Really starting to wonder when these teeth are going to come in!
Monday, March 28, 2011
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Midwestern's 2011
Day 1
Before we had our first session of swimming, we went out to a Sushi restaurant for lunch. It was some of the best sushi JT and I have ever had and the kids were really happy with their food too.
They had a really cool fish tank overhead that had some great fish in it.
Then it was off to the pool for some awesome swimming. It was at a really nice facility and the pool was really fast. A lot of kids dropped a lot of time!
Warm-ups is always a little crowded.
This year they did a parade of swimmers before the meet started, to recognize all of the kids who qualified for state. They all got medals based on how many events they qualified for. Skylar is the only one on our team who got a gold!
Getting ready for her first race and making friends at the same time!
This is her 25 butterfly. She dropped a second in her race and ended up 10th overall!
The big race is next, the 25 breast! She dropped a second here and ended up 5th overall!
She did really great in all of her events on Saturday. 50 back (29th)-dropped 4 seconds, 50 free (26th)-dropped one second, 100IM (13th)-dropped 1 second. We were really proud of how she did! It was a great day. James got a little bored just watching Skylar. His event was not until Sunday, so thank goodness for the DS.
After the meet, it was off to the Amazing Pizza Machine. The kids loved this place so much last year, that of course we had to go again.
I'm not sure who had more fun-Papa or the kids!
Then back to the hotel to watch a movie and rest!
Day 2
Parade again to start. James was really strutting his stuff!
James through Skylar is all our 8 and under team who qualified.
Skylar's first race of the day was amazing! She dropped 12 seconds in her 50 fly and ended up placing 11th. That was quite a shock! Then I think she spent all of her energy on that race and just died. She added a second in her 50 breast and ended up 15th, and added a second in her 100 free and ended up 21st. Still, very proud overall of how she did!
James had a great race until the last inch of the pool! I think he saw the wall coming because it is such a high wall and was too afraid to hit his head. He was on pace to drop about 2 seconds off his best, then he started flailing. Even with that bad finish, he still had a best time by .2 seconds.
I am unable to upload a video of more than 30 sec. it seems. So, I have uploaded the video onto my shutterfly account.
http://thedeanslife.shutterfly.com/3271
Overall, the kids swam great and we all had a wonderful time!
Back home, Skylar missed her siblings and made Brennen King for the evening.
Before we had our first session of swimming, we went out to a Sushi restaurant for lunch. It was some of the best sushi JT and I have ever had and the kids were really happy with their food too.
They had a really cool fish tank overhead that had some great fish in it.
Then it was off to the pool for some awesome swimming. It was at a really nice facility and the pool was really fast. A lot of kids dropped a lot of time!
Warm-ups is always a little crowded.
This year they did a parade of swimmers before the meet started, to recognize all of the kids who qualified for state. They all got medals based on how many events they qualified for. Skylar is the only one on our team who got a gold!
Getting ready for her first race and making friends at the same time!
This is her 25 butterfly. She dropped a second in her race and ended up 10th overall!
The big race is next, the 25 breast! She dropped a second here and ended up 5th overall!
She did really great in all of her events on Saturday. 50 back (29th)-dropped 4 seconds, 50 free (26th)-dropped one second, 100IM (13th)-dropped 1 second. We were really proud of how she did! It was a great day. James got a little bored just watching Skylar. His event was not until Sunday, so thank goodness for the DS.
After the meet, it was off to the Amazing Pizza Machine. The kids loved this place so much last year, that of course we had to go again.
I'm not sure who had more fun-Papa or the kids!
Then back to the hotel to watch a movie and rest!
Day 2
Parade again to start. James was really strutting his stuff!
James through Skylar is all our 8 and under team who qualified.
Skylar's first race of the day was amazing! She dropped 12 seconds in her 50 fly and ended up placing 11th. That was quite a shock! Then I think she spent all of her energy on that race and just died. She added a second in her 50 breast and ended up 15th, and added a second in her 100 free and ended up 21st. Still, very proud overall of how she did!
