koocbor

UVa vs. Clemson

2012-02-12T17:38:00.000-05:00

Having fun in Littlejohn's before the game.

We decided to watch the last afternoon women's basketball game today against Clemson. As an added bonus we headed to the corner for lunch before the game with our friends Meghan and Hunter.

Lunch was good. I really enjoy Littlejohn's sandwiches and it had been a while since I'd been there. The weather was also pretty nice so we walked to the arena for the game. We got there a few minutes before it started and decided to sit on the opposite side from where we usually sit. The kids thought they might have a better chance of catching one of the t-shirts they give out during the game.

UVa (Pink) vs. Clemson.

It was breast cancer awareness day at the game so the UVa women were all wearing pink. The game itself was fairly lopsided with UVa dominating Clemson. They ended up winning by quite a bit, but it was fun to watch some different players get some playing time.

Cyrus with the big shirt.

It turns out the kids were right about the shirts. About halfway through the first half they dropped shirts from the rafters and Eli and Cyrus caught one. They were both pretty excited. Of course the shirt is big enough it could fit both of them at the same time, but they were still excited.

Eli models the huge shirt.

We watched the whole game and UVa won. Afterwards it was still nice out so we walked home. The kids played lightsabers the entire walk home with sticks and Mary and I got to talk like normal adults. We're definitely in the sweet spot right now.

2nd Grade Concert

2012-02-10T13:45:00.000-05:00

Sitting quietly before the concert.

Eli's 2nd grade did a February / African American History Month concert yesterday. We all decided to attend.

The kids did a good job. We got to watch a local church dance group, then the kids sang about 8 songs.

Belting it out.

To end the assembly, Cedric Peerman, a UVa graduate who plays for the Cincinnati Bengals spoke to the kids about hard work and perseverance. It was a nice short motivational speech. Hopefully some of the kids listened.

We Shall Overcome, 2nd Grade Style

Tandem Shake Out Ride

2012-02-04T10:55:00.000-05:00

Eli on the Tandem

We've got a new handlebar setup on the tandem for Eli now. Today we took it for a short ride to make sure it feels OK. After 10 miles Eli declared it much better. It seems like things are now setup for doing some longer tours this spring. Let's hope the weather cooperates during spring break this year.

As we were sitting on the JPA pedestrian detour bridge a woman riding the other way stopped and offered to take our picture. She was impressed with the tandem.

Whale Tail Split

2012-02-02T17:30:00.000-05:00

Riding home from work today I noticed one of the whale tails had split down the middle. We've had some freeze thaw days this winter so maybe that' what did it. Maybe it was the torrential rain this morning. I hope it can be repaired.

Looks like it needs a lot of glue.

Do you think we can take the car home?

2012-02-02T09:56:00.001-05:00

Sometimes I wonder if the choices we're making as parents are going to scar our kids to the point of doing the complete opposite. Today was one of those days.

Raining, but not too hard.....yet.

We headed out to the bus stop and it was raining, but not too hard. By the time the bus came it was pouring, and we were all soaked. We put Eli on the bus and then Cyrus and I got on the bike to go to his school.

By the time we got half way there it was an obvious bad decision. It was raining sideways, there was a small river flowing down the street, but we were committed at that point. Nothing to do but laugh and ride as fast as I could to get him to school quicker.

A little wet at school.

We got to school just fine but as I was taking his wet clothing off he asked:

"Dad, do you think we can take the car home today?"

I just had to laugh. I'd like to think he'll learn that you don't melt when you ride a bike in the rain. He'll probably learn to never ride a bike anywhere.

Tandem for Three

2012-01-29T13:00:00.000-05:00

2002 - On the tandem.

After our long trip in 2002 the tandem has sat in various locations around our house without being ridden. There have been a few times we've thought of selling it, but we held out hoping there might come a time we would ride it again.

We've passed the point where either of our kids can ride in a bike trailer, or a bike child seat, so we needed to get something setup for longer bike tours. We debated between a second trail-a-bike or getting the tandem setup for a child stoker. We decided to fix up the old tandem. I picked it up yesterday from the local bike shop. They did a great job, and it was nice to see it out and ready to ride again.

The fixed-up tandem.

The boys are both excited about it, so today we put the trail-a-bike on the back and gave it a whirl around town.

Getting ready to ride.

They're Off

We rode about 8 miles to see how it is going to shake out. We're going to need to fix the handlebars for Eli, they're a bit too far away from him. Otherwise, it seems like it's going to work great.

On the test ride.

Hopefully we get it all sorted out in time for a longer camping trip over spring break.

Ashland and Richmond

2012-01-22T17:00:00.000-05:00

Amtrak in front of the Ashland Visitor Center.

We were looking for something to get us out of the house for a while. Although it hasn't been a terrible winter weather-wise, it has made it hard to do much outside for a while now. We decided to take a trip down to Ashland and Richmond for the day. Ashland has 40-50 trains a day run through the middle of it and Richmond has the science museum that we haven't been to for a while.

Ashland did not disappoint. Within five minutes of getting there a 5-engine freight train rolled through. The kids were very excited.

Watching train #1 roll through.

We spent a few minutes in the visitor center to see what was there. They had a very nice restroom and a ton of brochures for highlights throughout Virginia. Pretty soon train #2 rolled through. The boys ran outside to watch that one.

Watching train #2 roll through.

It was pretty cold outside so we thought we would try and get some hot drinks at the coffee shop in town while we sat at a window. The coffee shop seemed closed but there was the Iron Horse Restaurant across the street advertising brunch so we decided to give that a shot.

Some hot (and cold) beverages on a cold day.

The restaurant was great. We all had some good breakfast food and the boys each ate full adult portions. While eating we saw a couple of more trains come through watching out the window.

After our enjoyable brunch we headed out and decided to walk a little further down the main street. It seems so strange to have two major railroad tracks running through the center of town like that, but I guess people must be used to it.

We saw another train (#7) and then headed back to the car. It was too cold to enjoy being outside for any length of time.

Watching train #7.

As we got back to the car another train went through making it 8 in the two hours we were there. The boys were pretty excited about that. I think we'll come back in the spring or summer for sure.

After the trains we headed into Richmond to enjoy the science museum. It had been a while since we'd been there and they have made some improvements since our last visit. The main exhibit hall had many of the same exhibits as before but they replaced a few of the ones that were feeling a bit old and worn with some newer ones. We also hit the jackpot for scheduled shows. We saw rats play basketball, a corn snake eat a mouse and a talk on air pressure. We didn't plan for any of them, they all just happened to be happening when we were nearby.

WRBA - Women's Rat Basketball Association.

Corn snake meal time.

The boys also got to try their hand at looking at some bug larvae through a stereoscope to identify what kind of bugs they were. They seemed to like that quite a bit.

Doing science.

Identifying the river bug larvae.

Ice

2012-01-21T14:02:00.000-05:00

Ice in the trees.

We had a small ice storm last night. Luckily not enough to do any damage and it was warm enough this morning that the roads were in OK shape.

Still, it makes for a very pretty landscape.

Icy Bushes

The playground is bit more challenging.

Icy Monkey Bars.

It's all supposed to be gone by this evening. That's about as perfect of an ice storm as you can have. Beautiful, short, and no adverse effects.

Eli loses a tooth

2012-01-20T15:57:00.000-05:00

Eli has been waiting to lose a tooth for a while now. With the new year he finally had a loose tooth and has been working on it furiously since.

First Lost Tooth!

I came home from work to some exciting news. It finally fell out this afternoon. Yeah!

Loooooooooooong Bus Stop

2012-01-17T08:18:00.000-05:00

Eli's regular bus driver has been away for a while due to a surgery. In the interim it's been a steady stream of different drivers. Most of the time they've been on time, but this morning was a new record for lateness. 30 minutes.

Watching the chain saw

To add to the excitement, the apartment the stop sits in front of is about to go through a full renovation. As the kids were running around hitting each other with sticks and I yell to stop the guy who is working on the building decides to fire up the chain saw.

That entertained the kids for a few minutes although they kept getting too close for my comfort.

Container Delivery.

Next a huge truck shows up to deliver a garbage container. They decided they needed to back it into position approximately 3 ft. from five grammer school kids waiting for the bus.

Finally the bus arrived. It was probably the most excited I've ever been to see a school bus. I couldn't wait to get the kids away from there.

Hawk?

2012-01-13T09:46:00.000-05:00

We looked out our back window and saw this guy hanging out in a tree. I don't know much about birds but I think this is a hawk. We watched him for a while and then he flew off when I opened the back door to try and get a closer picture.

Daycare Doghouse

2012-01-12T08:00:00.000-05:00

Daycare Doghouse

Cyrus' daycare have decided they want to learn all about dogs. As part of the unit one of the parents brought in this "doghouse" for the kids to play with. They seem to love it.

Cyrus doing his "smile" in front of the dog house.

Bike Tally 2011

2011-12-31T16:27:00.000-05:00

Another year passes, another bike tally. For several years I've had a goal of 2500 miles of riding for the year. Every year I fell short, sometimes very short. I finally got the monkey off my back this year. Biking to work was definitely the key. I averaged close to 30 miles / week just commuting. Which means I actually rode a little less recreationally this year. Oh well. Here are the details:

Cyclocross Bike - 1192 miles
Commuter / Xtracycle - 870 miles
Mountain Bike - 687 miles

Total - 2749 miles

It was a much wetter spring and fall this year which cut into the mountain biking. Seems like there is always something that slows me down for some reason.

I guess it's time to up the goal. Let's see if 2012 I can break the 3000 mile mark.

Udvar-Hazy Center

2011-12-31T12:23:00.000-05:00

Enterprise

They have the real Space Shuttle Enterprise on display at the Udvar-Hazy center museum near Dulles airport. The boys were pretty excited to see that so we decided to see it today. Plus, I really like airplanes and this museum is awesome if you like airplanes.

Playing at the museum.

We headed straight past the SR-71 and to the Space Shuttle. It looks similar to the old model they used to have there, but still I'm impressed with how big it looks in the hangar. It was cool to be able to see it. My one complaint with the museum is I wish they had stairs up to some of the aircraft and spacecraft so you could look into the cockpit.

Udvar-Hazy Center

We wandered the hangar. As is usual at a museum, Mary and the boys were way ahead I was way behind actually reading the signs with the planes. I can remember my dad doing the same thing. Maybe one day my boys will do the same too.

Concord Engine

We went to the control tower and saw one plane land and another take off. Considering we've now spent about an hour in the control tower and only seen two planes it seems sort of amazing. I thought the Dulles airport would have planes moving all the time.

National Building Museum / National Botanical Gardens

2011-12-30T17:38:00.000-05:00

National Building Museum

Everyone was feeling a bit bored and cooped up in Charlottesville so we decided to head up to DC for a couple of days for a change of scenery.

We heard there was a lego exhibit at the National Building Museum. With all the lego building we've done over Christmas break it seemed like it would be a hit. We headed straight to the lego exhibit when we arrived. They limit the number of people in there for each hour which and we just got in for the 1pm slot.

The lego buildings were remarkable. There were re-creations of many famous buildings including the Empire State Building, the St Louis Gateway to the West and the current worlds tallest building the Burj Khalifa. All of the them were created by Adam Reed Tucker. It was pretty awesome.

Lego construction zone

In addition to the buildings they had huge tables where you could build your own structures with the legos they had sitting around. We all dove in and had fun building our own structures. From the looks of things a lot of people were having fun with the legos.

When our time was up we headed back into the main hall. We did a quick visit to the Unbuilt Washington exhibit and then spend a bit of time just playing with the wood blocks they had there for anyone to play with. The main hall is great space and it was fun to hang out there for a while.

Watching people try to build the arch.

It wasn't quite time to head back to my brothers so we decided to walk to the National Botanical Gardens to see the train exhibit. We didn't know what to expect but had heard that was fun to see also.

Walking by the Capital

There was a bit of a line, but it seemed to be moving relatively quickly, so we got in line and waited. It ended up being close to an hour before we saw the trains but the kids were very good, and there was quite a bit to look at while we were waiting.

The trains were pretty cool. Probably more cool was the buildings that they had built around the trains entirely from plant materials. They had buildings that were recognizable from Washington (Capital, Supreme Court, White House, etc.) but they also had a lot of fantastical buildings.

Porcupine House

We all enjoyed the exhibit and thought the wait was worth it. After two museums in one day we were all ready to hit the metro to head back to Dan's. The boys went to bed really well. It must of worn them out.

Cotton Candy

2011-12-25T17:26:00.000-05:00

For various reasons the boys have been promised cotton candy on a few occasions where they didn't end up getting it. It's become a bit of a mini-obsession. For Christmas dinner we went to the Hibachi Grill Buffet in Lynchburg. The buffet has just about any food you can dream up and at the dessert table they had cotton candy. They probably liked their presents more, but getting cotton candy was definitely a highlight of Christmas this year.

Costa Rica - San Jose to Home

2011-12-21T17:08:00.000-05:00

Coca Cola Chirstmas

Our flight home was at 3pm so we had the morning to do what we wanted. Although people had told us San Jose wasn't worth seeing we figured with the time we had it might be worth going into town to check it out.

Stacey and Aram dropped us off on their way into the office. The dropped us at the Parque Metropolitano La Sabana, a big on the western side of town. We took a lap around the park. One of the more interesting sites was a blue track in the park. There was an amazing amount of activity going on.

Playing track

They had speed skaters wipping around the oval, kids on bikes, women in high heels, people doing 100m sprints, people walking dogs, families loping around the track. All at the same time. It was chaos and somehow it all worked. It was like everyone was playing track.

There was also a new soccer stadium. Aram said it had been paid for by the Chinese government, trying to buy a free trade agreement. It was a very nice looking stadium. We looped around and then hung out at the side of the track for a bit just people watching. There was also an inner track where people were doing more speed skating.

Speed skating

After a while of watching the track action, we headed to the Coca Cola district and a large pedestrian mall they had there. It was pretty crowded walking there.

