microblogging (twittering)

Too funny! I don't have time to blog let alone micro-blog or insta-blog, and I am pretty sure I don't need more of this stuff in my life. There are a couple of bad words (0:42 in and 3:20), but it is still PG rated and worth watching.

Click on the pause button on the music playing on our blog (to the right), press play on the video below, and enjoy!

Tour de CA

We've been meaning to post about this for months, but with Le Tour just a few weeks away we thought now is a good time. Our good friend Roger came in town for the Tour of CA and we spent a few days following the race. It was pretty cool. We have attended pro races in the past, but usually for just one day or stage. Cycling is the most accessible professional sport in the world as you will see by how close we were able to get to the action and the athletes as they compete (also before and after the day's racing).

Jens
This is how close we were to the time trial riders.
Levi in yellow (gold) on his way to the time trial stage win in Solvang. This was our favorite day. It felt very Euro.
All these guys do is ride. They wake up and warm up a bit, and then pre-ride the course. Next they spin to warm up before they race. Then they race, and finally they have to ride to cool down after going all out. Here is big George on his post race cool down.
Solvang was longhorn day. Most days were elk days for this nut.
The peleton hits the Rose Bowl for several laps.
Is this France?
Most of the big names of the race are in this group climbing. Most of you wouldn't know who they were if I told you, but you might recognize the rider with the yellow helmet on the right.There goes Lance and Levi again controling the pace at the front.
"Hi Mom!" Roger and I made it on TV. I am in the black hat and Roger has the white t-shirt on (left side of the screen). Pretty funny!

Baseball & Boats

Ethan's been busy!

Congratulations on a great season for the AZ Wildcats.

neighbor & great friend Jacob

running the bases-
wait....is he puffing his cheeks??
Just like Dad!

Wayne as asst. coach

the trophy...

Thanks, Coach Tommy!

Cub Scout Raingutter Regata

Boston Red Sox boat ("Jacoby")

American Idol fun

The girls had a "few" friends over for the AI finale. It was very low key and quiet.....not. Lots of fun, though. How many times can we rewind to the 'Black-Eyed Peas'?
"Boom-Boom!"
I was screaming along with them for my favorite,
Kris Allen.

Cass cracks me up!

Lucky Brynn got to actually attend the show the previous night. Look closely and you can see
Brooke White in the background.

Happy Birthday Ethan!!

Nine years old!

Hey, great job winning that sponge bob and with your own money!
(I thought nobody ever won those games.)

Climbing trees at our Easter picnic.

Took this pic while at the Huntington Beach Pier doing "research" for his OC Project. (And can I just say how happy I am that all the projects are over!)

It's birthday season

Happy Birthday Wayne!

Black Friday

It finally arrived. It was known to all of you as "Good Friday" but it was labeled "Black Friday" on my calendar. Yes, that's right, I'm in the 40 club now.

Usually on our birthdays, Cassie puts a sign on our bedroom door with our age in huge numbers (not always appreciated ;o)
but this year she went easy on me. The kids hung up kind sayings and brought me breakfast in bed and wonderful gifts and coupons. Mom and Dad got the family together earlier in the week and treated us to Mexican food and the most delicious chocolate cake! Wayne treated me to a fun day in LA at the Getty Museum. It wasn't so bad after all and I survived! I've heard 40 is the new 20 anyway ;o)

The picture is blurry, but this card from Ethan was really creative. It's in the shape of a birthday cake and even has a candle coming out the top.

Nice reminder from Brynn...

Cassie's sign included a few of my favorite things.....
chocolate, sunshine, music, Arizona, the color green, Sting, reading, tennis, etc.

Phonebook friction

Congratulations to Ethan on a spectacular Science project! Once again borrowing from one of his favorite shows, Mythbusters, Ethan tried the phonebook experiment. This is when you interlock two phonebooks (or any books really), overlapping each page. Once they are all interlocked, it is impossible to pull the books apart. (Although Mythbusters finally pulled them apart with two tanks!)
Why is that you say? Well, we discovered, it is due to friction. The more sheets of paper you have on top of each other, the more friction is created. Who knew? Supercool!

Ethan and Connor trying to pull the phonebooks apart.

Wayne and Ethan added weights to try and pull with more force.