Last night Christian's 5th grade orchestra had their first concert. Their teacher should get a raise. Most of the have been playing their instrument for 3 months and they sounded great. Here's a short video of them playing Dvorak's "New World Symphony." Christian is in the front row.



Rehn is singing with the Christmas choir at the church. They had their first concert last weekend. Here's a short vid of that. Rehn is about 8 kids from the left end of the front row.

Last week the fam and I headed to Atlanta to visit old friends. I have to say, Georgia is now my favorite of the deep south states. Here are some pics.

One of my favorite things about travelling is breaking out the Coleman stove and cooking. We stopped about 100 miles south of Montgomery, Alabama and took a break. (100 miles south of Mont. Alabama is where the flat, ugly south turns hilly and beautiful btw).



Our first adventure in Atlanta was a hike near the Chattahoochee River. I know you all remember the Alan Jackson song "Chattahoochee." I was singing the first line over and over and over in my head our entire hike.



That same evening Teacherman and I headed downtown to go see the Braves play the Astros. We got our money's worth. The game lasted nearly 5 1/2 hours, went 14 innings, with 6 homeruns (one grand slam) and ended with an Astros victory.



The following day we all headed to World of Coca Cola. Kind of like Wonka World, but with sodas.








We tasted sodas from all around the world. Asian and African sodas leave a lot to be desired.
















Later that night, pajama Wii Boxing...


















Saturday we went to Lake Lanier Islands Beach & Water park. The kids and I rode every slide at least twice. We went late in the day to get half price tickets and to avoid giant lines. The plan was great. By 5pm the lines were short enough that we hardly had to wait. After the park we took another hike. This time around the Buford Dam on Lake Sidney Lanier.



Sunday we drove home. Again we stopped for a picnic. This time we hung out at the Fairview-Riverside State Park in Madisonville, Louisiana.



Of course, we had to take a long walk.












These wicked cool grass hoppers were everywhere. We later found that they are Southeastern Lubber Grasshoppers. They helped give us all the willies as we marched through the swamp.

Merry Christmas.

Thanksgiving was good. We went to Baton Rouge to visit Deb's mom, aunt and cousin. "Aunt" always prepares incredible meals for us, but she out did herself this weekend. Holy cow, I ate.

Friday Deb and her mother went shopping leaving me and the kids at home. Knowing we'd be left alone, I had planned to spend Friday morning visiting the USS Kidd and the Veterans Memorial Museum in downtown Baton Rouge on the Mississippi River.

The USS Kidd (named after Admiral Kidd who was killed when the USS Arizona exploded during the Pearl Harbor invasion) was launched on February 28, 1943. The photo below was taken just seconds before this Kamikaze hit her boiler room, killing 38 and wounding 55.











We had a blast. We were there more than 3 hours and the kids didn't want to leave. Here are some pics:

The kids in front of the Kidd with the I-10 bridge over the Mississippi in the background.







Taken from the front of the Kidd












Tight sleeping quarters. During wartime the Kidd had over 300 men on board.

This weekend Teacherman and I headed to Brazos Bend State Park for a camping trip with the Webelos. Brazos Bend is about 80 miles southwest of our house so I took him out of school a couple of hours early to get a jump on the traffic. We got to the park, set up camp and got a raging fire going before dark, in a fog of mosquitos. As soon as the sun set we were visited by 6 raccoons. We watched them for a few minutes before I ran after them scaring them away. They didn't return. We headed to the George Observatory. The George has 3 big telescopes. Well, 1 BIG one and two smaller ones. I can't remember what we looked at through the two "small" ones, but through the big one the astronomer had us view M11 (Wild Duck) Starfield. It was pretty amazing. Even with the sky flickering with distant lightning we were able to get a pretty good view of infinity. The distant lightning was (of course) a sign of what was coming. We got back to camp as the rain came down. It poured for an hour or so. The lightning was now not distant. The thunder was incredibly loud and a little frightening with only the cover of a tent. Teacherman was not happy, but he survived and now has a pretty cool story to tell.

Saturday we went to the Nature Center and hung out with the park's volunteers. They were the coolest and most knowledgeable people on the planet. We all got to pet a screech owl, corn snake, milk snake and a baby alligator. After the kids attended TPWD angler class we went on a guided nature hike. Once again, the volunteer was brilliant. After lunch, the boys went and hung out for 5 hours with a Boy Scout troop. I went fishing with one of the dads.

Early Sunday morning we climbed out of the tent and into the cold. We immediately broke camp, ate breakfast and headed on our own hike. Our goal was to find alligators. Quickly, our goal was complete when we stumbled upon 7 gators sunning themselves on the shore of New Horseshoe Lake. The smallest gator was approximately 5 feet, the largest was probably close to 10. A little later we saw three more. A ten and a 6 footer sun bathing, and another medium sized one in the water hunting a duck. He didn't get it, but he came close. Amazing. Holy crap.