Pedestrian Mall

We walked the length of the mall and then headed back to where we had seen a large group of taxis. On the way back we were passed by a woman with a pink dog. Awesome.

Accessorize

The taxi got us to the airport just fine. Our flight was delayed and we weren't sure we'd be able to make the connection in Atlanta. No big deal. They did make us go through security a second time in the waiting area and you couldn't have any liquid at all. That seemed a bit weird to us and made for a bit of a thirsty flight.

We got into Atlanta about 30 minuets before our connection. It didn't seem like there was any way we could make it. We cruised through customs and security in 10 minutes. I think it must be some sort of record. Then we speed walked our way to our departure gate.

We got there and there was no flight to Dulles. Weird. Looking at the monitors they had moved the gate but the flight was now delayed so we knew we would make it. We got to our real departure gate with plenty of time to spare.

In the end we got home at 3am. It was a long day but a very nice trip.

Costa Rica - Qepos / Manuel Antonio to San Jose

2011-12-20T16:48:00.000-05:00

Manuel Antonio was open today and we planned on heading down to the park and walking some trails in the morning. We had a 2pm flight back to San Jose so we had quite a bit of time to explore in the morning. We ate our complimentary breakfast then headed out.

Capuchin

We spotted quite a few capuchin monkeys on the walk into the park. They are pretty cute to see. We got to the park just as the first guided tours were leaving the main gate. We didn't want to do a guided tour and it felt a little like running a gauntlet to get into the park without hiring someone.

As we entered the park there was a three toed sloth off in the distance up in a tree. We could also hear some howler monkeys in the distance.

Three toed sloth

Walking up the main road it was quite crowded for the first 1/2 mile or so. One past that things started to thin out. We took a trail off the main road that ended at a great sandy beach.

Beautiful beach.

From the beach we hiked back into the jungle and then headed up to a bluff. It was a nice hike and mostly in the shade which was a good thing. The few times we broke out of the trees into the sun it was hot. We saw a few more capuchin monkeys on the hike to the bluff.

At the lookout point there was a very large iguana sunning itself. It was wary of us, but it didn't run away. We kept our distance while looking at the nice view.

View from the bluff.

Our iguana friend.

We hiked back down the trail to the beach. Along the way we say a lot more monkeys. One of them must of decided that it needed to follow Mary. He crashed through the trees above her head almost the whole way down to the beach. It was ironic because of all the people there Mary was probably least interested in having a monkey follow her around.

Capuchin on the beach.

At the beach the capuchin monkeys were everywhere. It was a bit overwhelming. Surprisingly they didn't seem particularly interested in harassing people for food. I guess there is enough in the jungle to keep them happy.

Manuel Antonio Beach

We walked along the beach and then exited the park through the beach entrance. The tide was in so instead of wading across the spit we opted to take a boat. Tipping is optional from what we had heard, but we gave him a 2000 colonie tip.

Spit crossing

We hiked back up the road to our hotel. By now it was pretty warm and we were ready to cool off in the pool. We saw a few more iguanas on the walk up. We cooled off in the hotel pool for about and hour and then caught a taxi back to the airport.

Qepos runway.

The flight home was uneventful. We made it back to the apartment just fine and then went out for our final dinner in Costa Rica with Stacey and Aram.

Costa Rica - San Jose to Qepos

2011-12-19T19:16:00.000-05:00

Speed Bump Ahead

We were flying to Qepos to spend a night near Manuel Antonio park but we had the morning to kill so we went for a longish walk around the neighborhood. It was a nice day with the sun shining, and great temperatures. One surprise in Costa Rica was the number of people we saw riding bikes. The driving seemed nuts enough, but I had a hard time imagining you would survive very long while riding a bike on the streets.

Convenience store shopping.

We stopped at a convenience store to pick up some snacks on the way back. Then we got our bags and headed back for another pirate taxi ride to the airport. The ride was easy. We got to the airport with enough time to eat lunch at the little restaurant there. We both liked the rice and beans dish they served, and it was inexpensive.

The flight to Qepos was easy and fast. We were in a slightly larger plane this flight and we had it almost to ourselves. There was one other couple there but they were continuing on to La Fortuna.

Approaching Qepos.

We landed then hopped in a taxi with a family and another couple. Mary snagged the front seat but I was in the rear with the others. I had a quick conversation with the couple in the taxi which quickly turned into competitive touristing. He wanted to know how many zip lines I had done, how many different countries we were traveling to. It was a weird thing to be competitive about. I didn't play along and he quickly lost interest in me. After that couple was dropped off I got to listen to the family in the van. They obviously had a lot of money, and the 14 year old son obviously wanted me to know his dad had a lot of money. I was embarrassed for him. I think his parents were too. Hopefully he grows up before he inherits the money.

Despacio

We got to our hotel and checked in quickly. It had rained a little on the drive in but had turned back to being pretty nice. Stacey and Aram had described a loop they liked to walk from the hotel we were staying in so we decided to give it shot.

Leafcutter Ants doing their thing.

We had a very nice walked. We walked down the hill to the beach. We saw a couple of long lines of leafcutter ants and we got to see a couple of capuchin monkeys too. The beach was nice. With the dark clouds out over the pacific if was a very pretty setting. While walking down the beach there was a guy riding a horse with a couple of horses with him. It looked like he was offering rides.

Pacific

Walking up from the beach the guy with the horses passed us. He had picked up a customer. Strangely, she was riding with him instead of on one of the other horses.

On horseback

We looped around and got back to our hotel just as it was getting dark. We had heard the Agua Azul was a good place to eat with a nice view so we headed out there for dinner. It was a nice place to eat and the view was pretty good although while eating a storm rolled in so we didn't get to watch the sunset.

By the time we finished eating it was pouring. To drag things out a bit we indulged in dessert but the rain just kept coming. We decided it wasn't that long of a walk back to the hotel, so we walked back getting more or less soaked. At least it was a warm rain.

Costa Rica - Arenal to San Jose

2011-12-18T15:41:00.000-05:00

Today looked more promising than yesterday so we decided to head over to do a canopy walk and zip line as long as the weather held.

Walking back to our room from breakfast we were treated to a toucan getting his (or her) breakfast as well.

Banana for breakfast.

We checked out and drove over to the sky walk / zip line place. Mary didn't want to do the zip line but Stacey, Aram and I did. We got an 11:30 AM slot which gave us about 90 minutes to do the canopy walk. That seemed a bit close but we thought we could make it OK.

Arenal, Volcano

We were lucky and by the time we started the hike the weather was very nice. The volcano even made an appearance for about 30 minutes. The hike was nice. The vegetation was so lush it was hard to believe. We looked for wildlife but didn't see much other than the very pretty butterflies, and a lot of birds I didn't recognize.

There were suspension bridges that you walked over that put you up at the top of the canopy. They also provided some excellent views of the volcano and Lake Arenal below.

One of the suspension bridges.

Lake Arenal

Coming down from a suspension bridge

We finished the hike just in time to get suited up for the zip line. They outfitted us in climbing harnesses and a large, heavy pulley that would attach us to the zip lines.

Then we waited to go on a gondola up to the top of the zip line.

Very serious about our zip lining

The zip line was very fun. There were a total of 8 lines to go down. Some were very short, but the longest was close to 90 seconds of zipping along over the trees. They said you got up to 45 mph. I'm not sure it was that fast, but it was plenty fast enough.

Riding one of the longer zip lines.

I wanted to hold the camera while zipping, but they wouldn't let me. Instead they attached it to my harness. The result was this (mostly sky) video. At least you can hear what it sounded like.

Look at the sky!

After zip lining we headed back to the hotel to collect our bags and then to zip back to San Jose before it got dark. We had heard horror stories about the roads in Costa Rica, but they seemed fine. Stacey was a very good driver, and we made it home in about 3 hours without any incident.

Costa Rica - Arenal

2011-12-17T13:10:00.000-05:00

We woke up to a cloudy day, but it looked like it might break later in the morning. We took a short walk around the hotel looking for any wildlife we might see. We did see a toucan but it was a long ways away and we didn't get a very good view of it.

By the time we had finished breakfast it was pouring and didn't look like it would let up. We did the only reasonable thing we could do - get into the hot springs.

Staying warm in the rain under the hot springs.

After an hour or so in the pool we decided to do a waterfall hike that Stacey and Aram had done before. We stayed in our bathing suits and headed to the falls.

We hiked down the path to the falls and the rain just kept coming. If anything it was now raining harder.

Hiking to the falls.

The hike down to the falls was nice. They had put in concrete steps most of the way and the rain kept the number of people there to a minimum.

The falls were impressive

With all the rain the waterfall was impressive. I guess on nice days people swim in the pool at the bottom of the waterfall but there was no way I would want to get in that water today. I don't think you would stay above the water very long.

We hiked back up and the rain did start to slow down a bit. By the time we got back to the top and the parking lot it was more of a light drizzle than the hard rain it had been.

Arenal Waterfall

We drove back to La Fortuna to eat an early lunch. We all had casada's at a local restaurant. It was probably the best meal we had while in Costa Rica.

Bottle Christmas Tree in La Fortuna.

After lunch we headed back to the resort hoping the rain would let up. It started raining harder again so Aram and I headed back to the hot springs. Mary and Stacey decided they had been soaked long enough. Aram and I hung out in the pool another few hours. We definitely got our hot springs money's worth.

After 6 straight hours of being wet I finally changed into something dry. We decided we just wanted a simple meal for dinner. Mary and I just had a nacho plate at the bar and turned in early. Overall a very nice relaxing day. Even with the rain we had a great time.

Relaxed

Costa Rica - San Jose to Arenal

2011-12-16T12:52:00.000-05:00

We had plans to fly up to La Fortuna and spend a couple of nights and days in the Arenal area of Costa Rica. Stacey and Aram were going to work and then drive up to meet us there for the weekend. We had the morning to wander around the neighborhood a bit more. We ventured a little further and we also figured out where the pirate taxi stand was to get a ride to the airport for our flight.

Pirate Taxi

We caught the pirate taxi to the airport a little early, but we figured we wouldn't mind being at the airport a little early. It was a quick 20 minute ride. It's pretty amazing that driving works at all. There is a level of aggressiveness that I'm not used to. I guess the closest I've seen in the U.S. is driving in Boston.

View from Pavas Airport Tarmac.

We checked in then went up to the airport restaurant. We each got a nice plate of rice and beans while waiting. Our flight ended up leaving almost an hour later than scheduled. A large tour group came in before us and it seemed like they used their plane to take that group to their destination, then flew back to do the scheduled flight.

Once on the plane, a very small Cessna, the flight only took 22 minutes. We sat just behind the pilots and had a great view for the entire trip.

Flying to La Fortuna.

Approaching the La Fortuna Runway.

We caught a taxi to our hotel, and got there almost the same time as Aram and Stacey. They had left work a little earlier than planned and made great time.

After checking in, we had to enjoy the hot springs fed pools. They had a series of pools / hot tubs, that ranged from almost too warm to sit in to pretty cold. It was fun to jump between them as you got hot or cold. They also had a wet bar which was pretty fun.

Having fun in the hot springs.

No Love Scenes

We went back to La Fortuna to walk around town a little and eat dinner. We ate at the Lava Lounge. They didn't even try to pretend they were anything but a tourist restaurant. The food was good though, and we had a good time.

Going to Costa Rica

2011-12-15T12:37:00.000-05:00

Ready to go

We hit the jackpot this year when my mom volunteered to watch the boys while we went to Costa Rica for a week. Today we took off for the longest vacation we've done together in over 8 years.

We got to Dulles a couple of hours before our early flight. Traveling when you only have to worry about yourself feels luxurious. We got to Costa Rica via Atlanta without any troubles. After a quick stop at immigration and customs we were out of the airport and met our friends Aram and Stacey.

Apartment Gardens

They took us to their apartment in Santa Ana so we could hang out for the afternoon. After relaxing for a bit we went for a short walk around the neighborhood.

Scoop It

The walk was nice although we were surprised how cool it felt. We both kept our long pants on for the afternoon. We saw the local Catholic Church but didn't venture too far because we didn't have our bearings yet.

Happy Dogs.

Stacey and Aram came home after work and we all went out for a great italian dinner. For our first day of vacation it was very nice.

Children's Museum of Richmond, Short Pump

2011-12-11T14:23:00.001-05:00

We had to make a trip to Short Pump to exchange something at a store there. We decided that we should do something in the Richmond area if we were going to be that close. When we looked into things we learned there is now a branch of the Children's Museum of Richmond at the shopping plaza we had to go to.

Making weather.

We went to the museum because it opened before the store. Walking in I suddenly realized how much older our kids are. Sometimes you forget you aren't in the same place in life you were a few years ago. The boys were good, but children's museums are generally geared to younger kids. This one in particular.

There was a big train in the middle of the museum they could ride but it was going to be 90 minutes before that was open. I was skeptical we could kill that much time without the boys getting totally bored.

Shoveling "Sand".

We burned through most of the exhibits pretty quickly. I was worried. Then we found the art room. It saved us. The boys both decided they wanted to paint.

Eli does a Christmas Tree

Cyrus made a "flag".

We ended up doing that for quite a bit of time and then the train was open. They waited in line and got on the first ride of the morning.

A couple of happy boys on the train.... finally.

Once the train ride was over we decided to head out. It seems we might not be going to this kind of museum for a while now. The boys are just too old and big and it isn't interesting to them any more. To me this is a good thing. I'm ready to hit more science and history oriented things, or as Eli said "Kings Dominion". Not exactly a museum, but probably more fun.

Lights on the Lawn

2011-12-04T18:48:00.000-05:00

Rotunda in Lights

We usually finish dinner pretty early on weekends. After that we're left with a few hours before bedtime to fill with something. Sitting around the house doesn't end well usually because the kids end up bouncing off the walls. Tonight we decided to head over to the lawn at UVa to see how it was lit up this year.

The Rotunda and Pavilions.

