Friday, December 30, 2011

Elephant Seals and Brown Butter Cookies

It was a good day for a drive up the coast. The kids had plenty of electronic distractions enroute, and with Frank's Hot Dogs as an early fueling stop, we were loaded for elephant seals.

There were 16 newborn pups on the beach today (we were told). I don't think AJ ever knew there were any seals on the beach, He spent all of his time zooming up and down the deck walkway, in and out of the very many other people there also enjoying the day and graciously yielding the right-of-way to AJ.

The other "must" stop on our journey was Brown Butter Cookies in Cayucos. The Lemon Sugar were our favorites (at least for today).

Photos: http://jf2.com/111230/

Thursday, December 29, 2011

Welcome

Where has time gone and where has Regusci.blogspot.com gone?!? 

For six months you have mourned my loss.

Then you got my Christmas card and it had this weird new web address on it, when you came and visited there was no Christmas letter, you were really confused.

Sorry I was lame.

It has been been a crazy six-months.  Bad excuse but it is my excuse please forgive me.

But now you can all rejoice because I am back.  I AM BACK...

...and I am better then ever.  Scouts Honor

Because I am not an I. As you can see this blog is a we blog with not just me but the whole family.  Which means when I go on a bloggie break hopefully one of my other crazy compound dwellers here will fill the void with their crazy stories of living with me. Don't you think it will be great to start getting their perspective on what goes on in this crazy house of ours.  You have my perspective on life, that I am pretty chill, I let things roll of my back, I am awesome, I rock, I am pretty much the bomb, now you will get everyone ideas (don't be surprise if they are more uptight, I am just saying).   Really how many times do you want to hear me rattle on and on about how laundry needs to be done on Monday and that Tuesday is Coscto day, Wednesday we go swimming... when I think about it I am amazed my other blog had 8 followers.  I love all 8 of you.  You rock, I am sending you Starbucks cards for reading about my dull life.  (well as soon as I discover your addresses). 

Anyways lets get back on track here. 

Get ready for a very exciting New Year. Sit back hold on tight, follow us, become a member, tweet us, google+ us, face book us, I don't know do what ever it is so you do so you don't miss a post because we will be entertaining and you will learn about life and how to get along with family friends and everyone in between!!

Join us here at Compoundliving.com

The Regusci's

From 2007 to today (12/29/2011), Tracy ran a blog site: The Regusci's. It's still out there if you want to check it out. Most of the stories have been ported over to this site, but those were Tracy's words over there, not Jamie's (who does most of the posting these days).

Here's Tracy's last content post: C.R.A.Z.Y. F.U.N. on 7/24/2011. It includes an adventure with Jon Keith and the Kansas folk visiting the Compound.




Friday, December 23, 2011

Perspective


On the floor

      In the corner

          Sits a paper bag.

Cards, notes, bills, pamphlets.

One year and lots of hoops; cancer gone.

Now I sing and dance in the sunshine with my friends.

                              Except...

When a stranger reaches out in need I grasp their hand.

Because of

               A paper bag

        In the corner

On the floor.


by Nana

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Christmas Open House

Luckily I got a few photos of the set up that Lynn and Tracy slaved to create. 40-some folks dropped by during the evening, from across quite a range of friend circles that all of us at the Compound have. What an eclectic mix! We're in the spirit now! (Not that we needed much help.)

And a break-through with the kids... We set up the mancave as a kid party area, with their own goodies and games. And lo and behold, with as many as 8 of them at a time (all under 10, some well under 10), they handled themselves exceptionally well. No broken bones, no artwork on the walls! Can I get a Merry Christmas!?

http://jf2.com/111221/

Sunday, November 27, 2011

3rd Annual Great Pumpkin Roll

The Compound celebrated our 3rd annual pumpkin roll. Every year, after Thanksgiving, we roll our massive pumpkins down our steep hill. Any reason to have an event equals Good Times!
You can see further pictures here: http://jf2.com/111127/

Saturday, November 26, 2011

They think we're just fishin'...

Catching fish has very little to do with fishing. Oh, for sure, there is considerable chatter about what to do when the whale is reeled in. But, for the most part, it's all about exploring, chatting about a million other things, all very important, and when is snack time.

http://jf2.com/111126/

Thursday, November 24, 2011

Thanksgiving at the Compound

Our family is blessed and have many things to be thankful for. Thanksgiving day itself is a blessing for our family because every year we are able to spend the day with 30-40 of our closest friends and family.

