We got Ethan back from Camp Pali. Here he is with his counsellor, "Wax."

We dropped Ethan off at camp today. He'll be there for a week learning to be a 'secret agent,' or at least playing paintball.

Just so that you know: we're still here, enjoying California life. I'll have to take more photos, but somehow Facebook and goofykook.blogspot.com seem to be tracking life pretty well, and this blog has languished. Will do better.

Ethan and his buddies from RockAmp performed at the Camp Expo on Saturday. They did a half-hour set with Ethan at the mic.

Marie and Simon Wallis came to visit this week. The weather today was perfect, and we spent the morning at the beach trying to surf, then had breakfast at Uncle Bill's in Manhattan Beach. Here's a rare photo of me with Karen, as well as one with Marie and Simon.

We had a great visit from Willow and Karla, including a two-day trip to Joshua Tree National Park (while Ethan was away at a sleep-over science camp). The flowers weren't blooming spectacularly, but they were still colorful and interesting. Temperatures were perfect for walking around, with highs in the 70s.

090325-26 Joshua Tree

Here are the parting shots from Willow and Karla's visit. Karen and Willow covered up at the beach to nap, while everyone else was in his or her bathing suit. Then we had a photo shoot out on our back balcony.

It's time to catch up a little. We're still here doing interesting things, so you should know about them. I'll post some retro-active updates.

Our first visitors for the year were Lyra, Merode and Max. They drove down from SFO and spent the weekend. Lyra stayed on for another week, and although we didn't have awesome LA weather, it was better than Manhattan.

On Presidents' Weekend, at long last, we held LimmudLA 2009. Karen and I were both involved in the organizing (with a great group of volunteers), and 700 people enjoyed the 3-day event. Here's Ethan with the chocolate chip challah he made.

Chris Miko, Ethan's excellent science teacher from last year, has been organizing kids to work on re-claiming marsh land at Ballona Wetlands near LAX. We spent an afternoon hacking down invasive plants like the Brazilian Pepper Plant. It seemed like a hopeless battle, but perhaps it will pay off in the long run. Some of the marsh is already reclaimed, but this chunk is a dry dumping ground for old concrete.

090117 Ethan's Birthday Trip to Santa Monica Pier

Since Ethan's birthday fell on Thanksgiving, he didn't have a party then. So this weekend we took five of his close friends to Santa Monica pier. The weather was fantastic, and the boys had a great time -- without a computer or an iPod in the entire group. Amazing.

081231 Jeff and Ethan Ski

We really needed some exercise today, and there had been a new fall of about six inches of snow over night, so it was off to the 'slopes,' such as they are in southeastern Michigan. Ethan used skis, and Jeff decided that he needed to sample a snowboard. Guess who suffered more?

2008 Christmas Story

We've been living it up in Michigan, celebrating the other mid-winter festival, handling weapons and just breaking all the rules.

Cold weather and good snow greeted us in Michigan, where we are visiting those members of our families who could get away for the winter holidays. Ethan took advantage of the weather to make a snow angel.

Ethan celebrated his birthday on Thanksgiving this year, with a drumstick all to himself.

Boo! Karen, Karen and Ethan made intricate jack-o-lanterns this year.

Oops. Wrong blog. Forget that. Burn after reading.

Down comes our sukkah for another year. The parts from last year went together well this year, and the whole thing goes up or down in about an hour. Is that temporary enough for you? Ethan and I slept out in the sukkah twice this year, and got wet from the sprinklers both times.

Ethan and his friends performed at the Meadows Elementary School Halloween Festival. Their band was called "Roadkill," and they played Ramones, Metallica and Ozzy Osbourne. Just like the first time I saw U2, they didn't have enough material for a whole set, and played everything twice. Ethan sang, as you can see.