CHOC Walk 2013: Sign Up for Team Iron Jax

CHOC Walk group, 2012.

CHOC Walk group, 2012.

Registration for the 2013 CHOC Walk in the Park recently began and team Iron Jax has been created. This year’s Walk will be Sunday, October 13 at 6:15 a.m. It will kick off at Disneyland’s Main Street U.S.A.

For those that don’t know, Jax passed away at CHOC’s pediatric intensive care unit. The entire staff was so compassionate to us and treated us with so much respect that this is our little way to give back to the hospital and the community in memory of our little hero.

What is the CHOC Walk?

The Children’s Hospital of Orange County annually raises funds to support the care, services, research and education that CHOC provides children. Last year more than 15,000 participants raise $2 million from the event, which was presented by Disneyland Resort.

The Walk is a 5k stroll through Disneyland, California Adventure and Downtown Disney. You do not receive entrance into the parks after the Walk, however, walkers have the chance to buy discounted tickets on the day of the event for later use. We took advantage of this last year and purchased park-hopper tickets for a signficant saving.

How to Register

To sign up, go here and click on “Join an Existing Team” as I’ve illustrated below.

chocwalkjointeamThen, type in “Iron Jax” as the team name to join. This will bring you to a page that lists Kristina as the team captain. Click on Iron Jax and you’re on your way.

The next page will bring you to the Iron Jax main page. To sign up, click on “Join Team” link as shown below.

jointeam

From there you have two options:

1. Individual Walker – No fee to sign up, but you must have raised a minimum of $50 by 10/12/13 to walk.

2. Register as a sleeping bear – This is for those that can’t make the walk but still want to raise funds under your team for the team and be eligible for prizes.

Choose your option, complete the New Registration section and you’re all set.

Sponsor a Walker

I’m resisting everything in my being to start making The Walking Dead jokes. Arrrgggghhhhhhhh.

Click on this link to sponsor a team or a walker. Under Team Name enter “Iron Jax”. Or, click on the team page here, select a registered participant and donate that way.

Iron Jax T-shirts

Iron Jax

Iron Jax

More information to come for ordering t-shirts featuring the above logo, created by Sam Carter.

Must Read

CHOC created two pages worth reading before the event. Please refer to these pages for any questions that you may have:

Event Information

FAQ

Prizes

As an incentive, CHOC has laid out a prize structure which can be found here.

Thank you in advance for those that choose to take part in this event as a walker, fundraiser or donor. It means so much to our family to give back to the community in Jax’s memory.

Hand Dancing, Hanging with In-Laws and Haircuts – How Was Your Weekend?

Friday

After five days in Chicago, Friday was our first full day back home. We decided to hang out at home and play with the kiddos and be silly. Gray wanted to play some baseball while Ellie was busy innovating a new activity. She set their scooters next to each other, placed a foot on each and tried to move any direction she could. Which resulted in the splits half the time. She called it skateboarding.

I took the twins with me to grab some food so my wife could get 20 minutes of silence. On the way there, while listening to a CD of songs they like, Ellie asked me to turn the volume up. And I caught her doing this.

The 14 second mark gives me warm fuzzies each time I watch it.

After showers, Ellie came crying to me from the hallway.

“Daddy hold you,” she whined. That’s how she asks to be held.

I sat her on my lap on the couch and asked what happened. While still very upset, she said Gray messed up her hair. This is about five minutes after I finished brushing it and putting her pajamas on. It looked kind of disheveled, but barely.

“But baby, you still look cute,” I replied, trying to comfort her. Because looking cute IS ALREADY A BIG DEAL FOR HER. She’s 2. Ugh.

“NO, I DON’T LOOK CUTE!.” She was sobbing. Completely heart-broken. Gray popped in to check up on the action, Ellie bailed to find mommy, and I had to explain that she didn’t like it when he messed her hair up, and that it made her sad. He kind of smirked at me, as if to say “Fucking serious, Dad?”

