Photo stuff

Just a link to a decent blog/podcast about photography:

This Week in Photography

Photo Books

Angie did a terrific job of compiling the best of our pictures from the past year into two photo books. Take a look... if there are portions that you'd like recreated in a book of your own, we'd be happy to put something together!

Book 1
Book 2

Destination Imagination

Marcus got to represent his school as a member of their Destination Imagination team! Unfortunately, the regional competition was canceled due to the snow... without any possibility to reschedule. Luckily, the organizers from Carlisle put together a date for two of the Carlisle teams to perform in front of their parents. They had been working on their challenge since around October!

Marcus's team's theme was TwisDId History (like Twisted History, but for D.I.). They put on a short skit that demonstrated research, storytelling, musicality, geometry, history, and some serious acting talent! It was a blast to watch.

2008_03_11 - TwisDId History

Stephen is 3!

The little boy is now a big, 3-year-old! Undeterred by the snow (and the fact that our street had not yet been plowed), we managed to get out of our neighborhood and over to the local bowling alley for his party. The Kulhas, the Lajeunesses, and Melissa from next door joined us and a good time was had by all.

2008_03_09 - Stephen's Birthday Party

The Blizzard of '08?

Somehow, this was technically not a blizzard. But 20+ inches in 24 hours qualifies in my book. Lots of shoveling, combined with the time change, has made the adults sore and tired. The kids are mostly just tired from playing so much!

2008_03_08 - Snowball Fight

Geocaching

My family gave me a GPS receiver for my birthday, and my brother introduced me to Geocaching. The idea is that a container is hidden, containing some small trinket and a logbook. A website gives you its coordinates, or maybe clues to its whereabouts. You find it, swap the trinket for one that you bring with you, sign the logbook, then post your experience online. Eric has been really enjoying doing this with Virginia Grace.

Well, we were pretty excited to give it a try. But we were also in a bit of a hurry, so we left before I had a chance to really research things. The first place we went to turned out to be an earthcache... basically a place designed to teach you something about that place. So really nothing to find there, although we did look for a while.

Then we went to another place. We found the main thing we were supposed to find (it was part of a cacher's "Show Me Something Interesting" series), but the kids were rapidly approaching the not-happy-tipping-point, so we left before finding the logbook. In any event, it was a fun time and we look forward to doing more Geocaching once the snow melts a bit!

2008_03_02 - Our First Geocache

Maple Syrup Festival

Every year we try to make it to the Maple Syrup Festival held at Camp Lazarus, our local Boy Scout camp. This year, it was snowy but sunny, drawing a pretty big crowd. Since the kids are now able to be outside for extended periods of time, we stayed for several hours.

They watched some axe throwing and Native American dancing, made whistles and leather coasters, ate pancakes, and went on a hayride. Then we tried to leave and got stuck in the mud. Luckily, there were some boy scouts around who were not only helpful, but prepared (with a Jeep, a chain, and a rope). After about 10 minutes of glopping around in the mud, the Odyssey was free... thanks scouts!

2008_03_01 - Maple Syrup Festival

Elise is 6!

What a grown-up girl we have! Angie was healthy this time for the gift opening on the big day:

2008_02_12 - Elise's 6th Birthday

Elise was very excited to have more outfits for her doll, and really enjoyed having Granny and Grandpa in town for her party... especially after seeing the doll house that Grandpa built for her! She chose a unicorn theme for her party and celebrated at The Bare Bowl... one of those places where you buy a plaster thingy, paint it, then pick it up a week later after it's been glazed and fired. Oh, and although Angie was healthy, Stephen managed to fall on his nose. Twice. Did it faze him? Not for more than a couple of minutes!

2008_02_16 - Elise's 6th Birthday Party

Snowboarding At Snowshoe

Angie gave me an early birthday gift... a snowboarding weekend at Snowshoe, West Virginia! I went with some friends from work: Kelly, Paul, Grey, Michael, and Trent. We drove down Friday after work, arriving late at night. Then we had a great time boarding/skiing on Saturday and Sunday (although Sunday was incredibly windy and most of the mountain was closed). The resort could be set up a bit better - there were long waits for tables at mealtimes - but it was still a really good weekend.

2008_02_09 - Snowboarding At Snowshoe

Gingerbread Houses

Stephen and Elise made gingerbread houses in school... they were so happy!

2008_01_27 - Gingerbread Houses

Skiing

One perk of my not-so-fun current job is that taking vacation time isn't as difficult as it has been in the past. So I took MLK Day and President's Day off and took the kids skiing both days. Those two days, combined with another Saturday mean that they're getting pretty good. Marcus only needs help if he falls down, which doesn't happen that often. And Elise can ride the chairlift now! She still holds onto my poles going down the "big hill", but she'll probably be free of those by next season.

2008_01_21 - Skiing

Marcus Is 8!

He's getting to be such a big boy! While Angie was sick with a nasty flu, the rest of us enjoyed a pancake dinner (the birthday boy's choice) and some present unwrapping:

2008_01_16 - Marcus's 8th Birthday

Angie managed to recover in time for his party, which was dolphin-themed. Marcus has been reading the Dolphin Diaries series of books and now has decided to become a marine biologist when he grows up... "so I can teach and learn"! We decorated the living room and played dolphin games, and a good time was had by all:

2008_01_19 - Marcus's 8th Birthday Party