Our 4th of July - Photo Blog

Ashley and I decided to celebrate a "Los Angeles" (west side?) kind of 4th of July for Independence Day. It included a trip down Pacific Coast Highway from Point Mugu all the ay to Santa Monica. After eating at a couple of our favorite restaurants and enjoying the day -- we ended up back in Malibu for fireworks where we found a friend (lost dog named Manny) before chatting with his owner and heading back home.

Here are a few photos from our 4th of July journey around Los Angeles....

Lunch at C&O Trattoria in Marina Del Rey on Washington near Venice. Great Italian food -- you have to love those galic knots!

Lots of people were fishing on the Marina Del Rey Pier. This guy just hooked one when we walked by.

The Beach in Marina Del Rey was pretty crowded as well with a lot of folks celebrating Independence day at the beach.

There definitely was some decent surf out in the Pacific Ocean. This surfer caught a nice wave riding towards us on the pier.

We then headed down to Santa Monica where we thought parking would be awful. However, it was not too bad as we checked out 3rd Street for the first time in about 2-3 years for us. Not too much had changed -- other than the Santa Monica Mall is being rebuilt.

A few folks were headed to the same place as us -- the Santa Monica Pier.

To our surprise (and after looking on the Internet) we learned there would be no Firework for the 4th of July off the Santa Monica Pier. Call me crazy, how is that possible?

On the Santa Monica beach, they have the Iraq War Memorial where they place crosses for all the soldiers killed in the war. Quite impacting, seeing all those crosses in the sand.

A view of all the crosses -- 4113 of them, to be exact -- from the Santa Monica Pier.

A close up of cross with the California sky and Santa Monica Beach in the background.

And a ton of people along the beach in Santa Monica for the 4th of July.

On our way up to Malibu for the 8:30pm (9:00pm) fireworks -- we stopped at Gladstones for dinner. Quite a nice way to wind up the day.

The barge off the Malibu Colony gets setup to launch the fireworks at dusk.

And a nice shot of a firework going up over the Pacific Ocean in Malibu!

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Chuck E. Cheese & Birthdays

Kids love Chuck E. Cheese. Really love it. In fact so much, my three year old Nephew Ryan wanted to have his birthday party there. So on Saturday, June 14th we headed into Ventura to hold his 3rd birthday party at the Chuck E. Cheese there. It had been 6 years since my last visit to Chuck E. Cheese for my niece's birthday party.


For many of those without children, Chuck E. Cheese represents utter chaos. Children running crazy, misbehaving, and a lot of parents not keeping a close eye on their kids. However, for kids -- a lot of freedom, games to play, and pretty much free roam on a restaurant.

And for me, Chuck E. Cheese is a relatively fun place. I love carnival games, video games, and especially the basketball game. In fact, I am pretty darn good at Super Shot Basketball -- in classic mode -- if I might say so myself. I have scored over 100 points in a game at Dave & Busters and scored twice in the 60's range during this visit to Chuck E. Cheese. My niece especially was happy -- my shots ended up winning her a couple hundred extra tickets to buy fun stuff.

In all, it was a crazy but fun time at Chuck E. Cheese. Once every few years is definitely plenty for me.

On a side note, I found their beer policy to be odd -- not to mention the fact they even offer it. Chuck E. Cheese will limit you to 1 drink (beer or wine) per hour and they take your drivers license from you for about 5 minutes if you are sitting down while they verify you in the back. Seems like a rampant opportunity for ID theft. Crazy.

Here are a few additional pictures from the festivities:

All the kids and family get ready for cake and the show.

My niece, Megan takes a ride on the helicopter.

My brother-in-law David watches as his son (my nephew) plays a video game.

My nephew, Ryan celebrating his 3rd birthday loves the space ship!

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Luey’s new “Buddy” -- Two Labradors Retrievers Become Friends

Our Chocolate Labrador Luey has a “new” friend, Buddy. Buddy is my sister and brother-in-law’s Yellow Labrador Retriever who is only 9 months old. The last time they went to play with each other, Buddy was only about 16 weeks old. That did not end so well for Buddy, as in just a few minutes he was cowering underneath Luey and yelping – terrified of this larger Chocolate Labrador Retriever. Quickly, Buddy was brought inside and they did not get much additional time together the rest of that weekend since Buddy was now afraid of Luey.

Times have changed. Now at 9 months old, Buddy is best described as a thin and lanky yellow lab. He is the type of dog that we have all seen, where he is so excited and happy to see people that his whole body wags as he comes up to you. It seems that he has completely forgotten the previous episode.



While Buddy is about an inch taller than Luey (Luey is 4.5 years old), he weighs a little less and has not filled out yet. Luey has matured quite a bit and now at 4.5 years old, he's an "old man". That being said, we put them together to see how they would do.

And in the end they did great. While they talked a few times in the beginning, they came to an understanding quickly and played great all weekend long. Sure, Luey overpowered Buddy a few times and Buddy annoyed Luey with his over-joyous continuous "pestering" of Luey -- but they had a lot of fun playing.

