zoom in.
Our next mission was to walk across the Golden Gate Bridge. We've both driven across it many times but in our almost 5 years we have never walked or biked across it.

I'm glad we finally took the time to do this. The bridge is so impressive.
A view of downtown San Fran from the bridge. We spent quite a bit of time watching a couple of body surfers down below. This one guy in particular was amazing. He could ride this waves in so far and then he'd turn around and head back out to do it again. (He was wearing flippers to get out quickly)
They had a display of one of the cables next to the gift shop areas. It really allows you to appreciate what a huge and magnificent bridge the Golden Gate really is.
A lot of people only go halfway across the bridge and then head back to their car but if we were going to do it we were going to do it right. We went all the way across and back. Luckily it was a gorgeous day and not too windy.

It was a fun little getaway and I was happy to check a few things off of my list!

A Birthday Party and Spring Break

March was such a hectic month and while there were some great times I'm glad it is April and things are settling down for a little bit. Before April can really start I need to fill you in on our trip to Kansas (my second in only a few weeks). We were there to celebrate Patti's 50th B-day party. I wasn't sure at first if I was going to be able to come back for the party or not but luckily I was able to finagle my work schedule and get home.

Kevin flew in the day before me and they spent the day before the party getting the place decorated. The upstairs part of the place was purple themed and the downstairs had a St. Patrick's Day theme. Some of Patti's friends from work helped the boys decorate and the place looked fantastic.

They ordered this for the entrance and there were some great pictures taken.

Seth wasn't able to come to the party due to a high fever but Hailie came and I think she had a blast. She and Kevin's cousin's son Luke were really getting into dancing and and tumbling around the floor. Luke especially was a major ham and kept doing the robot and other cool moves in the middle of the dance circle. It was adorable. Kevin thinks Hailie looks funny in this picture...I think the flash is the cause...but I think it is cute and I wanted to post it anyway.

The beautiful cake! Was very delicious too.

Patti let all the kid's help her blow out the candles.
Since K-State was playing that night they had the game on downstairs. I think my Dad (and all the other KSU fans) were happy there was an awesome dance going on that they could use to get over the loss to Wisconsin.
Our friends Pat and Michelle were able to come and bring their son Charlie. Michelle was one of my bridesmaids and Pat was an usher. We hadn't seen these guys since their wedding almost 4 years ago and it was about time for us to meet their little guy. I had a wonderful time chatting and catching up with them. You know true friends though when you can just pick up like no time has passed at all!

Kevin with family friend Austin.

There were quite a few dance pictures to choose from but I picked this one because Kevin laughed every time he saw it.
Party on!
Just the girls!
All of the kids helped get ready for the party and clean up but Joe gets the credit for planning and organizing everything. He did a fantastic job and I know we were all appreciative of his hard work.
Kevin really cracked up every time he saw this photo of Thomas so it had to get posted. I think he was doing a line dance but I can't be sure.
I love this picture of Patti and Kevin dancing....they look so sweet!
I had a few days in Kansas after the party and it worked out well because my Mom was off of work and the kid's were on spring break. I was able to see Grandad and Grandmom for a little bit one day and just sort of hang out with the family.
Seth was still getting over being sick and I got a little bit of a cold so we were kind of bums for part of the time. It felt kind of good not to be rushing around and just relaxing. The kid's and I did spend an afternoon at Barnes and Noble and Mom and I helped Hailie work on her George Washington costume and presentation for school.
We headed to Kansas City a little early so we could stop at Cabella's and get lunch before my flight. The kids really enjoyed the aquarium. The catfish were HUGE and Hailie and Seth really enjoyed the turtles that would dive down and then swim back up to the surface.

Another great trip to Kansas!

Kevin's Paper

Now that I'm caught up on our Hawai'i trip I can share a couple of Kevin's most recent accomplishments.

