In 1971, my mother decided it would be fun to pick up and move the whole family to Australia. In March of that year she had heard some friends talking about the Australian consulate and some sort of program to bring workers to that country. By June, we were packed and heading to the airport. I was just barely 11 months old, so I do not recall any of this.

In 1973, we befriended some neighbors of ours, the Graveson family. Parents David and Anne had 3 kids…Two girls, Anita and Karin, who were close in age to my sister Stephanie, and brother Derek; and one boy, Erik, who was very close to my age. We spent lots of time hanging out together at the beach and having lots of fun. Both dads were very fun, and made sure that all of us kids were always entertained.

In 1977, my mom woke up one day and decided that she had enough of Aussie land, and said it was time to go back to New York. We made our way back, staying with other friends in the city until we settled in Port Jefferson, on Long Island. The parents kept in touch, and in 1979, when the Gravesons were relocating to another continent, they arranged to visit us when passing through New York.

The families made sure to get some beach time together and went out to Jones Beach on Long Island. Fun times on the beach included building huge pyramid sand castles, making hats out of beach towels, and singing/dancing to a song that David made up for us; we recall it being the “umkwa ka zinga” song.

The Graveson family have always been a huge part of our childhood memories of fun and happiness. And, after their visit to Long Island, our parents kept in touch ever since then via holiday cards and occasional phone calls. Us Bernhart kids would get updates from our parents at Christmas time on what their family was up to and where they were.

This past Christmas (2009), we learned that their father, David, had passed away earlier that year, after a long battle with cancer. Obviously, this really saddened us as we recalled once again, all of the great times we had with him and our families together. A few weeks after our own father passed away from a much shorter fight with cancer this May, my mother called their mother, Anne, to give her the news… and to talk about everything. My mom told me that she had a nice long call with Anne and they talked about all of the kids and grandkids. A few days after that call, I got a friend request on Facebook from Karin. Then a day later, another request from Anita. I then found Erik through their profile pages and sent him a friend request. And lastly, I found Anne there as well. My sister also hooked up with all of them. My brother, Derek, tried but didn’t like Facebook and removed his account. Oh well, his loss… we’ll have to keep him updated separately. Perhaps I can talk him into re-joining, and get my mom on there as well (good luck to me).

How great is the internet in this day and age? We can all share photos and messages with each other, and keep in touch much easier than if there were no such thing as the ‘net. Erik and I have sent some messages back and forth, catching up on what our own families have been up to. We’ve discovered that we both have some very similar interests and background. It’s been so great to see that they are all doing so well. It’s also been good for some self-healing in dealing with my father’s passing… to be reminded of how much fun it was having him as our father. I look forward to keeping in touch with them.

By the way… I sing the “umkwa ka zinga” song to Brody a lot. It gets his attention and he laughs and tries to sing along. Great for when he is fighting a diaper change!

I thought I’d post this video of Brody and I from a few weeks ago. He’s really trying to say so many more words now, and doing so well at it. Here he is doing his best to say ‘pizza’. You may need to turn up your volume since he’s sort of whispering.

1. My favorite color is yellow, no blue.
2. I was born in Queens, New York.
3. I do not have any wisdom teeth.
4. Before I turned 1, my parents thought moving to Australia would be fun. We lived there for 6 years, and it was fun.
5. When we moved back to the US, I was 7 did not know what ‘kickball’ was. The neighbor kids looked at me funny.
6. I don’t remember what my favorite toy was when I was a kid, 
7. My mom’s nickname for me as a child was ‘doobie’.
8. My hair started greying when I was in high school.
9. When I walk down stairs, my right ankle pops almost every time. This is from sliding into 2nd base and tearing ligaments when my foot hit the bag.
10. As a kid, I would build model cars and airplanes and then destroy them with firecrackers.
11. My armpits can get sweaty, even if I’m not doing anything.
12. I learned to type on a typewriter in 7th grade.
13. I still have the t-shirt I was wearing when my daughter was born.
14. I once pee’d my pants because I was having too much fun in the snow and waited too long to go inside to the bathroom, I was about 8, I think.
15. I cannot recite the alphabet backwards. It’s a good thing I don’t drink and drive.
16. I took French in high school. Mostly to spite my mother. (I wish I’d taken German now)
17. As a teen, I would sneak out of the house. Once, I was chased down our street by my underware clad father and evaded him by hiding in some bushes. He never knew it was me.
18. My dad loved VW Beetles. Being the youngest of 4, on family outings, I go stuck sitting in back. I mean in the waaaaay back where you put bags and stuff.
19. My shins are bald. 
20. I’m allergic to some beer, and macadamia nuts.
21. I can crack my nose.
22. I saw Star Wars, Empire Strikes Back, and Return Of The Jedi when they were out in the movie theaters.
23. The first Compact Disc I purchased was The Smiths ‘The Queen Is Dead’.
24. I’ve only had 2 employers since graduating from high school.
25. In high school, I quit my job at McDonald’s when my friend came in and told me there was a killer party. I don’t remember the party.
26. (Bonus) I don’t think Angelina Jolie is attractive.

Keep in mind that all times can be “give or take” 5-10 minutes or so. We don’t quite have it down to an exact science just yet.