And this gets worse in 11 more years?

Saturday

Gray caught The Lone Ranger commercial during breakfast.

“Pirate,” he said. “Jack Sparrow.”

“No,” I tried to correct him. “It’s an indian.”

“Captain Jack Sparrow,” he countered. “Pirate. And cowboy.”

He’s no dummy, Disney.

Ellie being bizarre. Again.

Ellie being bizarre on ride out to her great grandpa’s.

My wife’s family is visiting from Arkansas and Texas, so we went out to Pico Rivera to meet up with them. For most of their lives, the twins have been the youngest children in any group we’ve been in. They’ve been the babies. My wife’s cousin has a 16-month-old boy, so I explained to them that there’d be a baby around. Ellie was excited, while Gray wanted nothing to do with a baby. He seemed worried the baby would take his toys. (Which is the same concern Jax had the minute our twins came home from the hospital. And which is why he holed himself up in his room with the door closed like a 16-year-old trying to get some privacy).

We spent the entire day and night visiting, catching up and watching the kids play. Gray enjoyed finally not being the youngest. He would warn the baby about anything he thought was dangerous. Which really was just a way to keep the little one away from Gray’s interests.

Sunday

Visiting relatives somehow wiped us all out. I woke up a few minutes before 10 a.m. while the twins didn’t start yammering until 20 or 30 minutes later.

I was overdue for a hair cut so the twins and I allowed my wife some free time again as we went up to Great Clips for a trim. Ellie wants her hair cut so badly. While Gray threw a fit, Ellie rushed to get her sandals on and tag along with us. Mom won’t allow her thin blonde hair to be cut yet. And since I know nothing about a toddler girl’s hair, her decision goes.

My wife let Gray take her iPod touch, which at least got him in the van. But once his butt hit the booster seat inside the salon, he freaked. He cried, he tried to escape. All this despite falling in love with the hair stylists during our last trip. A few minutes after he got started it was my turn. Ellie sat and watched with a tinge of jealousy in her eyes.

Gray finished first and joined his sister in an empty chair next to me. I paid and tried to hustle the pair back out to the van, but Gray refused. I pretended to leave him, but he didn’t care. He’d hang out with those stylists all afternoon if I’d let him.

Anything to hang with the chicks, even at 2. And this too will get worse in 11 more years? Double ugh.

(T)GIF – SharkNado

The Internet lost its shit last night when the TV movie SharkNado aired on SyFy channel. I didn’t watch it. I didn’t know about it. And I’m not sure how others even knew there was a SyFy channel.

The gist:

When a freak hurricane swamps Los Angeles, thousands of sharks terrorize the waterlogged populace. And when the high-speed winds form tornadoes in the desert, nature’s deadliest killer rules water, land, and air.

To celebrate, I bring you today’s (T)GIF, courtesy of Gifulmination.

sharknado

Live From Chicago – How Was Your Weekend?

Friday

It was movie night for the twins and I as my wife worked. I tend to get caught up in my kids’ passions (see Jax watching the first 20 minutes of Scream), so I rented Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl on iTunes as Gray is obsessed with all that is pirate right now. I started the film as I prepped dinner, since it’s a long one. Gray was so awestruck by the experience he forgot to eat. So I fed him dinosaur chicken nuggets as he mumbled “Jack Sparrow” every two minutes.

Then he slipped on his Jake and the Neverland Pirates headband and shirt and danced around the house with his sword.

This might have been a bad idea. The little swashbuckler kept begging Ellie or me to battle him. And he worked us both.

First it was me.

Then Ellie got it. He’s a very polite pirate. I guess there’s a new code.

Saturday

Last minute prep for Chicago trip. The twins and I spent the day trying not to wake my wife up. She had to work again. My parents are watching the kids for a couple of nights during our trip. As is a friend, and then my mother-in-law. After I left them at my parents (Gray asked me to leave before I was ready; talk about eager) I hit the to-do list. I’m typing this part of the post at 11:21 p.m. Saturday night. I have to wake up in just over six hours as we leave in the morning. But the Angels rallied for four runs in the bottom of the ninth against those BASTARD Red Sox, so now I’m stuck watching this.