The lights are nice. They've done the Rotunda in LED lights that are almost blue in color compared to the older lights on the rest of the Pavilions. At first I didn't care for it too much, it seemed out of place.

The longer we were there the more I liked it. The Rotunda is the focus of the Lawn so why not make it stick out.

We wandered down the Lawn to Homer and back checking out the Christmas trees the different Pavilions had in them. They were all nicely decorated.

Obligatory bokeh shot.

Checking out the lights

The boys figured out that the LED lights were actually flickering very quickly. As they waved their hands in front of them it gave a strange effect much like watching helicopter blades on a movie. If you moved your hands just fast enough it looked like a stop-action effect.

Waving hands in front of flickering lights.

Charlottesville Gingerbread Houses

2011-12-03T16:38:00.001-05:00

There was a gingerbread house competition at the Omni Hotel on the downtown mall this afternoon. We were down there for a birthday party and decided to go in and take a look.

Christmas Train

There were a lot of entries, over 40. They ranged from simple and classic looking to amazingly elaborate. The theme was to present your favorite fairy tale. Many of the entries were of Rapunzel but there were several others as well such as Little Boy Blue, The Old Woman in a Shoe and The Three Pigs.

There was one in particular of a huge purple dragon with its head through a castle. In front of the castle was a sleeping princess. I didn't get a very good picture of it, but it was very well done and I suspect will win the contest. They were all good and it was fun to check them out.

Ice Skating

2011-11-26T16:30:00.000-05:00

Cyrus on the ice

The Main Street Arena switched back to ice for the winter recently so we decided to do some ice skating over the long holiday weekend.

We got there a few minutes after open skate started and I thought we might make it 30-40 minutes. The boys both really surprised us and we ended up skating almost the entire 1:45 minutes.

I'm too sexy for my sweatshirt

Eli is pretty good now at moving forward and not falling too often. He had a lot of fun just looping around the rink. Cyrus started out pretty shaky. He had the buckets to lean on but he just wasn't moving much at all. It seemed like he was going to want to stop after a lap or two.

After a couple of loops suddenly Cyrus seemed to get it. Next thing we know he's cruising around the rink (with the buckets still) and he's going pretty fast. Once Cyrus got the hang of things we all had a lot of fun. We skated until our open session was done.

Everybody's happy

Our plan was to wait for the Zamboni machine, but they ended up not bringing it out between open skates. The boys were OK with it though because we still had some good hot chocolate after our skate.

Barracks Road Parade 2011

2011-11-25T10:12:00.000-05:00

Elmo in the Parade

Continuing our Thanksgiving tradition of doing the same thing every year we headed down to Barracks Road to watch the parade again this year. The boys enjoy it, and it's a fun way to spend an hour or so in the morning.

This year was similar to last year although it seemed there were a lot more beauty contest winners in the parade. "Little Miss Scottsville", "Tiny Miss Albermarle", etc. I don't remember quite so many of those in prior years.

The boys enjoyed the Monticello High School Marching band and their favorite again this year was Elmo and Cookie Monster riding a train float.

Playing in the Parade.

We all enjoyed some of the candy the parade participants handed out and all enjoyed the little parade. We'll probably go back again next year.

Turkey Trot XXX

2011-11-24T09:00:00.000-05:00

We've done the Boar's Head Inn Turkey Trot for the last four years and have always had a great time doing it. Mary's parents and sister also came to enjoy the run/walk.

Steve's Jazz Hands

Pre-race group shot.

We got to the start area a little early and had fun looking at some of the costumes people were wearing this year. My favorites were the gorilla and the turkeys.

In the past we've usually split into a couple of groups. Some of us do the entire run as a walk, and some skip the super-hilly parts and cut things a little short. The kids are now getting old enough that we split into three groups. Sam, Leigh and Eli wanted to run the whole way so I joined them. Mary, Steve and Cyrus did the entire walk with everyone else cutting things a little short.

The Start

We managed to convince everyone to walk together for the first 1/2 mile. At that point we were off. Eli, Sam and Leigh all had fun running for a bit, walking for a bit, then running more. At about 2 miles Leigh seemed tired of running but Eli and Sam wanted to run the rest of the distance. I made them walk a bit more and then let them go ahead. They took off.

I walked the rest of the way with Leigh. She was tired but did a great job of not complaining and not getting upset that her brother and cousin had taken off. We talked and had fun heading into the finish.

At the finish Eli and Sam were waiting for us. They were excited they had run the rest of the way to the finish. We went through the shoot and got our finisher ribbons. We each got a bagel and some hot water (no other beverages available). The kids were excited about things and already talking about doing it faster next year.

Post-race snacking.

UVa vs. UT (Women's Basketball)

2011-11-20T17:54:00.000-05:00

Looking good for UVa

We were looking for something to do today so I happened to check if there were any games going on at UVa. Basketball snuck up on me this year, so I was surprised to see UVa Women's Basketball had a game against Tennessee. It's always fun to watch a good team play, and Tennessee was ranked 3rd in the nation so we decided to go.

We got there just as the game started. It was a great game. Initially, Tennessee was playing a little better than UVa and it seemed like it was going to be a good game, but UVa would lose. Then with about 10 minutes to play in the first half UVa came alive. They tied it up and then pulled ahead for a few minutes. It was exciting.

By the end of the first half everything was tied up again. We were treated to some dogs catching frisbees at halftime and that was pretty entertaining. After the dogs we got some popcorn so the boys were very happy.

Cyrus likes the popcorn.

The first part of the second half UVa came storming out. At one point they had a 10 point lead and it looked like they might run away with it. Tennessee finally pulled themselves together and tied things up with about 3 minutes to go.

This is where the UVa teams I've watched in the past usually fall apart and the other team crushes them. Instead, they hung in there. At the end of the game UVa had a chance to win with a buzzer beater, but missed and the game went into overtime.

After the short break Tennessee won the tip and quickly got a three-pointer. It didn't look good. But then, Tennessee was the team that fell apart. UVa ended up outplaying them the entire overtime. The final score was 69-64.

Eli liked the end result.

Mary and I commented afterwards that it was the first time we could remember seeing UVa beat a team they weren't supposed to. It was fun.

Rivanna Trail Work Party Take 2

2011-11-12T12:00:00.000-05:00

Signage for the new trail.

Cyrus and I had a great time at the Rivanna Trail work party in October. This month they were putting in a new section of trail that will eliminate a long road walk that has always seemed out of place with the rest of the trail.

I decided to leave Cyrus home today because he was fighting a cold, and it seemed like this might be a bit more work than the last one.

Removing old barbed wire.

I got there a bit before most volunteers and was set to work removing old barbed wired from several spots that needed it. I worked with Tom most of the morning and we had fun removing the old stuff, and figuring out the best way to tie the loose ends back to the posts for the parts we weren't going to remove.

In addition to making the new trail they were going to put in a rock hop to get through a creek in the middle of where the trail was going.

Morning "rock-hop" was in need of work.

I wasn't paying too much attention to what others were doing. After about an hour I looked up and couldn't believe the number of volunteers they had there and how much work they had done. It seemed like there were at least 30 volunteers there and they were all working hard.

It was a full crew working on the new trail.

Tom and I made our way around removing all the old barbed wire. We ended up collecting quite a pile of it.

Old barbed wire.

At the end of three hours I did a quick walk along the new trail to see how it was looking. I couldn't believe how much got done in such a short time. The rock hop was particularly impressive. They had people bringing large rocks from all along the new trail to build it. The new trail is going to be a great addition to the Rivanna Trail. I'm looking forward to riding or hiking it in the near future.

Afternoon new and improved rock hop.

Newly mowed trail.

New sign showing the way.

Morning Bus Stop Fun

2011-11-10T08:00:00.000-05:00

Fun at the bus stop

I pull morning bus stop duty. Morning at the bus stop ranges from fun (throwing the football around) to interesting (counting the number of contrails we see) to boring (just sitting around looking at each other bored) to crazy (banging on the bus stop bench with sticks making so much noise I can't hear myself think).

This morning the kids all decided to throw leaves at each other. This kind of thing usually turns into me being the bad guy because the kids are starting to hide behind parked cars and running out into the street, or someone is going to get hurt or something like that.

For some reason they were good today. They all stayed out of the street. No one was too aggressive and they were all just having a good time. It was one of those rare mornings where I didn't look at my watch once before the bus came.

I'm sure they'll want to do it again tomorrow and it will devolve into something I'll have to stop. But for this morning it was nice.

Loop De Ville

2011-11-05T20:05:00.000-04:00

Every year the Rivanna Trails Foundation (http://rivannatrailsfoundation.camp7.org/) does a one-day hike the entire Rivanna Trail event called Loop De Ville. Mary did about half of the hike last year and has been wanting to do the entire hike since. Grandma came through big-time today and watched the boys last night and all day today so we could do the hike together.

At the start.

The hike was great. We started with 20 people from Riverview Park at 6:30. It was still dark, but the sky was clear and the stars were great. By the time we got to Free Bridge the sun was up enough we could put away the headlamps for the rest of the hike. It was still pretty cold, but not so cold that you were uncomfortable while hiking.

The full crew looking at the crossing to Penn Park.

We walked along at a pretty leisurely pace to Bodo's on Rte 29. After stopping for a bite to eat 14 of use continued for the rest of the hike. It was just a great day to be out hiking. With some fuel in us, we cranked around O-Hill and past the Forestry Service headquarters. The stream crossing to get to Stribling was a little tricky but everyone made it just fine.

Regrouping

Heading to Stribling

After we got to Stribling Ave we were treated to walking through a section of the trail that will be built next weekend. For years you've had to do a road walk up Stribling Ave and then down Sunset Ave to connect the trail. The Rivanna Trails Foundation finally got permission from a landowner to cut a trail across their land so the road walk won't be necessary anymore. There was a stream crossing that was a little dicey for some of us. Two of us took our shoes off and stood in the cold water to help those who weren't as stable on their feet. The cold water felt good.

Once across the stream we stopped for lunch at the pedestrian bridge at the bottom of Sunset Ave. It felt good to sit in the sun and eat some lunch.

Lunchbreak.

After lunch we had about 6 - 7 miles to go. Everyone was doing well so we marched along. The rest of the trip continued to be just as great. Everyone got along well, and everyone was fit enough to make it without having to worry.

We ended up back at Riverview Park a little after 3:30 PM. About 9 hours of hiking for the 19 mile loop. Mary and I were both tired but both felt good. We might have to make it an annual tradition.

The full crew.

Full slide show of the day below:
Hover over a picture to stop the slideshow

Halloween on the Lawn 2011

2011-10-31T19:39:00.000-04:00

Halloween on the Lawn

This is our fifth year of going to Halloween on the Lawn at UVa. We still all look forward to it. This year Eli decided to be a Jedi Penguin and Cyrus decided to be a Ninja. We picked Cyrus up at school and made the short walk over to the Lawn.

Ninja

Jedi Penguin

We got there pretty early and got in line to get some candy. We made it to about six or seven doors and the boys had had enough waiting in line for candy. After that we were able to just walk down the Lawn and enjoy the costumes. We ran into a few of Cyrus' classmates and they all had fun pointing out different costumes to each other.

Look at that one

Cyrus and his classmates, Nate and Ian.

Showing off mad Jedi and Ninja skilz. I'm not sure about the wisdom of light saber fighting with a lollipop.

As we got to the south end of the Lawn there was a pretty large pile of leaves all the kids were playing in. We hung out there for a good 45 minutes letting the kids play in the leaves.

Playing in the leaves.

We finally decided to head back home. Walking back up the lawn we saw a few more interesting costumes. The full Stormtrooper outfit seemed like quite a commitment. I think we've seen him before but the boys were willing to get their picture with him this year:

WIth the Stormtrooper.

The scene from the Rotunda.

Some of my favorites:

Water Polo

2011-10-30T12:59:00.000-04:00

Maryland vs. UNC

While at the pool yesterday there was a water polo tournament going on. By the time we finished swimming ourselves we were too hungry to stick around and watch. This morning I looked into it and the Atlantic Division Championship match was going to happen this morning. We headed over to check it out. The championship game was between UNC and the University of Maryland. When we got there the first period was over and UNC was winning 6-0.

In the second period Maryland played well. They scored four goals and UNC only scored two. It looked like Maryland might catch up.

Maryland taking a shot.

Then the third period started. UNC had one player who was much better than anyone else in the pool. He had sat out the second period, but once he was in the pool it was obvious that UNC was going to win. It was amazing to watch someone totally dominate a game like that. By the end of the third period UNC was winning 15-6.

Four the fourth period the UNC dominator didn't start the period. Maryland once again scored a quick few goals and he decided that was enough of that. Once back in the game it was more or less over. In the end UNC won 18-10. Without that one player it probably would of been a different outcome.

We had a lot of fun watching the game. The kids liked it a lot too.

Jukebox at Anna's

2011-10-29T18:28:00.000-04:00

Making the Choice

We (Mary and I ) have been going to Anna's Pizza in Charlottesville for over 20 years. First as college students so we could maybe get served if we were lucky, and now because it's a great place to take the kids. It doesn't hurt that we all like their pizza quite a bit.

One of the highlights is make choices on the jukebox. The boys love it. We seem to be stuck on Jimmy Buffet and Aerosmith, but the kids have fun choosing, and I can put up with not so great 80's music if it makes them happy.

Fall Fun Fair

2011-10-28T21:12:00.000-04:00

Welcome to the Fun Fair

Tonight was the annual Fall Fun Fair event at Eli's school. Mary was signed up to sell tickets so we headed there a bit early. It was cool and threatening to rain when we got there. The boys and I headed over to play on the playground for the 30 minutes we had before things opened.

We had fun playing on the playground for about 20 minutes then the rain started to fall. We thought we should head in a bit early and we'd wait until things got swinging inside. When we got inside they had most of the activities going so the boys decided they'd like to do the moon bounce first. They waited in the short line and climbed in. They ended up getting close to 15 minutes in the moon bounce before the line was long enough to ask them to leave. It was nice they got such a long turn in there. Usually they get about 2 minutes and then complain the whole night about how short the time was.