Everyone brought their favorite sides and we Grilled and BBQed both a 30 pound turkey and 20 pound primerib. mmm . . . A true feast!!!

Notice the 80-something year old next to the 80-something week old!

Here are some great pictures of the event: http://jf2.com/111124/

Sunday, November 20, 2011

Incoming!

Let’s set the stage… A wonderful fajita dinner is about to be had. Matt has all the meat nicely sliced and has put the sliced meat in a serving container. All the while, Matteo has been perched on his stool, as close as he can possibly get (which means, of course, smack up against whoever is working) at the kitchen counter carefully monitoring what Daddy Matt is doing. Matt makes a rather grandeose gesture to mark the completion of the meat by lifting the cutting board high to pour all the remaining juices and crunchy scraps over the meat. As the yummy goodness is pouring over the meat in the serving dish, Matteo yells, “Incoming!…”.

Friday, November 18, 2011

Snail Mail – Words You Can Carry Around

We had a Hallmark moment last night as Tracy read a birthday card to Matteo from his Greatgrandpa – Papa Bill. While she was reading, Matteo kept saying “Papa Bill!” and looking behind Tracy as if he was really there and we were hiding him. Matteo couldn’t believe he was hearing words from him without seeing him. Reading Papa’s words was just as magical as hearing them on the telephone and now he has them to carry around with him!

(Copy of a Facebook post by Nana.)

Meteors and Child Chatter

Last night and early this morning was the peak of the Leonid Meteor Shower this year. Turned out to be mostly a bust from our point of view, except for the child chatter Matt and I were privy to as we sat on the deck looking up at the night sky with great anticipation. We had Sam and Serafina out with us, and neither was interested in the quiet, almost reverent attitude some of us adults like to assume while stargazing. They chatted up a storm. And it was all (well, mostly all) related to the event. How big stars are. How hot they are. What planet is that? Mars is closer, you know. Are there more than 35 stars? More then 100? More than a thousand?!?!?! That’s just another plane; I wonder where it’s going. Mrs. Anderson said… No I’m not cold, not as cold as the moon. Is the lit side warmer?

The evening was pretty cool (in more ways than one). And, as is often the case, the best and most memorable parts were but tangentially related to the main event.

Saturday, November 12, 2011

Matteo's Birthday Party = Logging Competition

One of the many beauties of a large extended family is that all manner of interesting activities pop up that might never have occured to a smaller group. Take logging, for instance. How many times does that pop to mind as a fun birthday activity - for a 4-year-old?!

Just so happened that cousin Mario's Cal Poly Logging Team was having a competition the weekend of Matteo's birthday... Done!

We spent the bulk of the day at the Swanton Pacific Ranch (just north of Santa Cruz). Just hangin' out at the competition, watchin' all the action, and eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. It was very cool!

http://www.jamie-foster-photography.com/Other/111112-Cal-Poly-Loggers/

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

We've got some Baby Seals

There's a "safety officer" in every organization, right?! You know, the guy who's always pointing out risks, keeping scissors off the bed, basically the paranoid guy. Jamie's that guy at the Compound. And he was never so pleased when Tracy found this fabulous child water safety program for infants and toddlers.

It's the Baby Seals Swim Academy: http://www.baby-seals.com/. AJ is pictured at left having learned to go to his "starfish position" when he finds himself in open water. This can buy him some precious seconds or even minutes for help to arrive.

Good job, Tracy!

More photos: http://jf2.com/111019/

Monday, July 25, 2011

Oso Flaco Lake and Dunes

Oso Flaco Lake and Dunes is another great place for family hiking, especially when additional family from out of town arrives.

Photos: http://jf2.com/110725/

Sunday, July 3, 2011

Hiking the Central Coast

There's no lack of great outdoor activity in our neck of the woods along California's central coast. Today we visited Edna Valley, the Los Osos Oaks Reserve, and Montana de Oro. It doesn't hurt to be prepared with an all-terrain Bug-a-Boo stroller that can be put in its "rickshaw" configuration for rough and over-grown trails.

Photos: http://www.jamie-foster-photography.com/Other/110703-Edna-Los-Osos/

Saturday, May 7, 2011

Lots of May Birthdays

And this year we chose to celebrate them all at once at our local Irish Pub. We threw in a little Italian nonsense for Matt, too! Our May birthdays go from the in-house patriarch in his 80s to the number one young one at 9. In addition to the 3 "nuclear family" birthdays, we celebrated a couple other family birthdays as well!

Photos: http://jf2.com/110507/