James had a great race until the last inch of the pool! I think he saw the wall coming because it is such a high wall and was too afraid to hit his head. He was on pace to drop about 2 seconds off his best, then he started flailing. Even with that bad finish, he still had a best time by .2 seconds.
I am unable to upload a video of more than 30 sec. it seems. So, I have uploaded the video onto my shutterfly account.
http://thedeanslife.shutterfly.com/3271
Overall, the kids swam great and we all had a wonderful time!
Back home, Skylar missed her siblings and made Brennen King for the evening.
Thursday, March 17, 2011
The Pinewood Derby!
JT probably spent about 20 hours sanding, polishing and painting the car! James loved it and he had a lot of fun at the derby! Here is the finished product.
Here are the boys ready to head to the races!
All the other race cars!
The race track was set up in the mall with seats for all of the parents. Kellen really wanted to come along to watch.
Up to the podium to race..
Ready,
Set,
GO!
Winner! While James won this race, he did not win the whole derby. He had a lot of fun though and was really proud of his car!
Kellen got bored of the racing and found a lady friend to chat with!
Here are the boys ready to head to the races!
All the other race cars!
The race track was set up in the mall with seats for all of the parents. Kellen really wanted to come along to watch.
Up to the podium to race..
Ready,
Set,
GO!
Winner! While James won this race, he did not win the whole derby. He had a lot of fun though and was really proud of his car!
Kellen got bored of the racing and found a lady friend to chat with!
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
A little braggery..
A mom has a right to brag every now and then! We just got the psych sheets (tells you where you are seeded in an event) for our state swim meet coming up this weekend and Skylar is ranked 5th in her 25 breast. That means that in the whole state, only four people are faster (and it is very close between 2 and 5th)! I am pretty proud. She is ranked between 9-13 for most of her other events! And James is one of a handful of 6 year olds that qualified for state! Think of Skylar and James this weekend and send them a little luck!
Monday, March 14, 2011
Two toothless kids!
James lost his first tooth tonight. He is so happy to have finally lost a tooth!
Charlotta still has no teeth and she could care less that she is toothless!
Charlotta still has no teeth and she could care less that she is toothless!
Sunday, March 13, 2011
The Pinewood Derby is coming up...
Every year, Boy Scouts has a Pinewood Derby car race. You have to make your own car out of a block of wood and hope that you win. JT got to work this weekend on the car and spent many hours sanding and painting. It is still not done ("a couple more coats and we should be good" says JT), but I think it looks pretty good now! You'll get an updated picture with the finished product.
Saturday, March 12, 2011
What a creature!
Kellen has the most interesting fashion sense. First, (and I think I have mentioned this before) the kid just loves PJ's. That is all he will wear. To get him to go to school, I have to put his clothes on top of his PJ's, then the instant he is home, he rips off he clothes (leaving them laying all over the place of course). Second, he loves socks (just like his mama)! He even likes toe socks, like these Santa ones he is wearing below. This is a typical outfit for Kellen--Looks great, huh?
Brennen always loves to get into the picture, but this one is cuter than most. Papa is tickling him upside down and he just happen to get in on the action!
Brennen always loves to get into the picture, but this one is cuter than most. Papa is tickling him upside down and he just happen to get in on the action!
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
It's excavation time!
Skylar got an excavation kit from the science center. This has really intrigued her and has taken her many days. She chips away little at a time and can't wait to get the dinosaur bones out. My favorite is when I asked her to come here and she replied, "I can't mom. I'm doing paleontology!"
Sunday, March 6, 2011
A day with Papa at the Science Center
I have owed this trip to Skylar for the better part of a year - and have not made it happen for her due to all the inane excuses that life brings. I had the pleasure of sitting through two fantastic parent-teacher conferences this week and resolved to give them a great day.