Waiting for the moon bounce.

After the moon bounce we got some pizza for dinner and ate in Eli's classroom. It was the first I've seen his room this year and it was nice to see where he spends his days at school. Mary joined us for the end of dinner having done her volunteer duties. We headed to the face painting after dinner to see what the boys would choose.

Eli got an American flag on his cheek and Cyrus decided to get a spider on his hand. He didn't want his face painted.

American Flag on the Cheek

Spider on the Hand

The boys decided they wanted to do the moon bounce again. On the way back to the gym we ran into Eli's teacher and she gave us a coupon for ten more tickets. It was very nice of her to give us that. We got the extra tickets and headed to the moon bounce. The boys got another turn, but the lines were longer and they got a shorter turn. They were happy with it though. With our extra tickets we decided to head to the hay bale maze. The boys each did that twice and then we were out of tickets.

We headed home and everyone had had a good night. Usually I leave these things feeling completely frazzled from the chaos they generate. For some reason this year's fun fair seemed more mellow, or maybe I'm just getting used to the craziness. Whatever the reason, it was the most fun I've had at one of these events.

Greenfield Farm Field Trip

2011-10-26T12:49:00.000-04:00

Running to the hay

Cyrus' daycare had a field trip up to Greenfield Farm today and I got to join him on the trip. His class is only 10 kids this year and we had 9 adults there so the ratio made it so I really only had to deal with Cyrus.

It was a bit cool when we got there but it warmed up quite a bit while there. They started us off by letting the kids climb all over the hay rolls they had lined up in a field. The kids loved it.

Playing on the hay rolls

More hay fun.

After the hay rolls we heded to the big slide. And it really is a big slide. They have this black tubing about 2 ft in diameter and I think it must be 25 ft long. By the time we got over there the kids were shooting out of the thing and having a great time.

The big slide

Ejected

After watching the kids have so much fun I had to check it out as well. It was a fun slide. Almost fun enough to think about building our own :).

We then headed to the corn field maze. Trisha, Cyrus' teacher, led the way through the maze. I could of spent some time in there really exploring, but it was just before lunch and the kids were getting bored quickly. Somehow she managed to get us out of there pretty quickly.

In the corn maze.

We then checked out some of the animals they had there. The kids liked the donkeys the best, but they also had some goats, chickens, pigs and a turkey. Then it was time for lunch. We ate a quick lunch of chicken sandwiches and the kids got to play on the spider net structure.

On the spider net.

After everyone had eaten and played they did a little craft where the kids made necklaces with beads to represent different things at the farm: yellow for sun, blue for sky, green for grass and trees, orange for pumpkins, etc. The kids loved it.

Making the bead necklaces.

As the last event we climbed on a trailer loaded with hay for a hayride. The ride was nice and the scenery was very pretty.

On the hayride.

Green county scenery.

We finished up the hayride and headed out. I have to say it was one of the best field trips I've been on with the daycare. Every kid was well behaved, they all had fun, and it was filled with enough activity to get everyone nice and tired. We managed to get the kids back to the school without falling asleep and they all had good naps that afternoon.

Everyone doing their scary face.

Crabtree Falls Hike

2011-10-23T16:55:00.000-04:00

At the start

We headed out to Crabtree Falls this morning to do a little hike. We had been out there once before and had enjoyed the little bit of the hike we had done. We were pretty sure the boys were now old enough to make it to the top. As a bonus, we were hoping the fall colors would be pretty.

The first 500ft or so of the hike is on a paved trail to the first view of the falls. That was pretty easy :) We stopped for a very quick look and then headed on up the more challenging part of the hike.

Lower Crabtree Falls. This is the view from the first viewpoint.

Once past the paved part of the trail things are a little more like a hike, but the trail is still well maintained. There were a few other groups of people going up too, but it didn't feel crowded and we didn't see anyone doing anything stupid like the last time we had hiked here.

Still a nice hike after the paved section.

Some pretty water along the way.

About half way up the hike the boys were starting to lag. They had done really well at Sharp Top, but they didn't seem as interested in the falls. We stopped and had a couple of candy bars and some other snacks. That seemed to do the trick. They both perked up and were great the rest of the hike to the top. The falls at the bottom were nice, but near the top they were impressive. There was a much wider and taller section of falls than at the bottom. It helped that you had to expend a little energy to get there too.

Upper Crabtree Falls

We hiked all the way to the top to enjoy the views. It was pretty looking across the valley but the colors seem a bit muted to me this year. Maybe we were just too early, but overall things just seem to be less vibrant than I remember last year.

View from the top.

The boys were happy to have made it to the top. They were rewarded with a sucker each.

Happy to be at the top.

The hike down was nice too. There were a lot more people heading up as we were going down. We hadn't arrived super early, but I guess anything before noon is "early" on a Sunday. We saw a couple of obligatory idiots that had climbed off the trail and were standing on slippery rocks next to the falls. I don't understand what people are thinking.

We made it back to the car just fine. The boys were still excited they had made it to the top. Cyrus quickly zonked out on the drive home. A 3.5 mile hike up and down the side of a mountain is a lot of work for a little boy. We're not sure it phased Eli. He talked away the whole way home.

Training Wheels, We Don't Need no Stinkin' Training Wheels

2011-10-16T21:04:00.001-04:00

I've been meaning to do this for a while, but finally got around to it tonight. Cyrus decided to try and ride Tiger without training wheels about two weeks ago and that more or less settled it. He hasn't looked back. I finally got around to making a video of him riding. So without further adieu:

Pumpkin Carving 2011

2011-10-14T20:51:00.000-04:00

We had some friends over to do some pumpkin carving. Eli and Cyrus have been asking to carve pumpkins for over a month now and were pretty excited.

Mary follow's Eli's lines.

I did the easy part of cutting the tops off the pumpkins and scooping out the guts. Eli didn't mind reaching in to get the innards out, but Cyrus wanted nothing to do with it. "It feels yucky" was the quote.

Ready to be scooped out.

When Cyrus passed on scooping out his pumpkin our friends kids had no problem jumping in instead. They had it cleared out in no time.

Get that goop out.

Once we had our three pumpkins done we had to take them out for the obligatory show-off shot.

We're all so proud.

Rivanna Trail Work Party

2011-10-08T12:30:00.000-04:00

Getting final instructions before the trail work party.

We use the Rivanna Trail a lot as a family. I ride or run on it once or twice a week. We hike it. Mary rides or runs on it. It was one of the major reasons we decided to move back to Charlottesville. Because it's such an integral part of our lives here, I've felt for a while that I should do a trail work party. I finally got around to doing a trail work party. Cyrus decided to come along as well. I wasn't sure how long he would last, but it seemed working for one hour was better than not at all.

Walking to the trail party.

We showed up on time at 8:45. There were a few other people already there, including our friend Bob who was leading the work party. After a few minutes of waiting there were 12 of us total. We gathered up some tools and headed out to where we were going to finish a new trail section.

Cyrus checking out where we were going to build a new trail.

We worked for about three hours, and cleared a 100yd section of new trail. They needed to re-route the Rivanna Trail to accommodate some creek widening and re-routing that was going to happen this winter. Cyrus did great. He seemed to like the work and was actually helpful. After we copped the larger stuff down and ran the fire rakes over the ground, he went behind us and cleared up all the little weeds and roots that were sticking up in the trail.

Checking out the new trail.

Working after the fire rake has gone through.

Once we were done the trail looked good. Cyrus had made it through the entire work party and worked just as hard as all the adults the entire time. He enjoyed himself and as we were walking back to the tool shed asked if we could do it again. I think we will be back for sure.

Back to the tool shed on the new trail.

While most of us were making the new trail, a couple of guys moved a bridge section from the old trail to the new trail. They also re-graded some of the trail so some steps were no longer necessary. I was impressed with how much work they had done in such a short time.

"New" bridge on the new trail.

Carter's Mountain Apple Orchard

2011-10-02T12:55:00.001-04:00

Looking back from the orchard.

It's prime apple season and we thought it would nice to have some fresh local apples at home. Cyrus' daycare had gone to Carter's Mountain Orchard a couple of weeks ago and we all wanted to visit there. We decided to make sure to be complete freaks at Carter's Mountain so we rode our bikes there.

It's about 7 miles from our house to the orchard which is not bad at all. The climb up to the actual orchard is a bit steep, but it's not very long (about a mile) and it's gravel so cars drive very slowly up the hill. Of course as soon as we got on the gravel section of road a man driving his truck down the hill felt compelled to stop and tell us to be careful.

[Begin Rant Here]
I'm not quite sure how to react that that kind of advice. I think it's nice he was concerned, but other than not riding up the hill how would he suggest we be more careful. We're all wearing reflective clothing, we have more blinking lights than you should, and we're as far to the right of the road as you can be without riding off the edge. Ironically, the hill up to the orchard is probably the safest part of the entire ride. Cars are moving about 10 mph and the road generally has enough of a shoulder that we can get off the road if we need to.
[End Rant Here]

We made it safely to the top, locked our bikes and then headed out to the orchard to get some apples. They had just opened the Fuji trees so we decided that's what we would get.

Cyrus sees a good one

We picked a couple of bags worth. We also each ate an apple while picking and they were delicious. A fresh apple is so much better than what you get at the supermarket.

Fujis

After filling our bags we headed back to pay for them. It was a bit windy and we were all feeling chilled. To help warm up before the long descent down the mountain we stopped and had some hot cider. Everyone enjoyed it and we found a spot that was out of the wind so we could warm up.

Warming up with hot cider.

We loaded the apples up on the xtracycle, and headed home. Once again we managed the road down without getting hurt and had a pleasant ride home.

Bouldering @ UVa

2011-09-30T12:23:00.000-04:00

New UVa Bouldering Wall

They opened a new bouldering wall at the UVa Outdoor Recreation Center. We were a little skeptical because it's just an old gas station they converted years ago to hold canoes and other outdoor gear. We were pleasantly surprised. They did a great job with the space they had.

They built the wall along two walls in one of the garage bays. It was plenty big enough to get some good problems on there. We went right as they opened and were the only ones in the room. Of course that meant we both fried ourselves in 20 minutes of climbing.

New holds.

We both stuck to V0 and V1 problems and they were plenty hard enough for us this time. I'm sure we'll both be back again.

My only complaint is the hours are so limited. You basically have Monday and Friday afternoons to use the wall. It's too bad they couldn't charge a small fee and keep it open a bit more.

UVa vs. Miami Volleyball

2011-09-25T20:11:00.000-04:00

UVa vs. Miami

We noticed there was a UVa volleyball game this afternoon and decided to check it out. We needed a reason to get out of the house with the boys this afternoon and they were excited to watch the game. We arrived mid-way through the first game. The score was tied and the very first volley we watched was impressive. The teams seemed pretty evenly matched.

UVa Volleyball

In the end Miami was just a better team. All three matches were good, but Miami won all three. UVa showed a little spark here and there, but it seemed anytime there was a long volley the point would go to Miami in the end. It was enjoyable though. I like watching people who are good at what they do, and both teams seemed pretty good to me.

The boys weren't quite as impressed. They paid attention for the first game, and most of the second game. By the time the third game was started they were done with it.

Cyrus was a little bored.

It was raining so hard out we decided to make them stay. They did OK, and weren't acting up too badly, but they were both ready to go by the time Miami scored the last point.

Back to the Track

2011-09-25T08:08:00.000-04:00

They finished the new Burley Middle School track about a month ago. We had to check it out this morning. I've been impressed with how many people I've seen using it when riding home from work in the evenings. I had no idea there was so much pent up demand for a new track. I guess if you build it.....

To the Zoo with you

2011-09-18T14:15:00.000-04:00

Waiting for the Red Line

We went to DC this weekend to visit with some friends and to spend Sunday morning with my brother and his family. We ended up parking our car at West Falls Church and doing the Metro into the city. It was a nice was to do things for a change. We had all enjoyed out last visit to the National Zoo so we figured we go there again and meet Dan there.

Eli wanted to go to the reptile house so we headed down the hill. We stopped in the great ape house and it was good we did. The orangoutangs put on a great show for all of us. It was feeding time while we were there so we go to watch them eat.

Watching the orangoutangs.

They spred some food on paper they hung around the cage and they also hid some food in paper towel roles. The orangoutangs had a lot of fun with that. They also hid a coconut in there. When one of them finally found the coconut, he ran to the other part of the cage to try and hide it from his cell mate. The one without the coconut soon caught on there was a better meal to be had. They then proceeded to chase each other around the cage for about 10 minutes playing keep away with the coconut. It was pretty funny.

Feeding time, pre-coconut discovery.

After watching the apes, we went into the reptile house. Usually it seems nobody is moving in those kinds of exhibits but a lot of the snakes and lizards were pretty active while we were watching. Eli was hoping they would have a king cobra, but was happy seeing some crocodiles instead.

We've figured out with things in DC, it's best to keep visits to short bursts. After the apes and the reptiles we metro'd back to Foggy Bottom to eat lunch at the new Whole Foods. Aynat met us there with Lihi (who had been sleeping) and we all had a nice lunch sitting outside. Lihi even showed her latest trick, walking.

Lihi's new trick.

U-8 Soccer

2011-09-17T12:57:00.000-04:00

Pre-game instructions.

Eli had his first U-8 SOCA soccer game this afternoon. He was pretty nervous before the game, and was hoping his team would win. Of course at his age they are actively discouraged from keeping score, but all the kids do, and most of the parents do too.

We got there a bit before the game so Eli warmed up with some of his team mates. Then the game started. They played the green team, and frankly they got crushed. There were a couple of kids on the other team that were very good soccer players. I'm sure they would of run circles around me.

On the pitch.