By the way, if our plane’s tail rips off at any point during flight or landing, I will not be Tweeting updates. But I’ll probably poo my pants.

JOSH HAMILTON!!! HOLY CRAP!!! WALK-OFF HOME RUN!!!!!!!

Please, all Angel fans. SEND HIM SOME CHEW (my most recent post at Bugs & Cranks)!

Sunday

Every GOSH DAMN time I think about Chicago, Frank Sinatra jumps into my head.

Ccchhhh Chicago, Chicago, that toddling town…

It’s scheduled to thunder-storm our entire trip. We have tickets to Tuesday’s Angel game at Wrigley Field. In 2006 we went to Boston and bought tickets to watch the Halos take on the Red Sox at Fenway. It poured and the game was cancelled. So I’m a little nervous of another rain out.

Our flight was uneventful, which is always a good thing. We took the train from the airport to downtown and caught a bus to our hotel. The young woman with the face tattoo that fell from her crutches and screamed expletives at her boyfriend in the train station gave us that gritty Chicago experience we yearned for.

The hotel is not as advertised on the Internet. It looks like it’s stuck in 1978. The lobby is painted white with crystal dishes displayed at the check-in desk. Red velvet covers the rest of the lobby. Our floor is decorated with old chandeliers. Gaudy is the best way to describe it.

The bastards charge $15 for 24 hours of wifi so I’m posting from my iPhone.

After much needed showers we jumped on the train to the North Side to meet up with SJ from my Strat-O-Matic league. He recommended this delightful little joint Pizzeria Aroma. My wife and I split a fantastic pasta filled with chorizo, chicken and green onions and a pizza called the Coronary (all meat).

We decided to grab some drinks at a neighborhood bar near his apartment. After a short train ride and a long walk past a cemetery brightened by fireflies (those really exist, I was in awe of their beauty) we arrived at Toon’s. Dad, they had Lil Sumpin by Laguanitas on tap!

Loaded with an incredible buzz and a belly full of laughs we grabbed a taxi back to the hotel and we walked up the street to get some frozen yogurt. On the way back to the hotel I handed off our to-go box filled with pizza and a slice if garlic bread to a homeless man looking for some help. He was hesitant at first, since it wasn’t cash, but eventually took it. My taste buds wept but my arteries cheered the loss of my midnight snack.

It’s 9:47 a.m. local time as my thumbs peck away on my phone. Our hotel room is dark and cold as we haven’t figured out the thermostat. My wife is asleep. Hopefully we will find some good brunch and then we are scheduled for an early afternoon architectural boat tour along the river.

I peaked outside and the streets are wet. The over/under for showers for me today is three.

Since Hotel Sax doesn’t want to act like it’s 2013 and offer free wifi (or remove their awful crystal collection) there won’t be any more posts until I return home.

If you want to follow our adventures in the meantime you can friend me on Facebook (Seth Tearz) and on Instagram (sethtearz).

Keep an eye out Friday for a post with details for the 2013 CHOC Walk and team Iron Jax registration details.

Time for us to hit that toddling town.

20130708-095853.jpg

(T)GIF – The Twins

I really need to lock down (T)GIF as my own brand. Well, it starts today. It’s not a zany restaurant or Thank God It’s Friday. It’s an animated GIF day! And we kick it off with the twins.

Last night we watched the Angels beat the Cardinals in an awesome game. Josh Hamilton cranked a two-run homer in the ninth to tie it and Erick Aybar slapped his third hit of the game to left field for the walk-off win. Angel Stadium was electric. A few minutes later we watched an awesome fireworks shows.

These gifs are all from last night. I captured Ellie and her awful white person hand dancing. And her arm pit obsession.