I'm sleepy.


Our campsite was pretty secluded.









Baby gators are released into the park when they are one year old.








Gators on the shore









Teacherman with a gator









These golden silk spiders are everywhere. They are harmless to humans.








I can't resist posting a pic of my awesome hat.

Horpy Horlorworn

Teach was a SEAL












Rehn was a witch. It was nice of Debbie to let her daughter borrow her hat.











I went as Deb.

Christian and I went camping with his Webelo pack this past weekend. A little nippy at night. A little rainy during the day. We were able to participate in many of the activities that were planned. The kids got to shoot BB guns, learn how to work a compound bow and a map and compass. Teach and I hung out by ourselves a lot. We hiked all over the camp, whittled sticks into daggers, tended a fire, ate lots of apples and trail mix, avoided poison ivy, etc. It was pretty much more fun than anything else on the planet. We do it again in mid-November. Can't wait.

Teacherman turned 10 this weekend. We've been shooting his new BB gun every chance we get. I'm sure the neighbors don't mind.





This is one of the best shots of Stella. Not that it is a good picture, but because (even though she was moving a zillion mph) I actually have her in the frame. Stella moves fast and constantly. She has two speeds: fast and off.








The dog will sit still when she's in a lap.







Holy giant cat Bat Man. That is not a small basket.

We got a new dog this weekend. Same breed as Cady. She's cute, quiet, playful, quiet, 12 weeks old, quiet, calm, quiet. I like quiet dogs. We (and by "we" I mean Deb) named her Stella Elaine. Kind of a goofy name for a dog, eh? Well, the name comes from a classic Seinfeld episode. Check out the scene I posted below. Elaine has taken too many pain pills for a sore back, she's obviously tipsy.



Here's the original scene from Streetcar Named Desire that Elaine is goofing on:

The fishing trip was a huge success. So much fun was had by all, I can't think of words to describe it. So...here are some pics.

This is a pic of the cabin we'll be staying in this weekend. I don't think I have anything else to say.

See ya.

Cady our dog, died this weekend. I know that most people could care less when someone else's pet dies, but I'll write about her anyway. Deb and I got her for Christmas in 1993. Ever since our son was born in '96 we've always joked that Cady was the baby, now she's just the dog. True, but a pretty great dog. In the fall of '02 Drop Trio named the song "Wet Dog" after her. The tune wasn't written about her, but it was named because of her. I am certain that while I was sitting on my bed writing the main parts of the tune, she was sitting right next to me...she always was. Soon after Ian, Nino and I completed the song and started playing it live I decided to write a new ending, the ending that we recorded on "Big Dipper" and still perform today. I wrote the ending of the tune, with the idea of her dying in my mind. That's why I chose to use sad chord progression of G to B minor and then D minor to B minor. The idea of her death then and now the reality of it, is truly sad. At least to me.

Wet Dog

Our plan for this past weekend was to go camping near Krauss Springs, about 35 miles west of Austin. The rainy forecast forced us to change our plans. So, Saturday morning we headed to Austin with hotel reservations and no plans. We arrived at out hotel and immediately headed to our favorite Austin restaurant for dinner. Then..

We started off day 1 in Austin by strolling around the University of Texas. We ended up at the Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Library.

Then...

The 99 Stairs at Covert Park, Mount Bonnell.











Hiking on Mount Bonnell.








Several peacocks call Mayfield Park and Reserve home.









We ended day 1 in San Antonio. Our hotel was on the River Walk. We walked over to the Alamo just in time to get this picture. Now, I'm not a great photographer, and typically I wouldn't take a picture of a building that has had it's picture taken about 14 billion times. However, check out the rainbow over the Alamo. Too bad Jeff wasn't there to take a real photo of it. This was taken on the evening of day 1. The Alamo was closed so we made a point to return the following morning. Teach and I could have hung out there all day, but Deb and Rehn don't share our interest in history and...cool stuff like that.

The River Walk in San Antonio. This was taken right outside of our hotel.







Taken deep within the Natural Bridge Caverns just north of San Antonio.








Rehn "rock" climbing at the Caverns.












Teach "rock"climbing at the Caverns.

Some people take pics of their kid taking their first step or first day of school, etc. That's all nice, and I've done that too. But here's a picture from this past weekend that is more important and more valuable than any other pic.

Rehn's first Astros game :)

Drum lesson

Me and Rehn getting ready for day 2 of NO TRAINING WHEELS. I taught Teach during Christmas break when he was 6. She's 6 so it's time.


She's doing it!!! For the most part.


Teach rocking and rolling.