The good news is Eli and the rest of his team didn't seem to mind at all. They all seemed to keep having fun even if they were getting scored on a lot. I was happy to see that. I also thought his coach did a good job of giving the kids useful instruction without getting too over the top about it.

Having fun.

After the game Eli was super excited. He had had a great time and was already talking about his next game. I suspect over the course of 10 games the whole team will get quite a bit better.

Greenbrier Fall Picnic

2011-09-16T18:52:00.000-04:00

New Playground Fun

Eli's school had their annual back to school fall picnic tonight. We weren't planning on going originally, but Eli came home really wanting to go. It seems like his classmates were all going and they were all excited for cotton candy. Mary and I relented and decided we'd ride the bikes over there for dinner tonight and we'd even let the kids indulge in some cotton candy.

We got there and things were in full swing. We each had a hot dog, some chips and carrots. Then the boys were off to check out the new playground. We've reached an age where we can let them go play without having to hover. It's great. Mary and I got to talk to a few of the parents we knew there and the kids got to burn off some energy.

I finally got in line for cotton candy but by the time I got to the front it was all sold out. Cyrus was more disappointed than Eli, but he quickly recovered. It seems we're on the hook for the next time we go somewhere and they have cotton candy.

Playground.

Sharp Top Hike

2011-09-11T11:03:00.000-04:00

The hike begins

We were all up pretty early. The neighbors had some kids that were sleeping in their own tent and without any parental supervision the morning quiet hours weren't adhered to very well. It wasn't too bad, it was just surprising the lack of intervention by their parents when the kids were screaming at 6 AM.

After breakfast we decided to head over to see what time the bus started running up to Sharp Top. We figured we'd hike up the trail until people seemed like they were getting a bit tired and then turn around and take the bus to the top. Of course there were no signs posted about anything. I guess you don't want to commit to a schedule if you don't have to.

Start of hike

The kids were great hiking up the trail. They just marched along having fun trying to jump off the rocks that were along the trail. We had some fruit chew type treats that they would ask to have about every 10 minutes, and with that as motivation they both marched all the way up.

Sharp Top Trail.

Flowers along the trail.

We got to the sign where the trail split to go to Buzzards Nest or the top. We turned towards the top with only .2 miles to go. The last bit was rockier than the rest of the trail and they had put quite a few handrails in, but the kids continued to do great.

The view from the top was spectacular. It was a perfect morning. There were some low clouds in the valleys but otherwise it was completely clear.

We all sat down and had some pop tarts and enjoyed looking out over the Blue Ridge Mountains. Cyrus must of been a bit hungry, after eating an entire pop tart he looked at Mary slyly and said, "Mom, I'm pretty sure I could eat another one of those."

View from the top of Sharp Top

Looking at Peaks of Otter Lodge

We hung out for a while then headed down. We thought we might catch the bus but we had no idea what it's schedule was so we just figured we'd hike down. Once again the kids did great the whole way. As we were coming down it was started to get a bit busier on the trail. It was fun to watch people's reactions when they realized the kids had already hiked all the way up and were now coming down.

Goofing off at the top.

Peaks of Otter Camping

2011-09-11T07:54:00.000-04:00

Nice Campsite

We had plans to camp each of the last two weekends, but the weather had other plans. This weekend the weather looked great so we reserved a campsite at the Peaks of Otter campground on the Blue Ridge Parkway.

After a full day of taekwondo and soccer we headed out to the campground. The drive was nice and took just over an hour and a half.

We checked in and went to our reserved site. It looked from all the tags on the sites that it was going to be full. We got to our site and we were next to the five other families that were already there. Once we had set everything up I noticed all the reservations were for the next weekend. We should of gone back to the ranger and asked to move to a vacant site. Instead the five people who were camping were all sitting next to each other.

All set up. A great place to play with Star Wars figures.

Although we were very close to other campers it was a nice place to camp. We ate dinner and started to work on a campfire. It had rained heavily the night before and we hadn't brought any newspaper. The result was a very sad and short campfire. Mostly we burned dryish leaves hoping the sticks and twigs would catch. We didn't have much luck. Eli did manage to roast a couple of marshmallows to make s'mores but the fire wasn't a success by any other measure.

Working on the fire.

Luckily there was a group playing music in the amphitheater so we headed down there to enjoy the music.

The Band

Enjoying the music

It was three women and they were pretty good. They played a variety of instruments and did all kinds of music. We listened for about a half hour and then we were getting a little tired and cold do we headed back to the campsite.

While we had been gone our neighbors had tried to start our fire for us as a surprise. They weren't able to get it started either but it was a very nice gesture.

We all ended up crawling into the tent by 8 and were all asleep by 8:30. It was a perfect night for sleeping outside. The wind was almost non-existent and it was crisp and cool. Everyone slept great.

Morning Taekwondo Class

2011-09-10T11:53:00.000-04:00

Pre-Class Stretching

Cyrus did a field trip to a taekwondo studio in daycare about three months ago and he loved it. We thought we would sign him up to do some more through UVa and this morning was his first class.

We rode our bikes over to Memorial Gym for his class. It was a small class of only 8 kids and a couple of them didn't show up, so it was a very small class. The teacher seemed great to me. He had a lot of energy, and was trying to make sure the kids were having fun with it.

Waiting for the teacher.

The class was 30 minutes and Cyrus said it was OK. I don't know if he loved it as much as the one he did through daycare, but he did say he would go back next week. Hopefully he'll warm up to it a bit more over the course of the class.

It's Pouring.... Hey, Let's Go Bowling

2011-09-05T19:29:00.000-04:00

Excellent Form.

We had planned on spending Labor Day outside at a beach, but Mother Nature didn't like that plan so much. We all did a good job of entertaining ourselves indoors until about 3 and then we had to get out of the house and do something. Grandma saved the day by suggesting we go bowling.

We got there just before a large group came in. For some reason getting shoes and paying for a game of bowling at Kegler's is a very very very very very long process. By the time we were heading to our lane the line looked to be about 2 hours long.

Cyrus giving Grandma some bowling advice.

We got to our lane and put our shoes on. There were already plenty of balls of all sizes and weights there so that worked for us. They had the black lights on and the kids liked that effect quite a bit.

Everyone bowled well and most importantly had fun. Eli used to get upset if he didn't do a good roll, but he was just having fun today and it made it enjoyable for all of us. The kids especially liked the cartoon skits that showed up after each roll especially if you had a split or got a strike.

Watching one of the cartoon "split" skits.

Here is the bowling form in action:

Sherando Lake Hike

2011-09-04T10:03:00.000-04:00

Cliff Trail @ Sherando Lake

We were scared away from camping last night by the threat of rain. Of course it didn't rain so we made the wrong call on that one. This morning we decided we'd like to do a little hike anyways so we decided to head out to Sherando Lake and hike some of the trails out there. We went with our friend Tom and his son Hayes and had a nice morning of being outdoors.

When we got there we decided to do the Cliff Trail on the south side of the lake. It was a very nice short hike. It was about a 1/2 mile up to the overlook with about 150ft of elevation gain. Not too difficult for anyone in our crew. We stopped at the overlook for a quick bite to eat and to enjoy the view.

Sherando Lake from Cliff Trail Overlook.

After the snack we continued on the trail heading back down to the lake through a series of switchbacks. Along the way we ran into a bright orange salamander that we all had fun watching. He didn't seem too disturbed by us being there so we got to watch him for quite a while.

Orange Salamander

Eli had fun trying to get the salamander to climb on his stick.

We ended up back on the shores of the lake on the far side from the beach area. There were a ton of great skipping stones and some logs for everyone to enjoy throwing in the water. Eli is getting very good at skipping stones. Cyrus just likes making as big of a splash as he can. Hayes got into the action as well.

This will make a big splash.

After about 15 minutes of skipping and throwing we headed back to the beach staying on the lower part of the trail hugging the lakeshore. We were smart enough to pack swimsuits for the boys so we let them play in the sand and swim for about an hour.

Enjoying the sand.

The nicest part was the beach area and most of the water was still in the shade so we didn't have to deal with sunscreen or sunblocker shirts. It's rare the boys get to play on a beach like that.

Every time I go to Sherando I have a great time then I forget about it for a while. I think we'll try to remember it more frequently now.

Cavalier Marching Band Practice

2011-09-02T18:00:00.000-04:00

The sillyness that is watching the Cavalier Marching Band.

It's September which means it's time to watch the Cavalier Marching Band. Tonight was the last practice before tomorrow's home football opener and it's a fun practice to watch because they run through their entire halftime show.

We met up with another family that goes to Cyrus' daycare and we all walked over to Carr's Hill Field to watch the practice.

Cavalier Marching Band Practice.

I liked the selection of songs this year better than last year. They seemed to be a little more exciting. It's fun to watch the practice because you can hear the difference between takes. They got better each time they practiced the routine and by the third time through it was tight and crisp. The kids had a great time dancing like crazy to the music.

Dancing like crazy.

We watched the full practice and stuck around to watch them get on the busses to head to the downtown mall for the "Paint the town Orange" event. We decided to skip that and headed home to get to bed at a reasonable time.

We'll probably go to several more friday evening practices this year, but the first one of the season always seems to be the best.

On the walk back to catch the bus we stopped in to see the new Hunter Smith practice building they just finished.

The new UVa Marching Band practice building.

We liked the building quite a bit. It was surprisingly big considering the piece of land they wedged it on. The main hall easily had enough space to fit the entire marching band and it was awesome acoustically.

Main hall of new building.

Field Hockey

2011-08-28T16:30:00.000-04:00

We headed to U Hall to watch a UVa Women's Soccer game this afternoon. When we got there there was nothing going on at the soccer field so we obviously missed the memo that the game had been canceled. Instead we headed down to the artificial turf field where a field hockey game was happening. None of us had ever watched a field hockey game so we decided to watch for a few minutes. It wasn't even UVa playing, it was American vs. ODU.

Watching the field hockey game.

The ODU team seemed to be significantly better than American. We saw them score two goals and they more or less seemed to dominate the game. After about 30 minutes of watching we were all pretty hungry so we headed out. It was a fun game to watch, so we might come back sometime to watch a UVa game.

ODU vs. American

Calf Mountain Hike

2011-08-28T14:50:00.001-04:00

We drove up to Skyline Drive to do a short hike this morning. The kids needed to burn off some energy and we wanted to do a little scouting for future backpacking trips. We parked at the Beagle Gap parking area and headed up the trail.

Cyrus leading the way.

The trail was very well maintained and the hiking was easy. We sang songs and hiked along until we got to the summit about a mile in. We sat on a big rock and ate a snack.

Blackberries along the trail.

After our short break we headed back down to the car. I went a little further up the trail but didn't see anything that stood out as a great place to camp. There is a PATC cabin further up the trail that we could camp near so we might come back and try it out sometime soon.

Hiking on the trail.

We got back to the car in a little under two hours. The boys both seemed like they were doing well, so it seems we might be able to bump up how far we go for our next backpacking trip.

View Calf Mountain Hike in a larger map

Devil's Backbone Mountain Cross

2011-08-27T14:24:00.013-04:00

Ominous Skys at the Start

I signed up to ride the Devil's Backbone Mountain Cross ride this year. They've been doing this 100km ride for a couple of years now but I've always been out of town when it was happening. This year we had no plans so I decided to give it a shot.

Hurricane Irene made it seem a little sketchy that the race would even happen, but in the end the storm didn't hit us here and we just had to deal with some off and on rain and a little wind.

The ride was great. We left from the brewery right at 8 and more or less proceeded to immediately start climbing. We had a nice 3+ mile 13% average grade for the first couple of miles. I took it easy up the first climb and then enjoyed the decent on some rough gravel. There were two or three guys around me all riding road bikes and I would of been sketched out on the thin tires they had.

We hit a paved road at about 8 miles into the ride and three of us worked together to get moving at about 25mph. We ended up catching a group of about 10 riders just as we turned off the paved road and onto another gravel section. I figured this must be a second group, but I didn't really have a good sense of where we were in the field.

I felt pretty good and after a couple of miles of hanging at the back of the pack I decided I'd like to climb a little faster. I slowly moved up to the front and then pulled away. Suddenly, two guys go flying by me up the hill. It turned out I had just taken the lead of the race. One of the two was Jeremiah Bishop who was using the ride as a warm-up to next weekend's World Cross Country Mountain Bike championships.

I caught them and rode with them up to the Blue Ridge Parkway. We got to the first rest stop together. I had a coke, some pretzels and filled my water bottle then took off. I rode with Jeremiah for the next few miles but when we hit the parkway the second time he dropped me. I just didn't have the endurance to keep the pace he was setting on the long steady climb.

I got passed by three other riders on the way into the second rest stop. I took my time and ate a bit more. I didn't want to bonk too bad and I knew the last climb was going to be a doozy. I enjoyed the long descent off of the parkway back to the Tye River Road. Just as we got to the road two other riders caught me. The three of us worked together again on the paved section and we ate up 10 miles very quickly.

The last climb was brutal. I heard it's 21% and although that seems a bit steep to me it was very very steep. For the last mile I was moving along at about 2mph. It probably would of been better to walk but my pride wouldn't let me.

I finally crested the top and had a nice bombing descent into the finish. I ended up finishing the 65 miles in about 4:10. I was pretty happy with the effort. I have no idea where I finished, but it was the hardest I've worked in quite a while and it felt good.

Talking about the ride

After the race I hung out for a bit waiting for the brewery to open. When it did it was like a bum rush to get in the door. After waiting an hour for a table I decided I had to get home so I settled for a growler of beer instead. I still haven't tried it but I'm looking forward to it.

It was a great event. I hope to do it again next year.

View Devils Backbone Mountain Cross 2011 in a larger map

First day of 2nd Grade

2011-08-24T07:40:00.004-04:00

Ready to go to school

School starts for Eli today. He's starting 2nd grade and is excited to be heading back to school. We had a great summer but we're ready for school to start also.

The morning was a little exciting because they moved the bus stop but weren't 100% clear where the new stop would be.

