Pismo Beach

We spent a few days last weekend in Pismo Beach, CA, staying at the Pismo Beach Hotel right near the beach. We went there last year as well and had a good time.

A softball friend of hers has been going wine-tasting in the Paso Robles wine country area for several years with a small group of people and we joined them the last couple of times.

Aimee took Thursday (our anniversary) off from work and we spent Friday playing horse shoes and relaxing on the beach.

Saturday, the group piled into a limo and made stops at five different wineries and enjoyed a picnic lunch at one of them.

Aimee rode in the front with the driver. Last year she didn't fare too well riding in the back and this year we took no chances.

Rosebud at the Beach

We took Rosebud to the beach for the first time a couple of weeks ago.

We wanted to see how she would take to the water. At home, she has little interest in going in the pool. The only time she does go in is when we take her into the pool and then she looks forward to getting out.

Not surprisingly, she wasn't crazy about going in the ocean water either.

The Mom Song

Happy Mother's Day.

Mike Menza

On Saturday we will be attending a memorial service for our friend Mike Menza.

He is the guy on the left in the picture above. He is standing next to his lifelong friend Pat. They grew up together in Chicago. This picture was taken at our wedding four years ago.

These two guys have been playing softball together for many, many years and their apartment was filled with dozens and dozens of trophys. They've always had a roster spot open for Aimee and I've been able to play on a few teams with them as well.

Unfortunately, Mike has lost a long battle with cancer that started in his lungs. His death last week was a sad surprise for us and for a lot of people who were unaware how severely his cancer had returned in the last couple of months. We knew that he had been in remission in the last year or so and thought that he was on his way to becoming his old self.

Mike was a very nice person who was generous and friendly to anyone who knew him. His employer, the L.A. Weekly wrote of his passing. His longtime girlfriend is also one of the regular softball players. We will see her on Saturday at Forest Lawn.

We'll still see Pat every Thursday night for softball.