riverECHO

We spent two weeks surfing near San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua in November with a solid crew of friends and family (including BJ’s brother Brandon, Clay Steph & their 11-month old Ellery, Gretchen, Becky, Angela & John).

The View from our San Juan del Sur House in the Trees

The walk down to the beach

The entire crew at Mango Rosa

Just the ladies

Ice Cream “Truck”

Ellery and his favorite Tio

Playa Maderas

Mmmm … Sand.

The Brothers

Oh yeah … We went surfing

Our Chilly Pool

Swimming at Mango Rosa

Boat Trip to Panga Drops a.k.a. Drop you on your ass

Clay and Steph swim home to Ellery

Granada Chapel

The House in Granada

Synchronized swimming in the Laguna de Apoyo

Cigar Factory

It’s hard to believe that my nephew Sam turned 1 month old yesterday. I must admit that 4 ½ weeks ago, I was a little terrified meeting Sam for the first time. I thought that I would surely drop him, squish him, or do something terribly wrong. But after a couple of days, I didn’t want to put him down. It was amazing to watch him change not only physically, but in his awareness of his surroundings. I have loved every minute … getting up with Shalyn to help feed him in the middle of the night, watching Randall nuzzle him every time he came home from work, and laughing hysterically at his many gestures, facial expressions, and massive poops. Most of all, I will miss dozing off on the couch with him snuggled closely in on my chest. It’s hard to compare my feelings about the last four weeks to anything else I’ve experienced. It was emotional and exciting, and yet totally natural and peaceful at the same time. My time here has gone by so fast and it has been such a treat to be able to share the first month of Sam’s life with my sister and brother-in-law. Shay and Randall, you two are already such amazing parents. Sam is one lucky little guy … and incredibly cute too.

I took a few weekends to visit other family and friends and to experience a bit of the Bay Area’s wide array of culture. I went to a handful of movies, had high tea in the city, saw a play called Marcus about a young gay African American man in the south, went to a Wake the Dead (a Celtic Grateful Dead cover band) concert, and saw Thievery Corporation & Massive Attack (one of my faves) at the Greek Theater.

It’s been such a nice month back “home” and sometimes I wish I could just pack everyone up (including a few cultural events) and take it all back to Victor, Idaho with me. Well, that would be with a stopover in Nicaragua of course to join BJ and friends for a little surfing.

As a side note, something must be done about the bay area radio stations. I swear that some of the stations that I used to listen to in high school (like Live 105 and KMEL) play exactly the same songs … Nirvana, Red Hot Chili Peppers, oh and Warren G’s “regulators.” Don’t get me wrong, I like all of these artists. But I can’t believe that these stations haven’t found anything new to play over the last 10 years.