Tour de CalFit - Laguna

Stop number 2 on our Tour de Calfit, Laguna! The gym is nestled in back of business strip just off Laguna Blvd., about a mile past the Apple Facility! Unfortunately, many spaces are vacant around the gym, there's a tanning shop and a pretty cool indoor surf & trampoline place! Kids got a "hoot" out of checking that out, plus they sell beer there too, hey now!

As you can see the backdrop isn't all that appealing, the good thing is that it's to our back if you set yourself up on the wall...but now you're looking at the building! No appeal whatsoever!

Drew chilling with an apple! Don't think that these tour stops are all easy! I have to pull together a lunch and snack! Thankfully Brady noted that today was a great day with the snacks! Score for the food department!

The front of the gym! Not too exciting, 11:30 arrival today!

This was kinda cool looking from the inside!

The pools! There were two pools and an outdoor hot tub, too hot today for that idea! The kids liked the choice of pools! For a parent it's a great variety, a beach style pool that was 4 feet at its deepest end! The other pool was a lap/play pool combo! If you're a lap person, you only have three lanes! Slow, medium and fast! Each lane has a designated time for what the definitions of slow(60 seconds per lap), Medium(45secs) & fast(30 secs)! Know your pace folks! The other side was used for lessons and general play with nice and large steps for the gradual entrance! Huge bonus points for the Mom openly reading one of the "50 Shades of Grey" book while sitting in the beach style pool while her daughter played in the pool! AWWWWESOME!

There was a small water play area set as well! Rather simple and not used much! But its a great option for the small and not so good swimmers! The crowds consisted mainly of parents with kids! Swim lessons were happening, so I think it played a role in more kids being at the pool! I really like the pool choices, but wish that CalFit had planted some trees to try to reduce the industrial feel and vibe of the pool area!

Overall rating: 8

Monday's activities!

What is a summer day in California without a stop at In & Out Burgers? Not a summer day in California! Duh!?!? One of my goals this summer is to push accountability, responsibility and initiative. Dishes dont go in the sink and stay there, they go from the sink to the dishwasher now! You want a treat, you pay for it! When Brady asked for In & Out, he got his money and it was all good from there!

The bonus of the day was to ask Melissa if she could join us for lunch, as as you can see, it all worked out! She ate her from home and I ate a protein style burger(wrapped in lettuce) and NO fries! Well, I did steal some from Brady! Considering a double-double on bread and a huge order of fries along with a couple of cokes is a typical order, it was huge for both of us!

Then the kicker, Brady LOVES Sports Clips, so we got the guy a GREAT haircut! Looks super cool! Melissa says he looks 12! Val & Gabe supported it, so guess what, Brady is now 12! HA HA HA!

2012 Tour De CalFit - Sunrise Blvd.

So here comes another summer, which means another summer to pull together some fun things for us all to do and yet not spend money that we don't have! We have been members of California Family Fitness since 1998! For real! For the past few summers we have been going to the Natomas location. However this year, I threw in a fun added twist, a Tour de CalFit!
 

What does a Tour de CalFit mean? We will hit every CalFit gym with an outdoor pool and grade it for you! And hopefully we will have the "Winner of the CalFit" tour announced by summer's end! I might even print out the award and mail it to them, how funny would that be...Eh?!?!...that was for you Val!

Our first stop, Sunrise! I chose Sunrise because it was technically Brady's first gym when he was just 5 months old. Checking in was quick and easy, we rolled thru the gym and out to the pool area we were, simple! The outdoor area has two large pools and a hot tube(outside) and an outdoor shower! One of the pools is a lap pool and the other a large rectangular shaped pool! The deepest end is 6' and the shallow end is 3'. Unless your child is tall enough and can swim, this pool isnt as favorable!

The temperature of the pool was great, we arrived at noon and left at 2pm, the crowds were small! We usually hit the pool around 11 - 3 for the most part! The improvements would be more tables with umbrellas, they only had three and one, the swim/pool police guy was using! 
 

If you are a member, you know that CalFit has every type of rule possible! The one that gets me, the cellphone policy! Just like teenagers, you know we cheat and send the spouse or friend a text message and check FB and Twitter for the latest...come on now, how many "look at me Daddy's" can a dude take right?!?! Anyways, the cellphone bust lasted 2 hours! In other words, it took the pool/police 2 hours to catch me!

