Catching Up - Graduation

Well, I finally have some time this Sunday morning, and thought that I should begin catching up on what's been happening to us these past two months. It's amazing how everything can change in such a short time, and, while change is good, I think I'm currently undergoing a serious case of good-friend withdrawal. Danger, DBest, DSpence, and Rorykins: Why couldn't you join the Navy and come to San Diego too!? Who am I supposed to play Call of Duty with now (especially when Modern Warfare 3 comes out on November 8)? Anyway, I digress.

I thought that I would start with the event of events...my graduation! Nine years in the making, surrounded by friends and family, excited beyond description, on June 1, 2011, I walked across the stage at the Lincoln Center in Manhattan and became Dr. Scarborough. If I had to choose one word to describe the experience, that word would be...awesome! Surreal would also be a good choice. Thankfully, Julie snapped more pictures than we can shake a stick at, so we'll remember this moment forever. Enjoy!

Debbie and Wayne flew over from California to watch me graduate (and, I think, to make sure that I was bringing their daughter back to California; four years is a long time to be 3,000 miles away)! Thanks for coming. We loved having you with us!

Mom, Dad, and Phil were also able to make it out for the ceremonies. As you can clearly see, Dad was beside himself with joy! I was very glad they were there; I owe more to these three people than I can ever repay. Thanks!

Andy was there, too. As you will see later, he was pretty convinced that this was his day.

Immediately after walking in. Everyone was standing, clapping, and cheering for us. It made me feel like a celebrity. Feel free to ask for an autograph!

Walking across the stage to get my degree and be hooded. Andy was very excited to be able to come onstage with me. He did great, though, and even thanked the Dean when we shook hands.

After the ceremonies. As you can see, Andy was pretty convinced that the degree was his! From here on out, Andy was in every picture with me.

My amazing Julie. Five years of marriage, all of it spent to get to this point. Neverending love and support. I love you!

The Christie clan. Four years apart, soon to be reunited in California (although San Diego is still a bit of a drive away)!

The Scarborough clan. Dad is finally smiling! Mom is realizing that she promised to drive 2,200 miles with us in a minivan across the country. Too late to back out now, Mom!

My brother, Phil. A lawyer and a doctor. Dude, we rock!

Dr. Sandberg and Dr. Scarborough, the future surgeons. And we thought we didn't have any free time as med students!

The graduating Mormons (we're actually missing David Badger, but he had a dinner reservation to catch)! Although you can't see Andy in this picture, he's right there at my feet.

The graduates and their wives (and Andy). Thanks ladies! We're doctors (and still sane) because of you!

One last picture of Andy. All I can say about him is, "Dude, you rock"!

Finally Back!

Well, it's been quite awhile since we last posted on our blog. So much has happened that it's hard to know where to begin. Rest assured that we will slowly post some of our numerous pictures and stories from the last two months, as well as our new adventures. However, I thought that it would be good to get at least one post during the month of June and provide an update on what's going on.

As many of our loyal readers already know, I graduated from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and officially became a doctor on June 1 (granted, I'm an intern now, but I still get to answer the phone as "Dr. Scarborough")! We then threw what remained of our earthly possessions into our van, loaded Julie, me, Andy, and my wonderful parents into the strategically empty seats and left the Bronx on June 3. We had a great time crossing this fantastic country, and will post more of that trip shortly. I'd like to thank my parents for coming along and entertaining Andy for 2200 miles before we dropped them off in Salt Lake City. I don't think we could have done it without you guys!

After arriving in San Diego on June 7, I started Intern Orientation the next day. Two weeks later, on June 23, I began my first duties as a physician in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). Talk about an overwhelming and humbling experience! Fortunately, my resident is a great teacher, is very patient, and is willing to let me be frustrated for a bit before coming to the rescue. Overall it's been an exhausting few days, but I must say that I'm having more fun than I ever did as a med student. Well, that's all the time I have for now. I plan on adding pictures from the last two months in future blogs, so keep an eye out.