We arrived in Des Moines and had a few minutes to walk around and see the Court Avenue area.
We got to participate in many of the "shows" that the SCI puts on. This was "Cold Blooded Creatures". Both of them asked very good questions and were eager to hold the animals. Both of them were completely comfortable with the snake. A bit of a surprise.
This was "Fire Works" where we saw how liquids, gasses, and solids were flammable. He was burning methane filled soap bubbles in his hand. Skylar jumps up, "COOL! Burn baby burn!" We had to have a long talk after this show about how dangerous home experimentation could be.
This was "Zap". Playing with electrons, neon lights, and shocks.
The plasma globe is always a hit.
Skylar came around the corner, read the wall, and demanded that I take her picture.
This was a neat display. The kids had to build a "rocket" out of paper and tape then use an air launcher to measure their flight distance. After this we went to a movie in the planetarium called Dawn of the Space Age. Complete disappointment in the retelling of the space race and the first flight to the moon. All done in CGI, all the rocket launches, moon landings, training sequences. How many freaking thousands of hours of film do we have in the historical archives documenting these things that ACTUALLY HAPPENED? These jokers take the time to make it look like a video game. I think it just confused the kids.
Tracings leaves and learning about the Iowa prairie. The animal exhibits were a big hit.
I have no idea how many bacteria are passed around Iowa by this thing. The kids loved it and had no issues with sticking their tongues out while having their faces pressed into them. I can only cringe at the 28,000 other kids this week who did the same thing. Yuck.
After watching the IMAX move "Wild Ocean", we decided that Spaghetti Works would be the perfect end to our day. 5,000 calories of chicken parm, meatballs, pasta, and tiramisu consumed and we headed for home. On a rather bright note, this dinner was mannered, relatively clean, and both kids were able to articulate their thoughts on the day. It has been the better part of a decade since the wife and I have had a dinner like this with our children present, and I had my faith renewed.
I love you guys!
Papa
We arrived in Des Moines and had a few minutes to walk around and see the Court Avenue area.
We got to participate in many of the "shows" that the SCI puts on. This was "Cold Blooded Creatures". Both of them asked very good questions and were eager to hold the animals. Both of them were completely comfortable with the snake. A bit of a surprise.
This was "Fire Works" where we saw how liquids, gasses, and solids were flammable. He was burning methane filled soap bubbles in his hand. Skylar jumps up, "COOL! Burn baby burn!" We had to have a long talk after this show about how dangerous home experimentation could be.
This was "Zap". Playing with electrons, neon lights, and shocks.
The plasma globe is always a hit.
Skylar came around the corner, read the wall, and demanded that I take her picture.
This was a neat display. The kids had to build a "rocket" out of paper and tape then use an air launcher to measure their flight distance. After this we went to a movie in the planetarium called Dawn of the Space Age. Complete disappointment in the retelling of the space race and the first flight to the moon. All done in CGI, all the rocket launches, moon landings, training sequences. How many freaking thousands of hours of film do we have in the historical archives documenting these things that ACTUALLY HAPPENED? These jokers take the time to make it look like a video game. I think it just confused the kids.
Tracings leaves and learning about the Iowa prairie. The animal exhibits were a big hit.
I have no idea how many bacteria are passed around Iowa by this thing. The kids loved it and had no issues with sticking their tongues out while having their faces pressed into them. I can only cringe at the 28,000 other kids this week who did the same thing. Yuck.
After watching the IMAX move "Wild Ocean", we decided that Spaghetti Works would be the perfect end to our day. 5,000 calories of chicken parm, meatballs, pasta, and tiramisu consumed and we headed for home. On a rather bright note, this dinner was mannered, relatively clean, and both kids were able to articulate their thoughts on the day. It has been the better part of a decade since the wife and I have had a dinner like this with our children present, and I had my faith renewed.
I love you guys!
Papa