If I can instill one thing in him over the next 10 years, this will be it.  I think the lines cross a lot sooner than 40.. more like 30!

Thanks to The Big Picture blog for the graphic

A bit shocking that this is the first time we have taken Jake over to the Palace of Fine Arts down in the Marina.  Its a great place to run around the lake, chase the ducks, and for Dre and I to take some pics.  Nice way to start 2012 and gets us in the right direction for one of our New Years resolutions: to take a few more family photos.

Now that we have had a chance to breath after this weekend’s activities, I wanted to post a few pics.  Although this is Jake’s second Xmas, he really still is too young to “get it” with any kind of anticipation.  He liked ripping the wrapping paper but didn’t quite understand the gifts part (although he loved playing with this toys.  We stayed local this year with a trip to Dre’s family celebration on Xmas Eve following by Xmas morning back at our place.  Kim, David, and Jasmine came down from Sac for Xmas dinner joining Scotty and Kristin for a big standing rib roast feast.  Amazing work on the apps and desert from Scotty/Kristin as well as the main course and sides from Dre.  Now its time to get back to work and work off those calories.

Crisp winter afternoon down at Chrissy Field. All Jake wants to do these days is “daddy walk” so a nice sandy beach with a view seemed like the right call.

Christmas came early for Sophie and Jake this morning when Santa (nanny) Ana came bearing gifts.  Sophie knew right away that the trick to this whole Xmas thing is to rip the wrapper paper off the gift and see what’s inside.  Jake wasn’t so sure but with some help from Mom, he lit up when he saw his new Thomas the Train set and truck.  We are so lucky to have Ana taking care of the kids.  She does an amazing job and loves them so much.  If we could only teach them to say “thank you” more often as she certainly deserves it.

Part of the Barrett family Xmas tradition is hunting for our tree down in the Marina.  It might not be the traditional setting of trekking into the woods through snow with a chainsaw but hey… we live in the city.  Scotty Fausel and I have done this for what seems like about 10 years straight and this is the first year we allowed guests, Jake and Andrea.  Pretty sure Jake thought it was a real forest since with the narrow walkways among the tall trees but the highlight of his day was the free candy cane.  While its not his first Xmas, it seems to be the first one that he is starting to understand what the fuss is all about.  Should be a fun holiday season

I posted a couple of weeks ago about my new Nest thermostat and have enjoyed not paying much attention to it since then - it is simply working as expected.  Last week we flew back to North Carolina for the Thanksgiving holiday and had an opportunity to really utilize its features

• In the car on the way to the airport I remember not turning off the heat (hectic trying to get a kid ready for a cross-country flight).  I opened the iPhone app and turned off the system
• We flew home a week later and when we got off the plane at SFO, I opened the app and turned on the heat.  The house was warm an toasty when we arrived

Since our gas/electric bill runs about $200 a month in the chilly months, turning off the system for a full week saved us close to $50 and it would never have happened had I not been able to manage it remotely.  

We were back in Pinehurst for Thanksgiving this past week and had a great time catching up with family, enjoying some wonderfully warm and sunny weather, a few round of golf, and lots of time with Jake and his cousins.  The flights both out and back with Jake were pretty uneventful which is to say a smashing success.  It’s a ton of travel for him since there is no direct flight and once we finished the 6 hours of plane rides we still had over an hour to the house but he did great (thanks to a lot of Little Einsteins and Dora on the iPad).

Extra thanks to my mom and dad for hosting - its a lot of work to have that many people in and around the house!

Many of my friends are tech / gadget geeks and living here in San Francisco certainly gives us a chance to see, play, and own the hottest toys around.  While most of the crew loves the personal electronics, I get even more excited about how technology integrates with homes and businesses.  That’s what I am a proud early adopter of the new Nest thermostat.  You can read all about the impressive ex-Apple team that put it together and my experience so far is nothing short of that Apple euphoric feeling.  Everything from the packaging to the ease of setup to the simplicity screams Apple in all the good ways.

• Packaging - brilliantly eloquent as if you were opening a new iPhone.  It even came with a slick screw driver to help with installation that will be valuable in the future.  Took about 10min
• Connection - once it was connected, it booted up (weird to say that about a thermostat) and immediately found our WiFi and asked to be connected.  Using the wheel built into the device, I entered the password and it immediately started downloading software updates. (it also went through a backup process, not sure where it is backing up to). 5min
• Peripherals - while it was downloading, I went to the App store and downloaded the iPhone app for the device.  Part of the fun will be adjusting and monitoring the temp from anywhere in the world
• Setup - going through the setup menu was easy and it asked me for things like my zip code, lowest temp when we’re away, etc.  Once done, it was running and ready and I quickly programmed the weekly schedule taking into account when the kids are home and when I am working at home.
• Usage - just getting started so I’ll let you know how it goes in a few months.  It supposedly learns constantly meaning it should be smarter then or something like that.

Nice little Friday treat after a brutal week  

Very cool thing Micron does for employees. They park a big truck in the lot full of turkeys and hams. Walk out, show your badge, and grab one. Free of charge. Too bad consultants don’t qualify

Happy Halloween!  Just because we are skipping out on the trick-or-treat activities tonight doesn’t mean we didn’t have a fun-filled Halloween weekend here in the city.  On Saturday morning we hung out in Moscone Park where the Harknesses setup a bouncy house (Jake was terrified of it) while Jake wowed the crew with his retro golf costume.  On Sunday we headed over to the Koidin’s where each family setup a small station for trick-or-treating in their courtyard.  Thanks to Andrea for adjusting Jake’s 2T costume at the last minute which didn’t come close to fitting him - he’s too tall!

Fun time last Saturday down in Palo Alto with the Easons and their son Sam’s first bday.  Tthey did an awesome job making it fun for everyone.  Jake is pretty excited to spend more time down there with Sam and Oliver - all his friends are girls here in the city!  Christine Koidin did an amazing job taking these pics - thanks!

Its been a little while since we posted so I wanted to catch up on some activities from the past few weeks.  We had a great visit up in Tahoe with Uncle Mike and Aunt Mary.  Jake did great in the long drive up the hill, even with all of the construction slow-downs.  Back here in the city, we have finally hit our summer weather with sunny skies and warm days.  Chrissy Field is a great place to take Jake for him to cruise around, climb on stuff, and soak in the views.  This past weekend we hung out with the Downses and Koidins for happy hour followed by a visit to Maile’s soccer “game” on Saturday morning.  The rest of the weekend was filled with a great Michigan game (thanks to the Roth’s for hosting), a trip to the Cal Academy of Sciences Sunday morning, and a failed attempt to see the Blue Angels due to some fog rolling in.  Busy busy for sure but we’re having fun keeping up with work, friends, and an 18-month old Jake.

Our grand plans for a Labor Day picnic where thwarted by the SF fog this morning so we ended up hanging out at the Koidins as our backup plan.  They not only have a great place with fun toys for the kids but also a really nice courtyard which came in handy when the sun finally came out.  We had never successfully taken a picture of the group without one of the kids melting down until today - this one turned out great. 

Another start to a Michigan football season and while I wasn’t so lucky to have my dad here again this year (they were in town last week) we did manage to catch a picture of Jake and I for posterity.  I hope you all notice that Jake looks significantly older while I only look slight more “weathered”.  Yesterday’s game was pretty odd with the weather delays and final termination but its fun to see Jake enjoying the activity even if he is still unable to sing “The Victors” or yell “Go Blue”