Swim Team highlights

This is my first new post in awhile.
Samuel has been participating in the local swim team. I have created a video with some highlights of the season. I'm having some trouble putting the video directly into the blog, but here is the link:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4905891523770214824

Note that there is sound as well, so make sure your speakers are on.

Spiderman discovers the climbing wall

During the holiday break, Kim and Samuel discovered a local climbing center. Samuel was hesitant when we introduced the idea to him. When he got there, though, his eyes lit up. "I didn't know it was going to be like this!" Climbers can go up to the painted line without a rope, but must hook in to go any higher. Kim was on belay as Samuel went up the walls again and again. He even zipped around the overhang and all the way up to the ceiling. On the way home he was already planning his next trip.

Jingle Bells

Benjamin loves to sing. During this holiday season, he developed his own version of Jingle Bells. This was recorded a few weeks ago. He has augmented the song with additional lines since that time, but the essence remains the same.

Christmas Day, part one

Well, we made it. Christmas Day. I got through the work week, Kim got all the packages mailed off, we got everything assembled and wrapped and packaged and baked. We managed to get it all done, and still had time to watch an episode of Battlestar Galactica on Christmas Eve. It was all busier than we wanted it to be, but less hectic than it might have been. We're slowly getting the "life spedometer" down where we'd like it to be. The trick is keeping it there for any length of time.

Samuel woke us at 0630 today -- not too bad. He didn't manage to spot Santa last night like he'd planned, even when Santa came into his room to put some treats in the small stocking we hang there. He took in in stride, though. Said he, "Even if I had remembered (to stay awake), it was too cold to poke my head out of the blankets to see him anyway." Spoken like a kid who reaches for a jacket when the mercury drops below 75 degrees.

Samuel also had some Christmas morning preparations to do. He had prepared some handmade gifts for the others in the family. Always alert to the overarching themes of the season, he observed, "I've got three gifts to give. Hey, I'm a wise man!" Indeed.

Benjamin got up around 0700 an retrieved from his stocking some candy and a small truck. The latter item proved to be the first of a fleet of trucks that came from under the tree. There are some counties with fewer trucks than my youngest son has. He certainly knows what he likes.

We had (and are still having) a wonderful Christmas. The best part was hanging around as a family for the past few days. Will post more later tonight, with some additional pictures.

Oh man, Bobby

Benjamin's favorite character right now is Bob the Builder. For reasons he keeps to himself, Benjamin calls him "Bobby". This week Benjamin learned a new expression, which we captured in this very brief audio clip.

The Need for Speed

After discovering that his friends in the neighborhood had taken off their training wheels, Samuel recently made a decision. It was time to ride. I took his training wheels off that night and worked with him for about 15 minutes. The next day, Kim started to work with him again. After she had taken 10 steps running alongside and holding the bike steady, Samuel said, "Let go mom, I've got it." And that was that.

The one-armed fist pump

Benjamin watched the Blue Man Group video...and learned. Here he demonstrates the Rock Concert Movement #2: The One-Armed Fist Pump. If you listen closely, you can hear the music in the background.

Halloween 2006

Unlike last year, we had excellent weather for this year's Halloween.

After toying with the idea of being Spiderman this year, Samuel settled on his favorite Star Wars character -- Darth Maul. He spent a lot of time planning the costume with Mommy, and even more time "breaking it in". He pretty much wanted to wear it every day the last two weeks of Halloween. The big day was the first time we did the makeup -- I think Mommy did a very nice freehand.



The neighbor boys also chose Star Wars costumes, making for a heavily-themed trio.


This was Benjamin's first trick-or-treat, since the rain kept him indoors last year. He selected his costume through a rigorous process of sitting still while we put it on him. Unexpectedly, he did not immediately try to take it off. In fact, he had a great time going up to front doors and getting candy in his pumpkin. Big brother took Benjamin under his wing and showed him the ropes.

Check out the whole album here:

Halloween 2006

Blue Man Group !!!

Last night we got a babysitter for the boys and trekked to Houston to take in Blue Man Group's How to Be a Megastar 2.0 show. Wow. Wow, wow, wow.

We got to the Toyota Center in on time, but got stuck in horrible traffic routing and had to wait a long time to park after we missed a turn. Grrr. Luckily, we got to our seats just as Tracy Bonham started her brief opening set. The auditorium was packed, but the crowd was good-natured. We looked around for our next-door neighbors, who were also at the show, but we didn't know where they were sitting. Tough to pick out two people from a group of thousands. Bonham's set lasted about 20 minutes, then there was a short intermission.

Then the Blue Man Group came on.

We had been to Blue Man's show, Tubes, in Boston several years ago and we have two Blue Man CD's, so we knew a bit about what to expect. For those who aren't familiar with the group, they are based around the character called the Blue Man, a silent, somewhat childlike fellow who likes to make music using a wide variety of custom-made instruments (PVC pipe figures heavily into many of them). There are three Blue Men in each show, and they are backed by an on-stage band. For this show, the band was based around creating BIG sound -- three drummers, four guitarists, two singers, plus the Blue Men. During the loud sections, of which there were many, their show can best be described as a wall of sound coming at you. Awesome.

Interactivity and comedy are also big parts of the show. The "story" of this show was that the Blue Men saw an infomercial for a course called "How to Be a Megastar", which they ordered (using a credit card from an audience member). The show was then based on the audio and video track of the course, teaching the Blue Men how to become Megastars and prompting the audience to participate in the standard Rock Concert Movements. These ranged from Rock Concert Movement #1 (the Basic Head Bob) to Rock Concert Movement # 78 (the Fake Ending). Between Blue Man songs, the giant screen and booming voice also taught the audience about interesting bits of rock concert trivia. My favorite was the story of Floppie the Banjo Clown, which you can check out here.

It's a tough concert to describe -- it's easier to go to this page and watch the two short videos. The second video is a great overview of what the show was like.

If you like music and humor, I can't recommend this concert enough. If the Blue Man Group comes to your area -- GO!

Lake Livingston Trip

Last weekend we took a 4-day camping trip to Lake Livingston State Park. We camped there earlier this year, and discovered that we really like the park. It's not a very long drive (less than 2 hours from the house), and there is lots to do. We schlepped the bikes up there, and had a great time riding around on the bike trails. It's a great, wooded site on a giant lake. There are great hiking trails, a nature boardwalk, bike trails and lots of places for the boys to play.
We went with our neighbors the Hillarys, who also like to camp. We parked our tiny camper in site 93 and had a great time.
Pictures? Well if you insist....

Lake Livingston, Sept. 2006

Sep 30, 2006 - 76 Photos