First Flower of Spring

The wonder of flowers to be covered and then to burst up . . . . to the sun again.

Kids Dirt Bike Test Track at the Motorcycle Expo . . .

Waiting in line for a chance to ride, the kids played with some motorcycle toys.

This might be the last year for John to ride the test track, he's ready for bigger bikes and he's way past training wheels. But he still had fun.

Emmalee races around the oval.

Big Fan

A thoughtful gift from the Pixar gift shop courtesy of JBL. Thank you very much.

Happiness is . . .

... Reading my favorite childhood books to my own son, and having him enjoy them too.

Ice pillar

Close up of the icicle.

Killer Icicle

John poses by our amazing gutter-to-ground icicle.

Now with more ham . . .

Emmalee hams it up for the camera.

John's turn . . .

Hamming it up for the camera.

Emmalee . . .

Showing off for the camera.

Lower Case N

The Sesame Street song about "Lower Case N"

... I loved it as a kid.

Pretzel Boy

john, the human pretzel.

Big splash

the kids enjoy the swimming pool at the hotel.

Shark

Nice Shark

John pets a shark in the petting area of the shark exhibit at the zoo.

Shark Petting Zoo

Emmalee visits the sharks in the petting zoo.

Christmas Hotel

Each year we stay in a hotel around Christmas time. The hotel has a swimming pool, which is popular with the kids. But this year they also explored the fitness center at the hotel. Emmalee runs on the treadmill.

John tries out the exercise equipment at the hotel.

Pig Sitter

Emmalee's best friend is getting a Guinea Pig for Christmas, but doesn't know it yet. To keep the gift out of sight til christmas morn, her parents sent the pig to live with us for a few days. Emmalee was happy to care for the pig for a few days.

Emmalee sooths the frightened Guinea Pig.

O christmas Tree

The hotel has a Christmas tree made of poinsettas Every year.

T

In the good old summer time . . .

Summertime hike to the river . . .

Remember summertime?

I remembered this song in the night

Silver and Gold have I none

Peter and John went to pray.
they met a lame man on the way
He asked for alms and held out his palms,
and this is what Peter did say"
Silver and gold have I none,
but such as I have give I you.
In the name of Jesus Christ our Lord,
in Jesus' name rise up and walk.
The man went walking and leaping and praising God,
Walking and leaping and praising God,
"In the name of Jesus Christ our Lord,
In Jesus' name rise up and walk".

Palindromes In Song

A dinner-time discussion of palindromes with my kids led to me digging up this Weird Al Yankovich video.

John shows off his robot . . .

John participated in an after school robotics club. eight weeks meeting one night a week. I was proud of him for submitting to following the instructor's directions; I'm sure John had a strong desire to do things his own way. But he was able to grasp that in this situation he needed to be part of the group. There are times for independence and there are times for cooperation. He did great.

The robot

A close - up of John's new robot. Arms move, wheels turn, and it avoids collisions by turning.

Robot in motion. . .

John demonstrates his robot.

October Sky

The moon which watched over us as we trick-or-treated on Halloween night.

What Happened To The Dinosaurs...

Emmalee's Art

Emmalee's drawing of "Dad and Emmalee riding Dad's motorcycle"

John . . .

My son stands beside the tree in the creek bed.

As new life will come of death . . .

This tree somehow managed to thrive in the rocky creek bed. There are stones embedded and intertwined with the roots. There are roots encasing the rocks. Life springs forth from the stones.

Loves me like a rock . . .

Emmalee poses with a geological oddity . . . rocks embedded inside solid rock. The harder rocks were encased in limestone. The limestone has begun to erode away exposing the harder rocks within.

Consider the fungi . . .

These fungi growing on the dead log are so delicate and variegated they look like butterfly wings. Who knew that fungi could be as beautiful as flowers?

Waterfall

One of the waterfalls at McCormick's Creek State Park.

His domain

John proudly surveys the forest floor from his vantage point.

She climbs...

Monkey Girl

Emmalee slinks up a tree trunk.

Sun through the trees

John and Emmalee hike McCormick's Creek.

Happiness is . . .

Happiness is a walk in the park.

Chess

Emmalee and Daddy squared off for a killer game of chess.

Improvised Game Board

After seeing a movie friday night, Emmalee and I stopped at McDonalds for a coke and a wicked game o Super Tic Tac Toe. Since we had no paper and pencil, we used straws, and salt and pepper packets to play the game.

High school high

It felt good to ride a motorcycle to my high school for my twenty fifth reunion.

Wish i'd had a bike in high school.

Fungus

John found some large specimens of shelf fungus. His biology-teacher Grandma would be proud.

Not shelf fungus at all, but something small and pointed ... like a bloated pinky finger.

Patch Of Sky

A patch of sky is visible where the tree has died and its leaves fallen, though the tree still stands.

Hiker

John finds the perfect walking stick.

Wade In

John and Emmalee wade in the White River.