To The Mothers In My Life

On this Mother's Day, I wanted to take the opportunity to thank the three mothers in my life. Your courage, commitment, charity, and love both inspire and humble me on a daily basis. I don't know how you do all that you do, but I'm eternally grateful. Andy and I would be lost without you. Happy Mother's Day!

Love,

Patrick

Niagara Falls and Easter

As many of you know, I am currently finishing my fourth and final year of medical school. I made the mistake when I was determining my schedule last year of saving my sub-internship (traditionally the hardest part of the fourth year) for the last two months before graduation. I am now pretty busy every day and most weekends, but Julie, Andy, and I were able to take advantage of a three-day weekend during Easter and take a trip to Niagara Falls. We've been wanting to see it since we came to New York, and we finally decided that if we didn't go now, we wouldn't go at all. It was also the perfect chance to test our driving plan for the trip to California. So, with much excitement and anticipation, we loaded the minivan with clothes, Easter candy, and an excited 2-year old and took off. Here are the results of our fun filled weekend!

The morning started out a bit cloudy and windy, but the views were still pretty spectacular!

This is on the Observation Tower. It's the only picture we have of all three of us, and I just happened to be talking to the very nice woman who took our picture right as she hit the button, and Andy was annoyed because it was so windy. Oh, well, at least Julie looks happy!

This is the view of Rainbow Bridge from the American side (Julie doesn't have a valid passport, so we had to stay in the USA). All I have to say is, if Canada is so great, why is everyone coming to the US?

Pretty amazing. 'Nuff said.

Andy's interest in the falls lasted for about ten seconds, before he became fascinated with the much more fun and accessible puddles on the ground.

He also delighted in chasing the seagulls around. I delighted in chasing him.

By Horseshoe Falls. Still too early in the season to go all the way down, but still impressive.

We weren't able to go to Cave of the Winds or ride Maid of the Mist; once again, too early in the season. However, we were able to go down to the base of American and Bridal Veil Falls. Here's a view of the Canadian side, or, as I told Julie, the Motherland. Maybe someday Julie will get a passport and we can actually visit!

The base of American and Bridal Veil Falls. Andy was pretty much done at this point.

Once he could try to throw rocks at the seagulls, he was happier.

Andy refused to walk on the sidewalk once he noticed other kids walking on the rocks. Monkey see, monkey do!

There's just nothing quite like a vanilla shake with Dad at the Hard Rock Cafe after a long morning of chasing seagulls!

For Easter morning, the "Easter Bunny" left a trail of chocolate eggs so that Andy could find...

...our Easter baskets! Andy's is the truck, mine is the frog, and Julie's is the flowers.

One of the best toys in the baskets were three Nerf dart guns. Andy immediately began shooting his parents.

With help, of course. He still hasn't quite learned how to get the guns to work, so I helped out a bit.

Our last picture before we went home and waited for two hours on the George Washington Bridge (expletive deleted)! We had a great time and highly recommend the Falls to everyone, although you may want to visit a bit later in the year when everything will be open!

Andyisms and Other Things

Anyone who has had the pleasure of raising small children knows that kids say the darndest things. Our little Andy is no exception to this rule. We constantly encounter multiple sayings and phrases each day that make Julie and me scratch our heads and smile. We decided that we would be remiss if we didn't put just a few of these on our blog, both to lighten our collective mood and to record them for posterity. Enjoy!

Top 5 Andyisms
1. Andy (after noticing I wasn't wearing the watch that Julie gave me, and while shaking his finger at me): "Daddy, Mommy give watch! Put watch on now!"

2. Andy: "Daddy have hair on face!"
    Pat: "Yes, I do have hair on my face."
    Andy (disgustedly): "Take it off!"
    He now refuses to kiss me on my hairy cheeks.

3. Pat: "Andy, it's time to sleep."
    Andy: "Daddy, go to work. Mommy come."

4. Proof that Andy is from his father's family: While sitting in his stroller in line to checkout at TJ Maxx, Andy scowled at the fellow customers and said, "Go away, people!"

And our absolute favorite...

