Another Caltech Visit

I had to upload this real quick to get it on the blog in case Holden becomes a famous scientist someday. Riley is on her way to being a scientist, too, but I only have this pic of Holden.

This is a picture of Holden sitting in Baxter Lecture Hall at Caltech playing an iPad game that quizzes him on the Periodic Table of Elements. We were there for a Skeptics Society lecture on magic (nearly all magicians are skeptics). Holden has been playing this game for a while now and discovered it on his own.

Bringing the kids to Caltech for this lecture gives me the opportunity to talk up college a bit and explain how it works.

Family Trip to Plano TX

We just got back from a trip to Plano, Texas. My company sent me and a guest there to get a feel for the place because my job is moving there in 2017 with or without me. Holden and I flew American Airlines and Riley, DJ and Huong flew on Spirit Airlines.

 
The houses in the suburbs North of Dallas like Plano and Frisco are beautiful. The garages are in the back, the master bedroom is on the first floor. They are made of brick instead of stucco. The only problem is they all look like this. I prefer a little more variety but since all the neighborhoods are new, this is what you get if you want to live in Plano. We could actually afford this house which seems strange.

In an average Orange County neighborhood, this house would really stand out, but in Plano it's par for the course.

We did visit Highland Park which had one unusual house. This house isn't for sale but there is something about it that I really like. If I had to move to Texas, I might look for something really unusual like this.

We found Kenny's BBQ and tried their one dollar brisket tacos. We ended up eating 19 of them. They also had a smoked Makers Mark which was really good. The kids were amazed by the food, especially Riley.

Holden and DJ found a climbing tree. DJ lost Holden's sandal inside the tree and it took a while to fish it out.

The shops in Plano are very nice with lots of places to walk around and discover new food. It is extremely clean and safe. It's like another world when compared to Southern California.