Click photo to view animated gif.

elliedancing1elliearmdancing

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These are after the game. My wife tried to snap some photos of them as we waited for the stadium to empty out. Goof ball alert.

Click photo to view animated gif.

getting jiggy with it

 Click photo to view animated gif.jiggywithitlast

Twins See Their First Movie – How Was Your Weekend?

Friday/Saturday

Despite the breakup letter I wrote to the Angels at Bugs & Cranks last week, the Angels dominated our television Friday and Saturday. Sure, they swept the lowly Houston Astros over the weekend, but remember that those Astros won six of nine against the Angels, including a four-game sweep in their last series. So for the Halos to wake up and win games they’re supposed to is a big thing. Since I wrote that letter, the Angels are 6-0. I’m not sayin’, I’m just sayin’. 

I really have no idea what I did the rest of the weekend. That’s not a good thing. Frickin’ aspartame. I didn’t know increased gray chest hair was also a side effect of too much Diet Coke.

Sunday

Five months after Jax’s second birthday I took a day off and, along with my wife, took him to see his first movie in a theater. He obsessed about everything Toy Story, so we took him to see Toy Story 3. His blue eyes blew up like hot air balloons when he entered that huge, dark space. He sat on my lap when the movie started, his face concentrated and serious and he didn’t budge once for the entire movie.

The twins, now a month younger than Jax was, witnessed movie magic for their first time with Monsters University on Sunday. They have seen enough commercials to know about the Monsters, Inc. franchise, however they haven’t seen the movie.

Ellie & Gray outside the movie theater.

Ellie & Gray outside the movie theater.

Ellie, the more cautious of the two, hesitantly walked in to the theater with her brother and my wife as I grabbed some nachos to snack on and a Diet Coke big enough to bathe in. When I arrived she was sitting on her mom’s lap and Gray proudly sat perked up in his own seat. He was loud, excited and ready for the experience.

The previews were too long for a children’s movie, but I at least came away with this ingenious nugget.

I wasn’t a Lego kid, but holy crap that looks great. Gray had moved to my lap by this time, so I whispered that we needed to see that. He agreed.

By the way, we learned with Jax, who had very sensitive hearing, to bring hooded sweatshirts to the movies since the volume is generally loud enough to melt ear drums. So while it was 97 degrees outside, Gray and Ellie bundled up to soften the noise.

I was two minutes away from jumping into that fountain.

I was two minutes away from jumping into that fountain.

They did great. Ellie sat on my wife’s lap the entire time and only grew restless in the last ten minutes. Gray’s tush must’ve gotten sore so he stood for a bit while munching on Teddy Grahams. They stayed quiet, they were engaged and it seems they’re ready for more movies. It helps that Monsters University was cute, well-paced and had some laugh-out-loud moments.

My parents watched the twins over night so my wife and I went on a hot date. To Ruby’s. And that’s it. I kind of felt like the 80-year-old couple in the booth behind us. Including the gray chest hair.

Ruby's chocolate banana shake. It o-w-n-s.

Ruby’s chocolate banana shake. It o-w-n-s.

We did talk about our upcoming Chicago trip, though. If anyone has any recommendations, please let us know!

While I was off of work for eight months I caught up on a lot of television. Specifically, I watched the entire The Wire series and Dexter, since my dad would ask me at least once every other week during a season if I had Showtime and if I saw the last episode. AND HE DOESN’T EVEN DRINK DIET SOFT DRINKS.

Dexter-Season-8-Teaser

My wife thinks I’m nuts.

“How can you watch that?” she asked me last night as she played on the iPad while we sat in bed and I watched the first episode of Dexter’s last season. The Miami Metro Police Department had just come across a dead body with the victim’s skull split in half and a chunk of brain removed.

It’s a fair question, since the thought of death is forever changed for us now. The show is so over the top that it’s just a way for me to escape life for an hour. Plus, have you SEEN Dexter’s nanny?