5. Julie: "Andy, get your finger out of your nose."
    Andy (angrily): "I eating!"

In other news, in order to facilitate our upcoming cross country trip, we have purchased a 2008 Nissan Quest. We're all very excited to have it, particularly Andy, who now has unlimited means of traveling entertainment at his fingertips!

Who said minivans don't look cool? I think it looks a bit like a spaceship!

A nice, roomy seat for our little VIP to travel in style.

Andy's dream come true...an integrated DVD player. Andy has been watching "The Sound of Music" and has never been quieter during a car ride in his entire life (the DVD player is also Pat's dream come true because it has video jacks that should enable it to be used with an XBox 360...ahhh, the wonders of modern technology)!

The Children's Museum of Manhattan

On the first Friday of every month, the Children's Museum of Manhattan has free admission from 5 to 8 pm. As we had never been and Andy was due for a fun outing (and after some rather duplicitous "convincing" on the part of Julie*), Julie and I strapped Andy into the car seat and drove to the Upper West Side to meet some friends and see what this museum was all about. Miraculously, we were able to find some free parking on Central Park West, and walked a few blocks to our destination. I must say that Julie knows our son and his likes; as soon as we were through the doors he was frantically running back and forth between exhibits, stopping for a few seconds at each one before running to the next, only to return to his previous visits. Just watching him tired me out! He had a great time, though, and coupled with seeing his friends Bryn, Brody, and Eliza, as well as a hamburger, fries, and vanilla shake on the way back to the car, it made for a fantastic time. I must admit that I had a good time too. There's just something about the pure excitement of a two year old that brings a smile to my face.

You can tell he's 1/2 Idahoan. As soon as he saw this cow all he wanted to do was ride it!

After riding for a bit, he moved on to milking. The cow "mooed" when you pulled on its udder. His Grammie would be so proud!

This whiteboard glowed when written on with a light pen. I want one at home!

The highlight of the visit for Andy was this firetruck. He patiently waited his turn to drive, shared the fireman's helmet with other children, and ran in and out more times than I can count. Here he is checking out the interior flashing light. Absolutely fascinated.

Waving and sharing the excitement as he waited his turn to drive. Julie and I were pretty proud of him; he didn't fight or push once.

Finally in the driver's seat! It was impossible to get a non-blurry picture; he was constantly moving.

Another favorite was this MTA bus. Personally, I think he drives just as well as the real MTA drivers!

Anyone for a dragon ride? After I took this picture, he tried to get me to ride it as well. He was a bit disappointed when I said I was too big.

Andy's favorite cartoon character. He actually tried to pull Dora off the wall and take her home with us.

*For those of our readers wondering exactly what Julie's duplicitous convincing entailed, I shall remain silent, except to say that it involved copious amounts of guilt and protestations that other husbands were going. I also discovered that other wives used this tactic with their husbands that evening! In the end, the wives were right and we had a good time, but the question remains: do the ends justify the means?

Catching Up

So, I decided to go ahead and try to get at least one blog in for the month of February. Important events since the end of January were my 34th birthday and the baptism of our very close friend Arianne. Enjoy the pictures and I'll try to post more regularly in the future!

My birthday cake. Thanks for the candle, Julie!

Andy was pretty excited to help blow out the candle. He even kept the spit to a minimum.

Clapping always makes birthdays better!

The cake was a carrot cake. Both Andy and I enjoyed it immensely.

In other news, Andy is finally learning to share his car with selected individuals. His good friend Bryn has recently qualified, although he keeps a close watch.

This is what happens when you let a two year old dress himself (the glasses are from a Mr. Potato Head. I can only shake my head).

Julie recently bought this Thomas the Train tent for Andy. He loves to hang out in there with his friends. It gets a bit cramped when Andy insists on both Julie and I being in there, but we manage.

Arianne asked me to baptize her. I'm so proud of her decision and amazed at how much she's grown since we came to the Bronx. Time sure flies!

Why is my son walking around the house with plastic rings on his leg and foot, you may ask...I have no idea! Sometimes I wish I knew what was buzzing around in that little head of his!