Kevin was awarded the John Stauffer Memorial Fellowship for outstanding research in the chemistry department at Stanford University earlier this year. His 3rd paper entitled 'Light-Activated Reassembly of Split Green Fluorescent Protein' was also published in JACS (Journal of American Chemical Society) on February 25th, 2011.


I'm so proud of my wonderful husband and all that he has achieved here at Stanford!

Hawai'i: Part 6

Our last full day in Hawai'i was another busy day because we had to fit in anything that we had our hearts set on doing. First thing on the list was snorkeling in Hanauma Bay. We wanted to go the day before but they are closed on Tuesday's so we had to reschedule this particular outing.

We took the advice of our guidebook and got their before 9am. We had to watch a short conservation video before we were allowed to walk down to the Bay.

A view of the Bay on our way down to snorkel.
After getting in the water we immediately started seeing all kinds of different fish including Convict Tangs, Reef Triggerfish, Christmas Wrasse, and more that I can't remember. At one point we saw an eel. It apparently scared a couple of girls because they began pointing at the guy and started stomping on the reef (which according to the conservation video we just got done watching you should definitely NOT be doing). It was fairly entertaining to watch though and we had a mighty good laugh over it.

Our waterproof camera came in handy once again.
We tried to capture some of the fish (those are convict tang fish by the way).
Can you see the fish in this photo? Hint: He is in the sand.

We had been snorkeling for over an hour but I started to get really really cold. We decided that we had seen enough fish for the day and were ready to head back to shore. On the way we did spot an octopus hidden in between a couple of rocks. We watched it stick it's head out a little bit and got to see one of it's tentacles. I was glad we spotted it!

After getting back to our hotel we headed straight to Waikiki Beach to get in our surf lessons. We decided to splurge and have them get pictures of us surfing. What do you think?

We actually don't have any pictures of us surfing but I can tell you that we both managed to catch a few waves. They were fairly small waves but it was exhilarating either way. I did get yelled at by our surf instructor for not standing up on my first try. I was told that I 'wasted the wave' and that 'I can do everything for you but I can't stand up for you'. (What a jerk right?) Well I did stand after that and it was a blast. Our shoulders were super tired afterward though. Riding the wave itself wasn't as exhausting as getting back in position after riding a wave toward the shore.

For our last night in O'ahu we decided to go to a Luau. We read about one done by Paradise Cove and went for it. We got picked up in Waikiki and took a bus ride toward the northeastern part of the island. Before the dinner began there were all sorts of activities to take part in.

I got to make an orchid lei to wear on my wrist (smelled wonderful by the way).

Kevin took a shot at the spear throwing and managed to hit in the target after his second try. (Mine hit and bounced off)
We watched a guy climb a palm tree and scatter orchids down on the crowd and they did a presentation of how they used to fish with nets. Then it was time to present the royal court and take the pig out of the roasting pit.
There was a tasty buffet dinner with pork, mahi mahi, etc and we filled up while waiting for the polynesian show to begin. It was a pretty good show...much better than the one at the Hilton the week before.
The fire portion of the show was very entertaining as well.
We had a great time at the Luau except for this really really drunk obnoxious guy that we had the privilege of sitting next to on the bus and at dinner. He found out it was our anniversary and managed to talk our guide into getting Kevin called up on stage for something.

Keep in mind that is a very much sober Kevin.
He had to dance with a couple of hula dancers. One of the ladies kept telling Kevin..."Little circles with your hips...now big circles with your hips" He said all the circles felt the same. I was cracking up the entire time and I actually have a video of the dance so if you are lucky I will show it to you sometime. When Kevin went to put his shirt back on one of the hula dancers said to him "Don't hide your light under a basket".

Kevin did put his shirt back on though and we got one last picture before heading back to our bus.

The Luau was a lot of fun (would have been better without the drunk guy continuing to run his smelly mouth all the way back to Waikiki) but I was glad that we went.

The entire trip to O'ahu was incredible and Kevin and I had the most wonderful time. It is a trip that we will remember and cherish for years to come.