• 5:00am
  • wake up
  • check work email (usually via my phone while getting ready to shower)
  • shower
  • shave
• 5:45am
  • try to wake up Melanie
  • get dressed
• 5:50am – 7:00am (the order is dictated by when Brody wakes up)
  • start putting our lunches together
  • eat english muffin with peanut butter, drink some OJ (this is done while doing the previous step)
  • check diaper bag to ensure it contains all items required
  • wake Brody up, if he’s not already squirming
  • change his diaper
  • dress him
  • bring him to Melanie once he’s dressed and ready to go
  • make us both instant coffee for the drive (Melanie takes cinnamon and brown sugar)
  • toast english muffin for Melanie (also with peanut butter)
  • load up the car: lunch bags, diaper bag, coffee mugs, any other misc bags
• 7:00am
  • put Brody into car seat
  • load Brody into car
  • drive to my work
• 8:00am
  • I get to my work
  • Melanie takes over and drives to the sitter’s place
• 8:15am
  • Melanie drops Brody off with sitter
• 8:30am
  • Melanie gets to her work
• 5:00pm
  • Melanie leaves work to pick up Brody from sitter
• 5:15pm
  • Melanie leaves sitter to pick me up from work
• 5:30pm (ish)
  • Melanie picks me up from work, I take over the wheel for the leg home
• 6:30pm (ish)
  • we arrive home
• 6:30pm – 6:45pm
  • bring Brody inside
  • unload all of the stuff from the car
• between 6:45pm and 7:30pm
  • Melanie and I eat dinner
  • feed Brody cereal or some jar food if he seems hungry
• 7:30pm – 8:00pm
  • bathtime for Brody
• 8:00pm – 9:00pm
  • Brody gets fed and falls asleep
  • this could go past 9pm if he doesn’t crash easily
• 9:00pm – 10:00pm
  • do some random chores that need to be done before the next day
  • do anything else that I’d like to spend my free time on… sometimes I can last until 10:30pm if I really want to
• 10:00pm – 10:30pm
  • go to sleep

Here are some things I’ve noticed recently about how your baby changes you:

• Baby spit-up is not as gross as you think it is. (at least until they start eating solids)
• Who ever coined the term “sleeping is for when you’re dead”… did not have children. This is especially true in the first few weeks.
• You have a high tolerance for examining poop… daily.
• You wash your hands more than now than you ever had, no matter how neat you are.
• You have more patience than you ever thought you did.
• You’re amazed at how stupid you can sound when talking to your infant.
• You don’t really care about how stupid you sound when talking to your infant.
• You become amazingly agile doing everything with one hand (while the other is holding baby).
• A little smile from your baby is like a drug, and is extremely addictive.

Click on each one to see a larger version.

Along with the Portugal photos, there are two other galleries for you to enjoy. If you’re really loving a specific photo (or photos!) and feel the need to decorate your space with it… there are links below each gallery that send you to ImageKind.com for you to purchase a print of your very own. And you can even get them matted and framed.

Please pass this on to anyone else that you think would enjoy them.

On the ship, the previous owner, Holland America Line, had already planned on upgrading the systems. So, I got to assist in racking all of the new equipment (new servers and a SAN) to prep it for the new software being installed soon. Each of the three Windstar vessels as well as 6 of our other (Majestic America Line) vessels are getting the software.

With the work done, and no flights home until my scheduled flight on Monday, I spent the day photographing the sights. When I say I spent the day, I really mean the whole day. At 8AM I was in downtown Setubal shooting, and then went into Lisbon and spend 4 hours there, then back down to the docks of Setubal. I got back to my hotel at 8PM, so that’s a solid 12 hours of photography… oh yeah, and lots and lots of walking. I’m guessing I clocked in a good 12-14 miles of walking today. My legs can testify to that, they’re aching. And I’m guessing that excluding work-related photos of the systems on board the ship, I have about 350-375 photos to sift through when I return home.

So, I fly back tomorrow morning… and I can’t wait. I really miss Melanie, especially when I was walking through Lisbon constantly amazed at how beautiful everything is. Whenever I saw something spectacular, I thought to myself … “I wish Melanie was here with me to see this.”

And, Lauren’s soccer team “Black Magic” had their 3rd win of the season. I missed the game since I’m traveling, but Melanie and her mom went to the game to support the team.

Stay tuned for links to the photos that I deem fit for keeping. Just give me a few days or so to process them… I can’t just take photos and upload them, I have some special processing I do to them to make them super special.

If you have time and are in the neighborhood, head on down to Joe’s Diner. They display local artists’ work and change it up each month.

Here are the details:

Joe’s Diner
2917 Main Street
Santa Monica, CA 90405

Check out the photos that are being displayed…

In the hour and fifteen minutes I was in the water, I was lucky enough to get 3 waves. One close-out right, one “slow-paddler in your line” shoulder-high right (had to over-stretch the bottom turn to avoid him), and one fun left. Still, it was fun to be out there to watch some amazing rides though.

My buddy said it was “wall-to-wall bodies”… which pretty much described the peak straight out in front of the river. All those big winter storms pushed a lot of sand out there… don’t think I’ve seen the peak that far out in a while.

My arms were hurtin fer certain once I got back to my car. I passed Tom (I think) from NewportSurfShots.com getting his gear out… he should get some good pics today!