Waiting at the bus stop.

We were close enough to the new stop and the bus found us just fine. The driver was surprised Cyrus wasn't joining Eli this year. I had to explain he's got one more year.

5.8 Earthquake

2011-08-23T14:12:00.004-04:00

We had a nice ~~5.9~~ 5.8 earthquake today in the middle of a meeting. Everyone ran out of the building except the three of us who used to live on the west coast.

I dislike earthquakes intensely. Just way too out of control for my tastes.

Everything is OK, so it was just a lot of excitement for a few minutes there.

Later in the evening we had an aftershock that Cyrus felt. He came out of his room - "I felt a rumbling or something in my room."

We had another aftershock a little after midnight. It woke me up and I had a hard time falling back asleep. I don't react well to earthquakes.

New Track

2011-08-15T21:02:00.001-04:00

New Track, originally uploaded by koocbor.

They tore up the field at Burley Middle School this summer and then it sat idle for a long time.

We've been wondering why they did this as the old field seemed fine. It was occasionally wet but nothing major.

About a week ago I thought I saw some markers that looked like they might be making a track. Today, riding home from work confirmed it. They are putting a track in.

I'm sure it will just be paved and if it's 6 lanes they will be very narrow but still it's nice to see a track going in at a middle school.

Cape Henry Lighthouses

2011-08-11T11:30:00.010-04:00

New

Old

On the way to False Cape State Park we stopped and checked out the old Cape Henry Lighthouse. It was built in 1792 and was used until 1881. We climbed the steps and were treated to seeing a naval submarine coming into the bay.

Sub coming in.

First Landing State Park

2011-08-11T09:30:00.015-04:00

Beach @ First Landing State Park

From Nauticus we drove over to First Landing State Park for our last night of vacation. We got there a little before official check in time but they let us come in early.

We drove to our loop and picked a spot. The park felt a lot busier than Kiptopeke but still seemed nice. The spot we got was great. It was off in a corner and isolated from other camp sites. The one downside was its proximity to the road but the traffic didn't seem like it was enough to keep us up at night.

Excellent Campsite.

We set up camp and then headed to the beach for the afternoon. Once again the beach was great. Eli and I made big drip castle. His skills improved quite a bit over the three days of beach time on vacation. Cyrus had fun "driving" his shovel around in the ocean. After a few hours we packed up and headed back for our third night of mac & cheese and then s'mores for dessert. No one complained.

Proud drip castle creator.

The kids went to sleep well in the tent and Mary and I got to hang out at the campfire for a bit just the two of us. We decided camping was easier than a hotel room because we didn't have to be totally quiet when camping.

We slept well except for the military helicopters that decided to buzz the park for about an hour in the middle of the night. It literally sounded like they were landing on our tent a few times.

Not wanting to break with tradition we woke up and went for a short bike ride / walk with the boys. At one of the boardwalks to the beach they had some binoculars that the kids enjoyed using. They were pretty good at picking out the Chesapeake Bridge tunnels and reading the names of the huge container ships waiting offshore.

Looking at the ships.

After the quick morning ride we packed our stuff and headed out for the Cape Henry lighthouses and False Cape State Park.

Nauticus

2011-08-10T15:14:00.001-04:00

Nauticus

When checking out things to do in the Hampton Roads area we had looked at the Nauticus museum in Norfolk but weren't sure if that was pushing too many museums into a single trip. When we polled everyone this morning they wanted to see the battleship, so we decided to give it a shot.

We got there just before it opened so we spent some time outside looking at the USS Wisconsin. A long time ago I had been on the USS New Jersey but I had forgotten just how huge a battleship is.

BB 64 USS Wisconsin

The boys were pretty excited so we headed in. As we were getting ready to pay the person at the counter asked if we would be willing to take a 15 minute survey after our visit if they admitted us for free. We figured that was a pretty good deal, so we got in for free.

The museum was a bit meandering to get to the battleship. The kids enjoyed an exhibit that let them "talk" via telegraph in morse code. After about 10 minutes of constant beeping I had to ask them to stop. They had fun while it lasted though.

We finally got to the ship itself. It was a great self-guided tour. They took you around the entire deck of the ship and had signs explaining everything about it. They also took you into the officers quarters and dining room. I very much enjoyed the tour.

The big guns

After seeing the ship we headed into the part of the museum that was sponsored and about NOAA. As part of that exhibit they had a tank where you could pet sharks. Eli was fascinated.

Petting the sharks.

We spent over an hour while Eli petted sharks and Cyrus watched a video on tsunami preparation and awareness. I'm pretty sure he is now a leading expert in tsunami dos and don'ts.

It was almost lunch time so we headed out. The survey took less than 10 minutes to fill out but it didn't give much opportunity for feedback. It was more of a multiple choice "which of these types of exhibits would you like to see in the future?"

We did do one last thing before leaving. It was a thing called Atlantis Labyrinth. It was more like a path through some blue vinyl boards with a story about upsetting Poseidon for finding Atlantis. The kids liked it and Mary and I had fun laughing at the exhibit as much as we did laughing with it.

We decided we'd seen enough then and headed out. Downtown Norfolk also looked nice as we walked along the waterfront back to the car. I think we'll have to come back sometime to spend more time there.

Virginia Aquarium

2011-08-09T19:55:00.001-04:00

The Shark Tank.

After a couple of days of nice but hot camping we headed back across the bay bridge to spend a day at the Virginia Aquarium in Virginia Beach. We didn't rush out of Kiptopeke so we got there an hour or so after it opened.

Watching the seals outside the aquarium.

The Great Dismal Swamp was (is) burning so the air was thick with smoke when we arrived. We were glad to be heading indoors. Because we were trying to make a day of it we splurged and went for the full meal deal including the IMAX 3-D movie. The boys were excited.

The aquarium was very nice. It was crowded with summer camp groups and quite a few tourists, but it handled the crowds well. They do a good job of moving most people in one direction in museums these days and I think it helps quite a bit when there are crowds.

Active turtles.

We took our time going through. The boys liked the shark tank but I think they liked the stingray petting tank better. I also had to pet one (or two) and I was surprised by how slimy they felt. I thought they would have rougher skin like what I think of sharks having.

Petting the stingrays.

We ate lunch there and then did the IMAX movie. It was 3D so we all had to wear the glasses:

The movie was good. The 3D actually seemed to add to the experience. Most 3D just seems like an excuse to make things jump out at you, but in this case they kept that to a minimum and it seemed to make it so you got a better sense of the creatures in the sea.

After the IMAX we walked to the Marsh Pavilion to see the river otters. It was a surprisingly long walk. We were happy it was shaded because the smoke from the fire had blown away and the full sun was out.

The river otters were much more subdued that the one's we used to watch at the Seattle Aquarium. Maybe it was the heat. They did feed them while we were there and that was interesting. They froze pieces of carrot in big chunks of ice. Then they threw the ice into the water and the otters got to work getting the carrot chunks out.

After the Marsh Pavilion we decided to call it a day. We were treated to a nice 10 minute presentation about the seals outside the aquarium on the way to the car. All in all a very nice visit.

Kiptopeke State Park

2011-08-09T12:30:00.022-04:00

Welcome Committee

We headed to the eastern shore of Virginia to start our late summer vacation. We've been looking at camping at Kiptopeke since we moved back east. The drive over was a little over 3 hours. The first couple of hours are pretty boring but the kids were good. After that we hit the Hampton Roads area and there was plenty to look at including some aircraft carriers and some very large naval transport ships.

Chesapeake Bridge Fishing Pier

The Chesapeake Bay Bridge was definitely a hit for everyone. We stopped at the first tunnel entrance to check out the fishing pier and get a view of the container ships floating in the bay. I'm always amazed at the number of people who truly love fishing. It just never quite caught my attention enough to do it.

We got to Kiptopeke early enough that we had our pick of tent sites. We got what we thought was the best site in the park. We were as close to the beach as you could get and in some very nice shaded woods. It was about as close to perfect as you can get for a campsite.

Beautiful campsite.

We setup camp and hung out for a little bit then headed to the beach. The bay was great for swimming. They have sunk a number of WWII concrete ships to act as a breakwater for the beach so the surf was calm. It made watching the boys easy and let them have as much fun in the water as they wanted to have.

We stayed in our suits after swimming and enjoyed a mac and cheese dinner, then topped it off with some s'mores. The boys are getting pretty good at helping light fires and take the job very seriously.

Serious campfire lighters.

Our first night gave us a little excitement when a thunderstorm rolled through during the night. Mary and I had both heard the thunder coming so we got up and put the fly on the tent with plenty of time to spare. It rained and thundered off and on for about an hour but when we woke up in the morning it was to some pretty blue skys.

We took a short bike ride / walk to the camp store so I could get some coffee and the boys each got a piece of gum. We watched some morning fishermen doing some net fishing. After playing games and just playing in general around the campsite we ate a quick lunch and headed back to the beach for the afternoon. It was another great day.

Concrete Breakwater.

Morning fishing

Great day at the beach.

We spent a few hours at the beach and headed back to camp for dinner. We had another round of mac and cheese (this family doesn't require variety) and more s'mores for dessert. Eli had fun catching fire flies as it got dark. Everyone slept well and we didn't have to put the fly on the second night making for slightly cooler sleeping conditions.

We woke up the next morning and took our time leaving the park. We walked to the store again and watched the seagulls for a bit in the morning. We finally packed up and headed to our next stop on vacation.

Kiptopeke was a great state park and we will definitely be back.

Dusk at Kiptopeke.

Eli is Seven

2011-08-03T21:40:00.004-04:00

The big 7

Eli turned seven today. Hard to believe.

We asked him if he wanted a particular meal and he said Cici's Pizza so that's what we did. Grandma, Kit and Granddot came along as well.

Having fun at Cici's

After dinner we came home and had some cake and opened some presents. It seems like it's a tie between the land speed lego kit and the Pokemon cards.

Land Speeder Lego Kit

Swimming Banquet

2011-08-02T21:22:00.011-04:00

Eli with the goods.

Tonight was the end of summer season banquet for the City swim team. We enjoyed a good meal catered from Big Jim's BBQ and had fun talking to some of the other parents and swimmers.

After the meal they started the awards ceremony. Eli was part of the first group to get their trophies. It is the first trophy he's received. On top of that he got the MVP award for the 6 & under boys.

Look at the new hardware.

Eli got a little antsy as they went through the rest of the age groups to give awards. But things picked up when they handed out medals for all the kids that had swam "gold" times during the year. He was one of the first they called up.

Getting his "gold" time medal.

Getting a trophy, a MVP certificate, some ribbons for the JSL champs meet and a medal for a "gold" time more or less made Eli's night. He came home super-excited about it all and fell asleep with his medal in bed with him.

The swim season was great this summer. Eli loved it. The city swim team seems to treat it with a level of fun that I appreciate for little kids. Cyrus is excited about doing it next year too, so I suspect this was the first of many seasons to come.

JSL Championships

2011-07-29T20:14:00.000-04:00

This weekend is the Jefferson Swim League Championships. Eli swam in the first session Friday afternoon. We took the bus to the AFC to avoid the parking craziness and got there a few minutes before warm-ups started.

Ready to warm-up.

The coaches pretty much take over watching the swimmers, so the parents can really watch the meet. I was a "relief" clerk of course volunteer so I got to be on the deck with the swimmers. The meet was a lot of fun. The young kids are all more or less having fun, and they run the thing like clockwork.

Warming up after the warm-ups.

Eli swam in the first relay, the 25yd free and the 25yd back. Their relay was 6th, he was 12th in the free and he was 27th in the backstroke. Most importantly, he had fun.

Freestyle start.

The whole session was just over an hour. Cyrus was good the whole time and is super excited to be on the team next year too.

Clerk of course line.

Swim Practice Lounging

2011-07-25T19:20:00.001-04:00

Another hot night at the pool side.

GCC @ CITY

2011-07-20T19:09:00.007-04:00

Pre-Meet Cheer

Tonight was the last regular season swim meet for the summer. Both GCC and CITY were undefeated going into the meet so the winner would win the regular season title in the third tier. Eli was pretty excited about the meet because Grandma, Kit and Granddot were coming to watch.

It was a crazy hot night. The temperature was just under 100 and on the pool deck it felt 10 degrees hotter. Eli and I headed over early to check him in and do a short warm-up. I felt like my head might pop from the heat.

Granddot, Grandma, Eli and Kit

Eli did the relay and his team won. Then he did the 25m freestyle and swam out of his head. He did a 3 second PR and also won that event. Then the pool lost power. Grandma, Granddot and Kit decided to head home.

Just when we thought the meet was going to be canceled they got the power going again. It took another 30 minutes to get the pump up and running. By then the meet was way behind schedule.

Eli did the 25 backstroke. Again setting a PR and winning the race. After that they changed the order of events and it looked like the breast stroke was canceled to Mary, Cyrus and Eli headed home.

I stuck around to time the second half of the meet. They finished the longer freestyle events and then the coaches decided they would let anyone who wanted to swim the breast even though it wouldn't count toward the final score.

In the end the meet didn't end until 11pm. Way too late for me on a work night. I can't believe the number of 6 year olds that were swimming at 10:30 at night.

In the end CITY won the meet and went undefeated for the regular season. We'll see how they do at the JSL champs. Maybe this will be the year they get to move up to tier 2.

Piney River Bike Trail

2011-07-17T19:50:00.011-04:00

Ready to head out.

We were looking for something to do that got us all out of the house for a bit today. Last night our neighbor was talking to us about the Virginia Blue Ridge Railway Trail better known as the Piney River Trail. His description sounded nice to us so we decided to head out there this morning.

It was about a 40 minute drive from Charlottesville and when we got there there were 8 horses heading out and a few other cyclists. It looked like it might be a bit crowded.

We headed out on the trail and quickly realized our fears of crowds were overblown. We hardly saw anyone while we rode the trail.

Cool man Cyrus riding the trail-a-bike.

