Fresno Baseball

Congratulations to the College World Series champs Fresno State, Fresno Pacific having a second player drafted by the pros, and to the Fresno Grizzlies for having a viral Internet hit.




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Now playing: Beck - Where It's At
via FoxyTunes

Excuse Me

One of my favorite Christmas movies is Elf. I like to recreate the clip below in which Will Ferrell burps and follows it up with a "Did you hear that?" The other day Dillon burped and turned to me and said "Hee dat!" All three of us had a good laugh.

Tennessee Trip, Part II

Thursday was another lazy day for us. The highlight of the day for me was going to a local all-you-can-eat catfish restaurant. The only time growing up I got to eat catfish was on my birthday (at Hush Puppies in Bakersfield) or if we went to visit my grandma in Texas. Even at a young age I was able to out eat all the relatives. Today, those stories continue to be told and the amount of fish I ate continues to grow with each story. In a couple of years I will reach Bill Brasky level.

Friday was quite a busy day. We decided to use our rain checks to Dollywood in the morning. The adults went to ride all the roller coasters while the kids went to the boring rides. However, I did take Dillon back on the teacups and, to his delight, we went even faster than the last time.

Friday night we went to the NASCAR SpeedPark to ride the go-carts and the whole family got into the action. Grandma even showed off her driving skills. However, I got the best of Uncle Curt, who is the biggest racing fan in the family. I beat him in every go-cart race and on the Similator. He was so frustrated by my driving skills that he spun me out on the Similator and yet I still caught up and passed him again.

Today is our last day here and we are sticking around the house playing dominoes, cards, pool and the Wii. On Sunday we fly back to our normal lives.

Below are more pictures:


Uncle Joe shootin' the breeze with Dillon.


There was a water ride at Dollywood that allowed for the riders to shoot at people walking by. This picture was taken right before Uncle Joe soaked my shoes. I thought I was out of the way but he found a way to still get me wet.


If you look closely you can see Dillon between Uncle Jeff and Aunt Lynn.


The little chickies after the aforementioned water ride.


Dillon had a blast "driving" the cars at the NASCAR SpeedPark.


Dillon "The Intimidator" Nixon

Tennessee Trip, Part I

Last year my mom's side of the family decided they would have a family vacation every other year. My uncle had the honor of picking the location of the first get together and his choice was Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. So Dillon, Christina, and I packed up and headed east.

Sunday was travel day as we left SFO at 12:30 pm and after a hour layover in Atlanta we landed in Knoxville at 10:30 ET. Dillon was very well behaved on the plane and only put out a little whimper when he was up two hours past his regular nap time.

Monday was spent around our cabin we rented. Everyone was to tired to get up and see any sites. But we did play pool, cards, and foosball.

Tuesday we walked around some shops in Pigeon Forge. The highlight for Dillon and Robert (my three year old cousin) was a stop in the John Deere store. Right inside the door was a small motorized Gator that Dillon immediately jumped on, pointed to the back and said "Otis." After our window shopping was over we headed over to the Dixie Stampede.

For those of you who have never been to the Dixie Stampede, it is an overpriced horse show with excellent food. One of the caveats of the show is no one is given any silverware, which is quite tough to do with a toddler sitting on your lap. Dillon did have the time of his life watching the horses race around the arena. He clapped and yelled and had a rowdy good time.

Today was spent at Pigeon Forge's main attraction, Dollywood. Well, I should say part of the day. It has rained every day or evening we have been here and today was no different. Thunderstorms rolled in this afternoon and the threat of lightning shut down all the rides. We didn't get a chance to ride any of the adult rides since we spent most of our time there doing all the kiddie things. We did get a rain check (no pun intended) since we were forced to leave early. There is a good chance we will go back later this week to enjoy the big rides.

Below are pictures so far.

Their love for trucks and tractors enabled Dillon and Robert to get along from the beginning.

Even Uncle Curt joined in the tractor fun.


Dillon and Yvonne celebrating their second birthdays.


Grannie Barbara made Veggie Tales shorts for the little ones.


TRACTORS!!!!


Here is Dillon driving a car at one of the rides in Dollywood. Another favorite ride for Dillon was the teacups. Keith, Dillon and I got our teacup spinning the fastest, much to Christina's disapproval.


The fastest pink gun in Tennessee.


A trip to Tennessee isn't complete without seeing the worst (best?) mullet East of the Mississippi. I had Christina snap this picture while pretending to take a picture of me.

Happy 2nd Birthday Dillon

It seems like just yesterday we were eagerly awaiting his arrival. Read his announcement and story, then look at his pictures over the past two years.

Quick Fix

Last Saturday, while jamming away on drums in Rock Band, I snapped the plastic drum pedal. Sunday afternoon I called up EA and in less than five minutes they were shipping me a new drum pedal, free of charge. I had read online that EA had set up a seperate tech support for the game but was not expecting such an easy process.