Overall rating: 9

Stonegate Open House

Ms. Lamb & Brady! Totally cool year for Brady! The perfect temperament for Brady, chill, but assured accountability!

 

Mrs. Tran & Drew, our second and last year with Mrs. Tran! The kids both excelled with Mrs. Tran! So honored to have her as out teacher for two years in a row! 

Brady, Drew and Melissa at Brady's desk! Ms. Lamb said that Brady just cleaned up his messy desk!

Mother's Day!

We had a busy and awesome Mother's Day this past Sunday! First we headed to Roseville for the Acrea version of Mother's Day, where we had a killer brunch....as usual! The weather was so nice that the kids even went swimming! How fun is THAT?! Then we headed back for Novaes & Orick version of Mother's Day! And since the Tour of California started on Sunday, I got in a few minutes of the race going thru Coleman Valley Road in Sonoma County! The boys cooked dinner for Melissa and Valerie and all went GREAT! The Mom's are the best, so they deserved a day of recognition from all of us! We love you!

Drew and the Toothfairy!

Drew has been loosing teeth by the week! The next tooth is dangling by a thread! Should be any day now!

Golden State Criterium Race - Rancho Cordova

Wondering where I have been? This past weekend I was, along with a number of my teammates, in Rancho Cordova putting on our annual two day race! Two hard days, 4:45am wake up calls and getting home exhausted at 7-8pm! My racing, as usual, sucked! One of these days I head will work in sync with my body!
Anyways, the shot was taken by Alex Chiu, a teammate and a great up and coming photographer! There, I am alive!

Happy 40oz. Birthday Melissa!

Sepultura in San Francisco!

As many of you know, I hold a few things and people close to my heart. One of them being this band, Sepultura! I have been following this band since its inception in 1984, yes, nearly 28 years as crazy as that might sound! I have the glory days, the low days and the cold days! However, it never seems to matter to me what day they are on, Sepultura will forever be a part of me, Derek Novaes. This past week I was fortunate to see them, for about the 14th time I believe, in San Francisco at the DNA lounge. The guys sounded GREAT! The new member of the Sepultura Family, Eloy Casagrande, a 21 year old from Belo Horizonte, KILLED it! The kid is amazing!!! You will all know his name like you do any other amazing metal drummer! Eloy has a future ahead of him! Great to see Paulo, Andreas and Derrick. Years ago we'd share sports stories, this week we shared pictures of wives and kids and talked about happiness! What a brotherhood! Sepulnation!

The progression of a family photo on an Easter Sunday!

We all know how dreaful and challenging a family is to coordinate, set up and shoot the big shot! Here is the progression of the Acrea & Novaes' Family Easter shot! As much as it's a challenge, the beauty is that in the end, months or years later, everyone is thankful to have the "dreaded" family picture! Happy Easter everyone!

Drew gets a Photo Shoot by TWO photographers!

A great friend of mine, who also happens to hit the shutter button, Oanh Le, and myself took Drew out for a photo shoot this past Monday! It was a win-win opportunity for Oanh, Drew and myself! All of us had fun in the process! Brady was there too, but as most of you know, he's pretty sick of the camera thing, but he had fun while the three of us were busy! Plus we ended up with a pit stop at Gunther's for Ice Cream, so he LOVED that part!

Oanh also has a blog, so check out her work at the link below! The friendship has pushed us both with our photography, its awesome to have a bud to shoot with! I just wish my other photo nerd buddy, Valerie, could have been there too! You're next Val! Anyways, here's Oanh's link:

http://oklphotoessence.blogspot.com

Since Oanh was there, you'll be able to see Oanh's work with Drew! Should be fun to compare how we both saw the same subject! Very exciting! Enjoy!

My other baby...

Yes, I love my bike! There, I said it!

A typical Sunday afternoon with The Orick-Novaes'

For the most part, we make every effort to have a Sunday dinner together! We tend to stay in West Sacramento because the kids can play in the court safely with bikes, scooters, and friends. Hanging out in the front yesterday was amazing, the weather was off the hook! Dinner time we sit around the table and do "Good things" where we share some good things from the previous week. Listening to the kids share their good things is a blast! Have a great week everyone!
Note: Brady was not having it with the pics today!