For this ride we took Eli's own bike and did Cyrus on the trail-a-bike. The trail was more or less completely flat so this was a good combination. Anytime Eli started to lag we just had to get a bit in front of him with Cyrus on the trail-a-bike and he immediately sprang into full sprint mode.

Riding the trail.

We headed out a little over 3 miles and then decided to turn around. We didn't need to push things too much for Eli's first ride on his own bike.

More riding.

One the way back we stopped and walked down to the river to skip stones. It was very pleasant. No bugs, in the shade, a nice river to play along. We spent quite a bit of time there.

Stone skipping form.

All in all it was a great outing. The drive wasn't too bad and the trail was very nice. I suspect we'll be back and do the whole thing. Of course as a reward for riding on the trail we had to stop and get some ice cream on the way home.

Post-ride Reward.

CITY @ ELKS

2011-07-12T22:06:00.011-04:00

Watching the Competition

Tonight was Eli's third swim meet. It was crazy-hot so we decided it wasn't fair to make Cyrus watch a swim meet for four+ hours and not be able to go into the pool. So, I took Eli and also worked as a stroke & turn judge.

We got there in time for warm-ups today. We figured it would be nice for Eli to cool off before the meet. I'm not sure he cooled off in the water, but he seemed OK with the heat.

I thought I was being very smart and I took a hat that I dunked in the pool before the meet to keep me cool as well. That wasn't such a great idea. It was 103 out when the meet started, and I think the water must of been in the high 80's. It was like taking a hot shower on a hot humid day. All it really did is make me completely soak through my clothes in sweat.

We were a bit nervous that Eli wouldn't get to the Clerk of Course when he should, but he did great. One of the older kids was looking out for him which was nice.

He ended up having a very good meet. He swam a 4.5 second PR in the 25 meter freestyle. He told me afterwards he wanted to make it the whole length without breathing. He didn't quite make it but it certainly made him faster.

He won the freestyle and the backstroke. His free relay also won and then he finished 4th in the breaststroke swimming against the older kids. He was particularly happy to do the breaststroke without getting DQ'd.

The meet referee was amazing. He said his goal was to finish an hour early and he more or less did it. It was nice to get out of the heat earlier than we expected.

At the Clerk of Course

Albemarle Ciderworks

2011-07-10T19:38:00.003-04:00

They are doing a "Second Sunday Cider" at Albemarle Ciderworks where they have a live band and you can have a picnic dinner in the orchard from 5 -7 PM. We decided to check it out with our friends Tom and Leslie and their kids.

We made the quick drive down there and pulled in a little after 5. The band was already playing so we pulled in hoping to find a little shade. Luckily we were able to find some shade under a pretty big plumb tree so we could enjoy our picnic dinners.

The music was pretty good but the cider was excellent. I've never had the kind of hard cider they make there. It's much more like a dry white wine than any other hard cider I've ever had. We got a bottle to split at the picnic and everyone enjoyed it.

Enjoying the Cider

We were able to throw a football around and kick the soccer ball while the band played and everyone had a good time. I suspect we'll go back in either August or September.

Tom and Leslie were nice to buy us a second bottle for driving to the picnic and buying the first bottle. We will definitely enjoy it soon.

LMST @ CITY

2011-07-06T22:03:00.004-04:00

Waiting for the relay start.

Eli had his second swim meet tonight. It was the fourth of the season but we've been unable to attend a couple of them. It was also our first home meet.

He did well. He swam the 25 free in the opening relay, then again in the open race. He also did the 25 back and 25 breastroke. Unlike the last meet he finished second in the free and back, and was DQ'd in the breaststroke. I was not the one to disqualify him.

25 free start.

Cyrus was a good sport about going to the meet again. He spent a lot of time coloring and watching another younger sibling play video games. I hadn't seen that the first meet we went to but noticed it a bit more this time. I can't blame the kids. Five hours at a pool when you aren't ever going to swim is a long time.

Coloring to kill time.

Monticello Naturalization Ceremony

2011-07-04T20:40:00.008-04:00

Our friend, Bob, invited us to hike up to Monticello this morning to watch the Naturalization Ceremony they do every year on the 4th of July. We got to the parking lot for the 2+ mile hike at 8 and headed out.

Eli going through the log on the trail.

We were smart enough to bring the jogger for Cyrus when he got a bit tired and that made the going easier. Eli is old enough to make the hike without any help, but it seemed a bit much for Cyrus. We were a little slow getting up to the house and missed the first couple of minutes of the ceremony.

Taking a little break.

The ceremony itself was nice. It does make you appreciate being born in the U.S.A. I typically associate overt displays of patriotism with suspicion and I don't like it very much. Today it felt more appropriate. There were 75 people becoming citizens, and it was nice to recognize how unique the United States is in the world.

Cyrus enjoyed the free flags.

Monticello Reflected

We stuck around until the national anthem was sung. Afterwards we made the hike back to the car. It was quite a bit quicker going down the hill than up. We decided to celebrate the event by getting some........ Slurpees. They were excellent.

The walk back

Meadowcreek Trail

2011-07-03T09:29:00.000-04:00

Meadowcreek Trail

They built part of the Meadowcreek Parkway in the county and as part of the project they also put in a new paved trail next to the parkway. The road is closed pending the city building their section. I have no idea if that will actually ever happen since it's been literally 40+ years they've been debating it. For a long time the trail was closed too. I couldn't tell why.

About a week ago I noticed the closed sign was gone from the trail. Today we decided to check it out. I'm happy to report that although we seem to of lost about a mile of great mountain biking from the project, they have made a very nice multi-use trail.

We hiked as far as the pedestrian bridge over the creek. The bridge was also nice, and they did a good job of keeping the trail out of sight of the parkway and in the trees.

Looking at the creek.

Mary continued on to Rio Rd but the boys were a bit hot and tired so we headed back to the car. They both made the hike without needing too much motivation in the form of gummy Cars treats.

New Bridges

We'll certainly be back with the kids bikes to enjoy the new trail. It's a great addition to Charlottesville.

Lexington Balloon Rally

2011-07-02T19:56:00.017-04:00

Sunset Balloons

We decided to drive over to Lexington and VMI to check out the balloon rally they have there every year for the fourth of July. They have flights scheduled at 6:30 AM and 6:30 PM July 2 - 5 so we figured we go for one of the earlier ones before it was too crowded.

The drive was nice and we got there about an hour before the balloons were supposed to go. We wandered around the VMI parade grounds with the boys. It was hot but not crazy-hot, so we were all doing OK.

Red Cannons

About 20 minutes before the scheduled rally the vans started pulling in with their balloons and baskets. We counted a total of 12 different vans that looked like they had balloons with them. The boys were getting pretty excited.

We wandered next to where the balloons were being set up and the boys were treated to a little tour of the basket that was going to be used on one of them. They were pretty excited to get to sneak under the rope and get right next to the balloon.

Sneek Peak of the Balloon Basket

A little after 6:30 the first balloon started to fill up. They got it pumped full of air and then started heating it. Just then the wind picked up as well. The balloon was rocking pretty hard and finally the whole basket got tipped over. At that point I figured we weren't going to see any balloons go up tonight. They let all the air out and then everyone just sort of hung around for about 45 minutes waiting to see what the wind would do.

The bear balloon. They had to deflate for a bit before trying a second time (successfully).

After the hiatus a second balloon started to fill up. Looking at the flag on the training grounds the wind didn't seem much different to me, but they had no issues filling up and getting out of there.

The second attempt.

Once the first balloon was up and flying it was like a race was on. Pretty soon there were 6 balloons all filling at once getting out of there as fast as they could. It was a pretty great sight to see.

The scramble to get out of there

The bear balloon ever filled a second time and got out of there just fine. The wind still seemed to effect them a bit more than the others. Maybe the big bears sticking out made it more susceptible to the wind.

The Bear made it up.

We stayed to watch the last set of balloons go over the hill. It was a great night. I think we all liked it enough to head back again next year.

Full flickr set: http://flickr.com/gp/koocbor/2H7124/
Last of the balloons.

Charlottesville Sprint Triathlon

2011-06-26T14:58:00.007-04:00

Ready to go

Today was the Charlottesville Sprint Triathlon. Mary had done it last year and enjoyed it, so she signed up again this year.

The boys and I went along to cheer her on. The field was quite a bit smaller this year than last year for some reason. Maybe the economy is making people think twice before spending money on events like this?

It's too bad the turnout was so small because they put on a well run event. The men went off on time at 7:30 and the women (and Mary) left 8 minutes later. The boys and I had fun cheering Mom on for the swim.

Watching and waiting for Mom

Mary did her transition and headed out on the bike. We had a little time to kill before the first cyclist came in. The boys entertained themselves by cheering on the cyclists as they left. They had fun trying to be as loud as they could. We also enjoyed some strawberries for a quick snack.

Love those strawberries

After about an hour Mary came in from her bike leg. She looked good, and seemed to be having fun. The kids were super excited.

Done with the bike

After another quick transition she was off for the 5k trail run.

5k to go.

We had fun sitting at the finish watching others finish while waiting for Mary. She was soon coming in and we had cheered her in.

In the end she did the race a little more than 4 minutes faster. Not bad. Hopefully they had enough participants to hold the race again next year. If they do, I suspect we'll be back.

Lake Monticello After Work

2011-06-24T21:41:00.003-04:00

Lake Monticello Cove

A co-worker invited us all out to his house on Lake Monticello for an after work picnic. It was a great setting to have a little party. His house is on the lake, and on top of that there was a nice pool for the kids to enjoy.

We enjoyed the pool for a while, and then we went out on the lake on the boat. The boys hadn't been on a boat before and they were both excited and a bit apprehensive.

On the boat.

We did a quick loop on the lake. It was nice to see it from the water after spending a few years riding around it on our bikes.

Cruising on Lake Monticello.

After looping the lake, Eli decided to jump off the boat a few times. We then took a paddle boat out for a bit. I got a nice workout in, and the kids had a blast "steering" the boat. Mostly we looped around one of the coves almost hitting the docked boats.

Cooling off in the lake.

It was a great visit. We all left hoping to get invited back sometime.

Hauling Home

2011-06-23T18:07:00.000-04:00

Hauling Home, originally uploaded by koocbor.

I finally had to get a new front shock on my mountain bike. I was pumping air into it before, during and after every ride these days.

Every time I think I'm ready to get rid of the xtracycle I have to haul something like this home. I think I'll keep it a while longer.

CITY @ LG Swim Meet

2011-06-22T22:45:00.030-04:00

Pre-Meet Check your events.

Eli swam in his first swim meet tonight. The meet was in Louisa against the Louisa Gators. The meet was a great success on all fronts. I did my first stint as a stroke and turn judge, Eli swam in 3 events and CITY won.

Eli's 25yd Freestyle

Eli's first event was the 25 yard freestyle. He did great. His dive was pretty good, and he swam hard the whole way. He ended up winning his heat, and had the fastest time for the 6 & under boys.

Eli's 25yd Backstroke

His second event was the backstroke. Just like the freestyle he had a good start and swam hard the whole length. He won his heat and the event in that one too.

In between the events I felt like I had stepped into a time machine. Swim meets are really about the hanging out in-between your events. I was happily surprised at how little I saw kids doing video games, or listening to ipods. There were still a lot of "spit" card games going on, or Uno. There were kids eating a ton of junk food, and of course the parents all sitting around waiting for the next event their kid was swimming.

Waiting @ the Clerk of Course

In-between Swim Meet Lounging.

Eli's last event was the breaststroke. I wasn't sure he knew how to do the stroke correctly so I figured there was a good chance he would get DQ'd. Instead he surprised me and did the stroke really well. He ended up winning his heat and getting 4th overall in the 8 & under division.

Checking in with the Clerk

Eli's 25yd Breaststroke

Cyrus also got into the action. He would really love to be swimming this year but is too young. Instead he did a great job cheering for the "Swordfish".

Cheering for the Swordfish

As a first meet, it was a good experience. Eli loved competing, and winning a couple of races. Hopefully he'll like it as much when he doesn't win.

The final haul.

Full Flickr Set here: http://flickr.com/gp/koocbor/842g9t/

Have a nice day

2011-06-18T09:29:00.000-04:00

Have a nice day, originally uploaded by koocbor.

I noticed this while out on a road ride. It made me smile which I'm guessing was the point.

Bad Locking

2011-06-16T18:21:00.001-04:00

Bad Locking, originally uploaded by koocbor.

I saw this on the corner today. You'd think if you're going to spend the money to trick out your fixed gear you'd learn how to lock it.

Cyrus is Four

2011-06-15T21:45:00.000-04:00

Cyrus is four today. Another year goes by very quickly to Mary and me. I'm sure it didn't seem as quick to him. We had a nice quiet dinner with Grandma and Kit. Cyrus seemed to really enjoy his presents this year.

New Spiderman Pajamas

Eli is obviously getting older too. He was much better about recognizing that it's Cyrus' day, and was great at putting the Lego Space Shuttle Cyrus got together for him.

Eli the photographer.

It's probably a toss-up between the Space Shuttle and an Iron Man punching bag his Aunt Emily sent him. We finally had to take them away from him to get some sleep tonight :)

Playing with the Space Shuttle

Blueberries

2011-06-12T12:41:00.000-04:00

One of these is ready.

Last summer's dry spell killed the pachysandra we had planted on the slope in our back yard. The beating sun, and lack of water for about 6 straight weeks turned a lot of them to brown burned up husks.

We decided to try something different. After our trip to the Portland last August where the kids loved eating their Aunt's blueberries, we figured we'd give them a shot. After planting four different varieties last fall, we figured we'd be lucky if they made it through the winter, let alone produced fruit.

Much to our surprise, and happiness, all seven plants seem to be doing well this spring, and they are all producing fruit.

Not quite ready.

The boys are enjoying a daily morning ritual of heading out back and seeing how many ripe berries they can get. I suspect just as many go into mouths as the container, but that's OK. We're still working on only picking ones that are ripe, but that's OK too. It's been a fun start to summer to have fresh blueberries every morning.