Above is a slide show from the weekend and below are a couple of pictures of the boys together. They taught each other a few things and Luey still had the upper hand in a few cases. However, watch out as Buddy fills out in the next few months!

Buddy and Luey posing together, taking a break from playing.

A little sparing between the two Labrador Retrievers as they pose for the camera after retrieving a ball.

Luey's favorite time of the weekend -- anytime in the pool. In fact, Luey showed Buddy how to jump in and how much fun it was!

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Happy 95th Birthday Grandpa!

Today we had a family celebration for my Grandfather's 95th birthday. So, the entire 1st and 2nd generation kids made their way from various areas of the country to join in the celebration. While my Grandpa only lives 15 miles -- as the eagle flies -- from our home, others traveled from Bakersfield, Sacramento, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Washington to join us at his house in Fillmore, California.

A quick slide show and noted pictures from the birthday party:

A few static photos from the slide show:
A great shot of my Grandpa, Russ Hanscom on his 95th birthday.


Grandpa gets the Mexican food -- one of his favorites and one of ours. We picked up the food from La Cabana in Santa Paula, CA.

My dad and Dominic install my Grandpa's new 26" Vizio LCD Television.

My cousin Andy Hanscom and I catch up. Andy and I worked one summer on my Grandpa's ranch back in high school. Two memories we had: 1. My Grandpa did not like us working to music and had us turn if off. 2. We made a 50-mile bike ride to Ventura on our off day which I learned today that apparently my grandpa was not happy about. My cousin lives in Tulsa, Oklahoma these days.

A pretty good family photo take here including the 1st/2nd generations of the Hanscom family. Russ & Patty Hanscom with their kids Andrew and Crystal. Paul & Terry Hanscom with their kids; Kenny and Ashley Hanscom, Dominic & Kimberly Brown. Dave & Penny Hanscom. And of course, my grandpa -- Russell Hanscom!

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Happy Easter Everyone!

Today is perhaps the most important day that we as Christians celebrate. The reason for that is that it is the celebration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the grave. This day, coupled with Christmas are the reasons for the faith that Christians have today. The importance of that day in our lives emphasizes the fact that we choose to spend it with family as much as we possibly can.


This year once again we are spending the Easter weekend at my parents house up in Bakersfield, California where both my parents and sister and her husband live. And while we do miss attending our church on Easter Sunday, including the sunrise service that we have most years – it is always fun to go back to the church I grew up in.

Riverlakes Church in Bakersfield (or Fruitvale Community Church as I grew up knowing it), has their Easter celebration service at the Bright House Networks Amphitheatre at the Park at River Walk off of Stockdale Highway. It is a relatively large celebration by our standards – 6,000 people that attended the event last year and I would guess a similar number attended this year.

Another exciting thing for me is the opportunity to hear the teaching pastor, Dave Champness preach on Easter Sunday. I have known Dave since I was very young and it is always a joy to hear him speak when we visit my parents.

The service was a great celebration that featured singing by a large group of Kindergartners through 5th grade on stage. Boy, was it warm out in the intense March sunlight -- that's an understatement!

Here are some photos from the celebration:
A view from the start of the service with the Children getting ready to open up for the Easter service.

A view of the crowd in the grass section at the Riverlakes Church Easter service.

My sister Kimberly and her Husband Dominic on Easter.

The Riverlakes Church hospitality table after the service.

The crowd at the end of the service.

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Would this dog swallow a Ziploc Bag?

You bet he would. And he did on Monday night. Fortunately, a trip to the veterinarian – a shot, some vomiting, and the bag came out before it went through his digestive system. That of course, could have been a disaster.


Here is what happened:

At 4:05pm on Monday afternoon, I received a frantic call from Ashley asking if I could go home because our dog was out of the yard. In the 4.5 years we have had our Chocolate Labrador Retriever Luey, this was the first time he had gotten out of the yard while we were at work. Apparently our neighbors were trying to help get him back in the yard.

I ran out of work and jumped in my car to drive home as quickly as possible. I think one of the biggest fears that any dog owner has is that your dog will get out, end up on a busy street and possibly get hit. I was driving home at a reasonable pace to try and get him back into the yard.

About half the way home, Ashley called back and mentioned that the neighbors were able to get him back into the yard successfully. The only problem, right before they caught up to him – the dog grabbed a plastic Ziploc baggie and swallowed it whole. Really smart, but Luey is a Chocolate Lab and they do eat just about anything.

As most people know, plastic bags among other things can cause a blockage in the intestines of animals, including dogs. We placed a call into our veterinarian and they said we should bring Luey down as quickly as possible. Best to deal with it before his body tries to digest it – otherwise, it would mean surgery.

I loaded up Luey into the back of my car – he had absolutely no idea anything was wrong with him as he bounded around the backyard. It was the first time that he actually willing got into the back seat of my Audi A4, which was a surprise. Then we made the short drive to East / West Veterinarian in Thousand Oaks. (Karen Martin is an abs