Today the new pedal arrived. It took exactly five business days for them to get the replacement from their warehouse to my doorstep. Very impressive.

Below is a picture of the broken pedal next to the new one.



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Now playing: Mama Cass - Make Your Own Kind Of Music
via FoxyTunes

The Classics on YouTube

It started with searching for Lambert, the Sheepish Lion for Dillon because he loves to roar like a lion and baa like a sheep.


Then I found Totlol which searches YouTube for toddler friendly videos. This lead to one of Dillon's favorites, The Ugly Duckling. Dillon gets sad when the mommy duck turns away the ugly duckling but laughs when the wooden duck knocks the ugly duckling on the head.


Dillon also loves the Rhino Song. If he keeps saying "more" after the end of the song I will be singing the Rhino Song in my sleep.


YouTube is also filled with tons of Elmo, Mickey Mouse, and Kermit the Frog videos. This makes Christina happy because it is less DVDs she will have to buy.

Promised Pictures

Another generation of Nixons driving the Tracker.

Pops, Grandma Dede, and Grandma Sharon all helped to clean up the house. Here is Dillon doing his part.

Dillon got some early birthday presents from Pops and Grandma Dede. They gave him Cars and a motorcycle. He will not put down his motorcycle and even insists he takes it to bed with him.

Busy Week

On Tuesday, Grandma Sharon, Pops and Grandma Dede came up to visit Dillon. It was also the day my new laptop showed up. As great as Tuesday was, Wednesday was the big day.

Christina had a doctor's appointment along with an ultrasound scheduled. Mom, Mike and Ginni were all there to find out the sex of the next Nixon baby. We were quickly told that Dillon was getting a little brother.

Everyone was very excited to learn it was going to be a boy. For Dillon it means having someone to play cars. For Christina it means she will save a few pennies with hand-me-downs. For me it means another kid to wrestle on the floor.

Later the Lakers staged a great comeback to end a wonderful day.

Tomorrow I will post pictures from the week.

Simply...

...mesmerizing.

Old School Furniture

I have no doubt Kramer would include the following coffee table if he were to revise his book today. I also think some one should expand on this idea and create lamp tables shaped like the game cartridges.

Hawaiian shirts, Pugs in Strollers and Stuck Tractors

A few pictures of Dillon. Enjoy.

Dad couldn't resist matching last weekend.

Role reversal. Normally Dillon rides in the stroller while we take Otis for a walk. Not this time.

Best buds.


Dillon hasn't quite learned how to properly use the steering wheel.

But his Papa Jim did teach him that not calling a tow truck and getting yourself unstuck will save you money.



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Now playing: Jason Mraz - The Remedy (I Won't Worry)
via FoxyTunes

Ballas wit skillz

My heart is broken that the Suns were so easily beaten by the Spurs while the Lakers destroyed the Nuggets in the first round of the playoffs. I guess we only have the picture below for what could have been.

Say "KOBE!"



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Now playing: Stroke 9 - Little Black Backpack
via FoxyTunes

Shafter Basketball

I was recently made aware of a great new website that highlights Shafter High basketball. The site has some great season recaps, interviews with coaches, recaps of the current team's games, and even a reader account of my favorite game as a senior. I really enjoyed the story behind why a new gym was built and learned I was the MVP of the 1957-58 season.

Some of my best memories in high school came from playing basketball. My core group of friends were on the team which lead to some fun bus rides. It is crazy for me to think that next year will be our ten year reunion. Below is a picture taken of me in mid jump shot during a game against Garces during my senior year.

Big News

Are you eager to find out the special news? Well, Christina is pregnant. Her due date is October 18th, which puts her at 12 1/2 weeks along.

We are very excited but the last six weeks have been very trying. Christina has been very sick just like when she carried Dillon. She was hospitalized once for dehydration. After her overnight stay in the hospital, her doctor ordered a take home IV for her. This was a huge help in keeping fluids in her system. She also had to be given medicine through shots because medicine taken orally was not staying down. (Yes, I got to administer the shots.)

Her sickness has taught me two important lessons:

1. I could not be a single parent. Working all day then coming home to take care of a toddler, making dinner, and cleaning up was hard work. I now have a greater appreciation of my spouse. There is no way I could do all that over an extended basis, which leads to...
2. Our families are awesome. Christina and Dillon have been staying at Mike and Ginni's house during the week while I am at work so someone is watching Dillon and bringing food to Christina. My mom, grandma, sister, and aunt have all come up to Sonora to also pitch in to relieve Mike and Ginni. A thank you from the bottom of our hearts goes out to everyone that has helped.

We are praying that Christina is about to turn a corner with her extreme sickness. About this time in her pregnancy with Dillon, she was able to return to work because the constant vomiting let up. She still had some "normal" morning sickness but the all day sickness went away.

All of her doctor appointments have gone well. We had an early sonogram a few weeks ago to confirm the date of conception and last week we listened to the heartbeat. More updates on Dillon's new sibling will be posted as they develop.