Kukreja Padilla Galaxy

Oct 3, 2016

Pumpkin Patch 2016

Love the chance to shoot pictures of Missy at the pumpkin patch. This year we went to one in Yucaipa, CA and it was impressive. They had a large petting zoo and corn maze to go along with all of the other games and rides. We will definitely come back to this one.

Sep 25, 2016

Daniella's 5th Birthday Party

The little princess celebrated her birthday with a Shopkins-themed party at Pumper Jumpers in Fullerton. She had friends from school and her cousins their to celebrate and have fun.

Sep 5, 2016

Pokemon Go

This has been the summer of PokemonGo. The phenomenon has taken over Ethan and I. We take every free opportunity to get out and "catchem all"

Aug 4, 2016

Time to blog on this blog

After reading a few other blogs, I had realized that I hadn't touched my blog in some time. Also, are they still even called "blogs"?. I have no idea. Anyways, it's been over a year since my last post, and going back through time it looks like I started getting lazier with how and what I was posting. The onslaught of alternative social media outlets definitely played a part in my regressive blogging behavior, however, I got into this initially as an outlet for my inner thoughts and place to store them in cyberspace. Do they still call it "cyberspace" is it even a legitimate description of what the internet has become? OK, enough of the digressing.
Analyzing this blog and how it progressed over the years, revealed some pivotal moments in my life. For example, when I was laid off of a job that I loved in 2008, I had time. I had time to reflect and absorb the world around me. This came through in blogs that were descriptive, opinionated and reflective of my feelings at the time. Much of this blog is related to pop culture and the things that I thought were interesting and tickled my fancy. Not a lot of it was deep and philosophical, just good old fashion fun and junk-food for the brain. As I started working again and having less time to be "reflective" and "opinionated", the blog became more about what me and my family did on our free time. Vacation pictures, sporting events, birthday parties, etc. I started to view this blog as a running diary of family events. This is great, and is a huge part of my life, but there is the other 20%. You see, I've come to realize that my identity is no longer 100% me. My family and the importance that they play in my life has consumed much of my identity as an individual. I'm probably 80% diffused into this family soup and only about 20% or less about myself and how I identify myself. Does that make sense? So much of what I am is related to my relationships and interactions with Tisha and the kids, that the person that existed pre-family has all but withered away into that little space left for him. That twenty percent. I'm totally OK with this fact.
I do have some concerns that time is moving very quickly and fast enough whereby I may not get to do all the things I want to do in this life. The most important thing for me is to satisfy and enable my children to be successful in a world that is much more challenging than the world I grew up in. As we get older (the kids included), I feel like we will be able to share more experiences in the future that they will be old enough to appreciate. This gives me hope that the best is yet to come and when they are grown with families of their own, the pendulum will swing back towards some "me" time. Hopefully, not all of my individuality is lost by then. Hopefully, I will continue to discover new things about myself and enjoy hobbies and maintain robust relationships into old age.
So, to make a long story short, I'll try get back into blogging with some substance and mix in some thoughtful insight to go along with the vacation photos and family milestones.

Jul 10, 2016

Camping in Mammoth Lakes, CA

I had a serious hankering to do some camping. The last time I tent camped was in Yosemite back in 2012? I should check this blog to make sure, because it felt like it had been much longer than that.
Normally, on the week of July 4th, we go to Laughlin/Needles. Its been a tradition for many years (almost 11 to be exact). This year, things didn't work out as planned and I was hell bent on getting outdoors. I've been working on a startup project for the last year and really wanted to disconnect for a few days and get outside.
We packed up the car and headed up highway 395 towards Mammoth Lakes. I studied the area and was very certain we would find a campsite that was walk-up only as it was far too late in the season to get a reservation. Luckily enough, we found one on our second try.
We camped on Lake Mary at the Pine city campground. It had an amazing view and close proximity to everything. I really enjoyed our time up there except for the last night of the trip, we dealt with wind gusts coming off the lake that must have been 60+ miles and hour! the rattling of the tent made for a very sleepless night. Other than that, everyone was a trooper and I was very happy with being able to show the family yet another beautiful place in this world. The only thing now is that my appetite for camping has been ratcheted up a notch, and I'm already scoping out a new destination before the end of the summer/fall.

Mar 24, 2016

Tay is 21!

Taylah celebrated her 21st birthday with a variety of shot bottles. It was her 1st time drinking, wink wink. No really, it was her 1st time and she was like a seasoned pro. No buzz, no hangover. The girl has some serious tolerance.

Jul 12, 2015

River 2015

May 10, 2015

Mothers Day 2015

Spent the day in Santa Monica and then touted around other parts of LA, including Beverly Hills and Hollywood. It was pretty chill as we didn't have to fight long lines to get some lunch

Apr 5, 2015

Spring Break 2015

This year we celebrated Easter and Spring Break by taking a "staycation". Disneyland, Angels game and good ole' Huntington Beach rounded out the weekend.

Apr 4, 2015

Taylah turns 20

Taylah had a huge turn out for her 20th birthday. We celebrated at Morenos in Orange with some great Mexican food and Mariachi music.

Dec 11, 2014

MCU

I never thought at age 40, I would geek out on Marvel comics or the MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe). The Marvel films that began with 'IronMan" back in 2008, set the tone for how comic book based movies should be made. Base the story somewhat in reality, and explain away supernatural-like events in science. Thor was a great example of how that was pulled off. I was skeptical about Marvel being purchased by Disney, but it seems like they have left the talented people in charge and hopefully will continue to put out smart, well-balanced and entertaining movies. I can't wait to see the 'Avengers: Age of Ultron'. It looks like it could be the best movie yet, with Joss Whedon directing. I'm trying to not get overly hyped about it, but my son is just as enthusiastic and won't allow me to keep my cool. #GeeksForever

Nov 30, 2014

Star Wars VII

The teaser trailer came out this Thanksgiving weekend and there was a collective gasp among the nerd-verse. You can see the trailer here and hopefully it evokes the same spine-tingling, nostalgia-filled giddiness that I felt upon my first viewing. Oh yeah, the MF'in MF is back!

Nov 16, 2014

Missy's 1st ballet Recital

Few things are as adorable as "The itty bitty" ballerinas. After her second class, Daniella was comfortable going at it alone, as Mom and Dad watch with great admiration through the classroom window. After about 8 classes, the girls were participating in Anaheim YMCAs first ever performing arts show. The kids did not disappoint and fun was had by all.

Missy is in the Red Minnie Dress

Nov 15, 2014

Missy is a Dancer

Daniella had her first and only recital today. She performed the Mickey mouse song (original, not the annoying clubhouse version). We will see how this dance thing goes...