Fresh morning blueberries.

Now, if only our raspberries would do half as well.

Last Day of School = Bowling

2011-06-10T15:54:00.007-04:00

Eli's Bowling Form.

Today was Eli's last day of school. For some reason they let them out at 1pm so I met him as he got off the bus and we decided to go bowling. Eli frequently beats me in Wii bowling, so we thought we'd see how we both did in the real thing.

We bowled two games (with the bumpers up). I managed to hold him off both games, but I suspect next year he'll beat me.

Check out the back leg form here.

We're serious about our coloring

2011-06-05T12:48:00.000-04:00

Fun way to spend a hot Sunday.

Roller Derby!!

2011-06-04T21:03:00.012-04:00

Roller Derby Warm-Ups

Eli and I decided to check out the Charlottesville Derby Dames who were having a match (is that what you call it?) against the Charlotte B Dazzlers. I had never been to a roller derby match before so it was bound to be interesting if nothing else.

We got there at 6 because that's when the event was scheduled to start. I didn't realize that the 6-7pm time was really about letting the two teams warm-up and the fans drinking beer. Being as early as we were we did get good seats in the front row, but I think we could skip the warm-ups the next time.

Eli wasn't so sure watching the warm-ups

After the warm-up, they did introductions, which was pretty fun, then they did a slow-motion jam to let everyone know what the rules were. Then the action started. It was pretty great to watch. Charlottesville was clearly a better team in that they were much better at stopping Charlotte's jammer from getting through and scoring points.

First Jam Jammers getting ready to go.

Eli and I enjoyed it quite a bit. There was more strategy to it than I thought, and it seemed like all the women skating were having a good time. At the end of the first half Charlottesville was up by a lot.

Having fun in roller derby.

We watched the half-time show which was a large group of jugglers and drummers.

Half-time show

We decided to head home after the half-time show. It was a little after 8pm and we were both getting tired. It looks like there is another one on the 18th, and we'll probably go back with the whole family.

Opening Day @ the Pool

2011-05-28T19:07:00.016-04:00

Eli, showing his slide form.

They opened the pool at Washington Park today for the start of summer. Over the winter they did a lot of work to fix it up and it's been looking nice as we've walked by the past few weeks. They added a new big slide, put in a new set of slides for the smaller kids, re-tiled the entire pool and extended the deck about 15ft on one side.

Laura, Steve, Sam and Leigh were down for the weekend so we all headed over later in the afternoon. Lately, the big question was if Eli was going to be tall enough to meet the "48 inch" height requirement to go down the new slide. He's just below 48 inches these days, but you never know how accurately they hang those measurement signs. As we walked in we noticed the sign was just leaning against the wall..... Perfect! He scooted over there and got his yellow arm band before anyone could say anything.

Getting swim test instructions.

Once on deck, the kids had to take their swim test for the summer. They all passed easily and we cheered them on. Next up the slide.

Eli is ready to go on the slide.

The slide is actually too slow with swim shirts on. You can't get enough speed up to move without scooting along on your bottom at the bottom. We let Eli take his off for a few runs down and that was a lot better. I guess we'll be doing a bit more sunscreen this year because the swim shirt just isn't going to work on the slide.

Cyrus also had a lot of fun on the new slide in the zero depth area. It has two slides next to each other and an octopus that sprays water out. He loved it.

Cyrus on his new slide.

Eventually people got a bit cool, so we hung out on the side of the pool until closing time.

A little chilled.

Bubble Bokeh [explored]

2011-05-28T15:03:00.000-04:00

Bubble Bokeh [explored], originally uploaded by koocbor.

The kids were enjoying the bubble machine on our back deck so I took a few shots. I sort of liked how this turned out, but I've been very surprised at how many people on flickr like it.

My second picture to make the explore page. I'm still baffled as to what criteria is used, but it's nice to take a shot that people seem to like.

http://www.flickr.com/explore/interesting/2011/05/27/page8/

Crickets Fiesta

2011-05-25T19:54:00.013-04:00

Cyrus' daycare class, "the crickets", had a fiesta after school today to celebrate some of the kids moving up to a new classroom. All the families brought in a Mexican themed dish to pass for the party.

Excited about the fiesta.

The highlights of the party were playing limbo, and hitting the piñata. All of the kids were good. They took turns doing limbo well, and they all lined up to hit the piñata well too.

Waiting for the limbo to start

Eli's early limbo form.

Getting a little more serious now.

Cyrus swings at the piñata.

Eli getting ready.

The piñata held up longer than I thought it would. All of the kids got a chance to hit it and most of them did hit it. Finally one of the older brothers broke it in half showering pencils candy and spinning tops everywhere.

It was probably the best after-daycare event I've been too. Probably because the teachers had planned activities so the kids were behaving. Normally it's a madhouse because the parents aren't watching the kids and the daycare teachers aren't either. This was a nice pleasant fiesta.

Graves' Mountain Farm Field Trip

2011-05-24T16:43:00.011-04:00

At Graves' Mountain Farm

I went with Eli's first grade class to visit Graves' Mountain Farm today. It was a fun trip and I was glad I got to spend a day with him doing something out of the ordinary.

We took school buses to the farm which is about an hour north of Charlottesville in Madison County. The kids were all good on the ride there. Once at the farm they split us into groups and had several stations to teach the kids about various aspects of farming and wildlife.

Our first stop was to feed some goats that were there.

Feeding the goats

The kids loved feeding the goats. The quickly figured out the goats would eat just about anything they held in their hands. Pretty soon the entire class was ripping up grass and feeding them. The goats loved it and ate happily the entire time we were there.

Next up, we went into the barn to see some pigs and cows. It was a little stinky in the barn and some of the kids really didn't like it:

Stinky barn

After the barn the kids each got to plant a miniature sunflower and then walk around and look at various herbs they had planted in an herb garden.

We then got to take a look at the birds they had on the farm. The highlight was probably the peacocks. Several of the males were in full show-off mode.

Peacock

They took us into a small chicken coop to see the various kinds of chickens they had there. They also showed the kids what eggs looked like at various stages of development be holding the eggs up to a bright light in a dark room.

The roosters did their best to compete with the loud peacocks and were crowing the entire time we were in the coop.

Rooster

After eating our lunches we had about 45 minutes for the kids to do what they wanted. Most of them were fascinated with the goats and so they fed them everything they could think of. I couldn't believe the goats kept eating, but they did.

Feeding the goats was popular.

We loaded back on the buses for the trip home. The kids were good again, and we got back to school a little after 2. I signed Eli out early and we rode the bike home. We both had a great day, and I hope to tag along for future field trips.

Eli the busy bee

Cyrus gets some stitches

2011-05-23T21:04:00.003-04:00

Cyrus' Stitches

Cyrus bumped his head on a bookshelf at school today. The end result was four stitches above his right eyebrow. He was quite a trooper and has yet to complain.

Hopefully this is the first and last time we have to get stitches, but for some reason I doubt we'll be so lucky.

Lynchburg Visit

2011-05-22T21:07:00.013-04:00

Fun with Gravy

We headed down to Lynchburg to visit with Mary's parents. We've been trying to get down for while and we finally got schedules lined up to do it.

There was an air show happening and we entertained going because the Blue Angles were there, but after researching the tickets and how long we'd be standing around on the tarmac we decided we'd just try and catch a glimpse of them from somewhere in the City.

We ended up missing most of the show while swimming but we did catch the last 10 minutes of the Blue Angles. That seemed great to Eli and Cyrus. They've been playing fighter jet games since.

Excellent Dessert

The Lynchburg Hillcats were in town too, so Dick and I went to the game. It's been a while since I've been to a game with someone who actually enjoys watching baseball. It was nice to watch the game and not worry about everyone being bored or wanting to head home.

Hillcats Game

Sunday morning was nice and relaxing. The boys slept in and were in good moods when they got up. We took the dogs for a quick walk and then Gran let the kids give Gravy a haircut. They loved it and Gravy was a good sport about it.

Gravy was a good sport.

McCormick Observatory

2011-05-20T21:57:00.000-04:00

Leander McCormick Observatory

The first and third Friday of every month the Leander McCormick Observatory is open to the public. I've wanted to go since we moved back to Charlottesville, but it always passed by before I remember.

Cyrus' daycare has been doing a unit on the planets so they organized the class meeting at the observatory tonight. It doesn't open until 9pm which is pushing it for me and Mary. We rallied and got ourselves there just as it opened.

Excited about the observatory.

It was worth staying up for. They had the larger 26 inch telescope focused on Saturn and it was awesome. It's one thing to see pictures but to see the planet, it's rings and four moons with your own eyes is really amazing.

Looking at Saturn

We all got to look through the telescope and then looked through a couple of other smaller ones they had setup outside. As we drove home Cyrus declared "The observatory is the best thing ever!" Not sure I agree completely, but it was pretty great.

26 inch Refractor Telescope.

Coconut

2011-05-19T21:05:00.000-04:00

We have a friend who went to Hawaii recently and mailed us a coconut from there. It is probably one of the coolest things I've received in the mail. The mailed coconut was dried out and not for eating, but it made the boys want to get one we could open up and eat.

Mary, showing her coconut opening skills.

We got a coconut from the grocery store and opened it tonight. Cyrus liked the milk and the actual fruit. I was surprised it didn't have as much flavor as I thought it would. Maybe when it dries a little it will be more flavorful.

Tasting the coconut.

Air and Space and Nationals

2011-05-15T20:38:00.022-04:00

Here we come

Eli wanted to go to the Air and Space Museum today, and I wanted to do a Nationals game so we decided to press our luck and try and do both. As an added bonus, our friend Mike was in town from Seattle for a conference and his hotel was literally across the street from the museum.

We met up with Mike on the Mall outside the museum. The metro ride was pretty full, with a ton of different color guards of various flavors. We weren't sure what was going on. When we came out of the metro and headed toward the capitol it seemed they might all be there for the George Washington University graduation ceremony. We never did learn why they were all there, but we did get to hear Michael Blooomberg for a few seconds.

The kids had a blast in the museum. They are getting old enough to actually be interested in learning a few facts about the things they are seeing. Of course, the highlight of the museum was the air flight simulator.

Flight Simulator Fun.

Eli and Cyrus had the plane flying every which way on the computer screen and thought it was the funniest thing they had ever seen. We did finally peel them away to look at actual airplanes for a while.

There was also a movie that showed planes taking off and landing from an aircraft carrier that was a big hit. All of the kids (and Mary) watched that several times.

We eventually got hungry and headed to the food area, which is just a McDonalds as far as I can tell. A little McDonalds every now and then is fun, so we all enjoyed ourselves. The happy meals came with some interesting marvel super heros (Sportsmaster???!!!).

After lunch we did a bit more of the museum, specifically the hands-on section. Both Eli and Cyrus seemed to enjoy the different experiments they had setup to demonstrate things like angular momentum and Bernoulli's principle.

Eli "flying" a plane.

After the morning at the museum, we headed to National's Park to catch a game. When we got off the metro the sun was shining and it was feeling pretty hot. A street salesman offered us two hats for the boys for $10. It seemed like a good deal even if they only wore them for the game.

New hats.

We didn't have tickets, but the Nationals aren't that good so we got some cheaper seats on the 3rd base line that were high enough in the stadium to be in the shade.

Eli, watching the game.

The seats were great. We could see well, and there was a nice breeze happening. The boys were actually interested in the game and it was fun to explain some of the rules and strategy to them.

Cyrus watching too.

The National's scored 6 runs in the first inning and ended up winning 8-4 against the Marlins.

We headed down to do the playground in outfield after the 5th inning. When we got there it was closed for some reason so we compensated with a big icee.

Icee!

After we had our snack the playground opened up. The boys both had a good time but it was a stressful level of mayhem so we got out of there a little before they would of liked.

By then it was the end of the 6th inning, and everyone had had enough. We took the metro back to Dan & Aynat's and then headed back home.

Edit - 5/23/2011 - It was pointed out to me today that Eli's hat has Washinggon on the side. Perhaps that was why they were $5 each. What's sad is he's been wearing the hat for over a week now and I never noticed. Gives it character.

Embassy Tours in DC

2011-05-14T18:43:00.028-04:00

We headed up to Washington, DC this weekend to visit with my brother's family and to tour a few embassies as part of the Passport DC program.

Lihi was ready to go.

We went to Indonesia first. Dan and Aynat had been there once before and thought it was one of the more interesting embassies. The embassy is in the former Walsh mansion and the stained glass in the ceiling of the entry hall was beautiful.

Stained Glass Ceiling

When we arrived there was a gathering of people playing a bunch of Angklungs. They were passing the instruments out as you arrived. Each instrument played a single note as you shook it and at the bottom there was a picture of a hand in specific position. At the front of the room was a director who was changing his hand position to instruct the room of people when to play their instrument. The end result was a pretty good rendition of The Beatles "All You Need Is Love". They are going to try and break the world record on July 9th on the Mall.

Cyrus and Eli weren't really that excited about the embassy. We did a quick tour of the house and headed out.

Cyrus' expression pretty much sums up his level of excitement.

From the Indonesian Embassy we walked down Massachusetts Avenue to visit other embassies. We stopped in the Bahamas Embassy next. It was like a little party in there.

Line to get into the Bahamas Embassy.

From the Bahamas Embassy we headed to South Korea. They had a taekwondo demonstration in front of the embassy. At first it was just choreographed dancing to some techno music. Cyrus was skeptical:

Cyrus not too sure about the taekwondo deomonstration.

After a bit of dancing they got into more exciting stuff like breaking boards:

That was a bit more exciting.

Lastly, we headed to Japan but the line there was about 20 minutes and the kids were not interested. To be fair to them we decided three embassies was enough and headed home.

The front yard is looking nice

2011-05-06T18:53:00.002-04:00

Every spring things look so good in our yard. I know by the end of July everything will be wilted, but today it looks nice.