Tristan's Day out...

Sorry, haven't been blogging lately. End of the school year makes that really hard sometimes. Anyway, last week I had a day off so Sam & I took Tristy to the museum to see the new dinosaur exhibit at the Carnegie. Here we see him at his favorite exhibit, the hall of gems.

It was a very fun time, and of course we had to stop at our favorite family restaurant, Lulu's noodles on Craig Street. While there Tristy had trouble using chopsticks, so one of the ladies came over and helped show him how to use chopsticks. He really caught on fast. (with a little help)

After that I took him to Wholeys to see the fish, and we walked around the strip district downtown. He really enjoyed the sights and smells. We rounded off the trip with a stop at Borders at the Mills, where Sam & I turned him loose inside the bookstore. It was a nice day.

Trip Down Dixie Way...

Those of you who know me, might realize that one of my hero's in life is Thomas Jefferson. Of all the founding fathers, he embodies the best that era in American history had to offer. He was also a true Renaissance man, and a lover of learning of all subjects. I have been an avid listener of the Thomas Jefferson hour for over 2 years now, and have always wanted to see Monticello, and walk the grounds which are often referred to week after week in my Ipod programs.

Sam and I got a chance to do that this past weekend. We fell in love with the Virginia countryside. Driving through its many horse farms and historical towns, we found our way down to Charlottsville. We were able to stay at a friend's house one night, which helped save on the overall cost of the trip. (Thanks Andy)




The mountain behind us in this picture is the larger mountain that overlooks Monticello. In the background is a sloped path that leads down to Jefferson's grave. They wouldn't allow us to take pictures inside the house, so most of my pics are around the outside grounds area. In addition to Monticello, we also toured the University of Virginia which was also very impressive.




After lunch, we also got a chance to travel along the Skyline drive National Park, and saw some breath taking views of the Shenandoah river valley. The road was quite long and winding, but well worth the trip. We only saw about 1/4th of its length, since it would take an entire day to drive and we were running short on time. Here are some other pictures.









Sunday morning we woke up and toured Harper's Ferry, which has many park museums and little town houses that are open to the public. The river valley is quite beautiful. It was the location of John Brown's raid, which basically led to the US Civil War.

Thanks especially goes out to Mom & Dad for watching our kids for the weekend. Despite Tristan running away and hiding inside the car, there were no major problems and the kids had a great time spending the weekend with their grandparents.

Spring Pilgrimage

Since 1990, my SRU buddies have been making a trip up to the lake to help me open and close for the summer. We hold a get-away weekend twice a year in Oct. & April, and it tends to be full of fun, beer drinking, horse shoes, football, poker, etc.

At first it was my Slippery Rock friends, but over the years it has grown to the point where we sometimes get as many as 20-25 different people (not all at one time) that frequent the event. Here are some pictures from this weekend. Some of you know my college room mate, Ed. Here he tends the fire, since it was 75 degrees friday night.



We had awesome weather, although a slight cold front came through Saturday. A yearly tradition is a touch football game between the SRU grads (nicknamed affectionately: Tards) vs the non SRU grads. Here is a group shot after the game. Of course Ed was acting goofy, but that's Ed.

The cottage was under construction, but it didn't interfere with our plans. It should be finished up this week, and soon our family will return to the lake after the drawn out off season.

Gilly Props

Last week and the week before I didn't have any good shots of Gillian's games, so I thought to be fair I ought to post a few actions shots of her game too. :-)





Here she takes a shot at the goal. Her team lost again, but it was 1-0, so they kept it close. Gillian enjoys playing with her friend Natalie who's parents are the team coaches. Its nice they finally get to play on each other's team after all these seasons.

Cottage Woes -- The winter takes its toll

Went up the lake this past weekend. The weather was June-like. Beautiful beach this year. Thought I'd check with the contractor about the work that needed to be done. Here are some pics of this year's money pit. The wall and main truss (on bottom) are all black rotted, and need to be replaced. Big $$$




Sitting chair rock got moved half way up to the wall in the terrible Feb. storms. Lots of migratory birds were there this past week. Loons and Artic terns etc. They were quite noisy and feeding off shore on schools of smelt (I think). I did enjoy the beach though, and had the whole place to myself until Linda dropped by just back from Germany.


A few trees down from this past winter, Wiley's yard has a badly rotted tree stump from where a 100+ year old ash tree fell. As shown in the pic. Next week the boys and I will head up to make our yearly Pilgrimage to Van Buren. Can't believe this is our 19th year doing so!

Soccer in the Mud (redux)

Well, all week it was dry until Friday night. Then it rained again to create yet another fun filled Saturday morning of "mud ball". The sun did come out for Tristy's game however, so I got a few shots of him since this time I remembered my camera. (unlike last week) Here we see him doing warm-up exercises.

Tristy's team name is the Red Foxes.


Liam got to play goalie for the first time. He didn't see much action since most of the game was played on the opposite side of the field. He didn't let up any goals when the other team did make shots, although there was a goal controversy in which he froze the ball, but the other kid rushed in and kicked it out of his hands.



Here is the clip, click on it to see. The ref rules it was not a goal since Liam had possession before the other boy dove into him. You be the judge.

Gillian lost her game 6-0 but almost scored a goal. I wasn't able to get there in time for her game, as she left from a sleep over with her Mom (Girl Scouts) and I brought the boys to a different field. She played her best game yet according to her mother and to her coach. (Natalie's Dad) Sorry no pictures of her mud fest.

Here we see a few more pictures from Liam's 2nd half I suggested the team name be the "Mud Frogs". Here we see a picture of Liam playing offense and in the 2nd picture is Liam's action shot kicking the ball through the air.

Soccer in the Mud!

After about 1" of rain last night, Soccer season started bright and early this morning. 8 AM Gillian and Natalie (on the same team) got to play in the mud which resembled something of a WW1 battlefield-like mush. Unfortunately she lost 5-0 but Beanie had fun and didn't seem to mind. (note her pink mud pants below?)

Then it was a 9 AM game for Tristan. This was to be his first organized sport-type game which at first he enjoyed. About 5 minutes into the game he came over to the sidelines and wanted to go home. Crying in disgust about not scoring a goal and the muddy conditions, we gave him a pep speech and sent him back onto the pitch, where eventually his spirits turned around. By the 2nd half he was smiling and laughing enjoying himself in the mud. Tristan's team won 3-1 and we think he's going to stick with it.

The final 11 AM game (Liam's) took place in the worst field conditions of the day. Liam looks to be in the best physical shape (due to hockey) than all of his team mates. He never got tired and controlled the pace of the game... until his show got plugged in the mud and came off. Liam fell face first into the mud, but like a real trooper went back out and played his game wet & mud ridden. Unfortunately Liam lost 4-1, but he also had fun.

I forgot my camera, but I did snap a few pics with my cell phone which just doesn't do a good job. Sam and I spent 4 hours walking the side lines in the slop with wet feet in 41 degree air. The kids had fun, so it was worth it. :-)