Baseball buddies

Ella, Shane, Papa and I went to the Midwest League Home Run Derby Monday. These two characters got bored a few minutes into the contest. After stalling them with french fries and looking for the roaming mascots we went for a walk around the stadium. After they both turned their noses up at the idea of air brushing a picture on their face, they got these balloon hats. Funny you think, well not the for the guys who sat in front of us and kept getting knocked in the head with the balloon balls.

Wet Woods

Turtle Tides, the new spray park in Sanford was one of our stops with the girls on my birthday. They were reluctant at first but eventually got their feet wet. We had to talk Ella into riding on my shoulders to get into one of the big fountains.

Lord Rodney with Stanley

Crazy ol' Rodney sent me this photo in an email. I loved it so I asked him if I could pass it along to you all. I guess the Ilitches stopped by the Free Press the other day and brought along a little hardware their team picked up. In case some of you have been under a rock or scooping bat guano in some cave in Kentucky, the Red Wings won the Stanley Cup. I would have loved to have seen Rodney pick it up over his head and cart it around the newsroom giving it kisses. Photo by Mary Schroeder.

Boomer

We have been having quite a number of storms roll through lately (I guess most of you would know that). Anyway a week or so ago this cell moved through just north of us. Sorry about your luck Gladwin County. The moon and stars were out above our house and this storm kept it's distance to the north. It is weird but since Brett "Boomer" Marshall left the Daily News and moved away from Michigan we have been getting nailed. I wonder if God is angry with him.

Together time

Cat nap

Layla was in the middle of a dilemma ... either enjoy the new swing set or give in to the sleepy signals that were taking over her body. There is nothing more relaxing then a purring cat in your lap before your nap. (I'm a poet and I don't even know it.) She hung on long enough for lunch and headed off to her afternoon nap.

Itch to Scratch

Odd or Even

Has anyone ever grabbed a handful of your leg hairs wanting to play odd or even? Basically the point of the game would be if you say odd and an odd number of hairs get yanked from your leg then you win, kinda. I parked next to this car in the parking lot at work a week or so ago. It looks to me like this white Kia played odd or even with the rear end of a whitetail deer. Some how I think the deer lost.

Spring Training (pants)

Ella and I went to our first Great Lakes Loons game together last weekend. Papa Jim, Aunt Stacey and Henry came along too. In his first game with his father in attendance since high school, Preston Mattingly came through with the game winning hit. The Loons beat the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers 4-2. On the way out of the stadium the kids held hands out to the car while tapping their bats on the ground. On the way home Stacey asked the kids what their favorite part of the day was. Ella's was the french fries and Henry's favorite was the popcorn.

Moonlighting

moon•light•ing –verb (used without object)
5) to work at an additional job after one's regular, full-time employment, as at night.



So we bought a swing set/playhouse for the kids. The directions say that it should take two "moderately skill" adults 24 to 36 hours to install. I should have expected that it would be like a second job for a week. My dad came over and spend some time working on it with me for two days. The second night we where trying to take advantage of all the time we had. After the sun went down and the moonlight wasn't enough I brought out the new LED light that I picked up at a family Christmas Chinese auction. After my dad left I was on my own the rest of the week and progress slowed down. We went from 2 "moderately skilled" persons to one almost sorta skilled. My dad was just evening us out to become "moderately skilled." I think we are ahead of the pace, I don't think we have 24 hours in yet. It's not quiet done yet though...

Barrel of Laughs

I don't think I have laughed as much as I did as during game night last Friday at the Rauchert's. Here is a compilation, basically this is my view of all the folks enjoying the night. There is something about watching people laugh that makes you feel good. (Just for full disclosure, there was only one Kristy there. Thank goodness, one is all any of us could have handled.)

Final few from Florida...

We made it back safely from our vacation. After spending a week in temperatures over 80 degrees we drove home through a rain shower that turned to sloppy snow near Saginaw. Our plane landed in Detroit around 8 p.m. and by the time we loaded up our car and headed out of town we got home around midnight. The lady in the drive-thru must have thought we were deadbeat parents for taking out kids to McDonalds at 11:30 at night. The girls, all three of them, slept all the way from Detroit to Auburn when I had to stop and get gas. Below are a few pictures from out final day in Florida. We drove an hour to get to a beach where the kids could play in the sand and waves. Bahia Honda State Park was voted the best in the nation in the '90s, although we ended up having a great time we are still wondering why.

Glass Bottom Blues

We took a tour of the Molasses Reef today about four miles off shore at the John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park in Key Largo today. The guide told us that the reef got it's name from a legend of a barge carrying barrels of molasses that grounded on the reef years ago. The beautiful colors seem to get washed out by the blue ocean and never look as good in photographs as they do in person. Anyway, here are a few frames from our trip. Parrotfish, Grunts, Yellow Snappers and even a Nurse Shark were among the reef life that we saw beneath our boat.

More from the Keys ...

While watching a storm miles out in the ocean last night I made this frame. This is looking out from the pool area of the house we are staying at.


Layla started walking around the edge of the pool.


It looks like Jim was almost swept away while deep sea fishing, it really was pretty safe though. He did eventually bring in the black-fin tuna, we ate him tonight seared with lemon pepper.


This was one of the few times that you could see Ella not in the pool today. She swam for about 3 hours before taking her second nap of the day she was so tired.

Stormy & Sleepy

Today we spend a good portion of the day at the Theater of the Sea in Islamorada. Because of the limited spots available all the girls got to go except the two babies. Stormy, our dolphin treated the girls to his array of tricks. Dancing, singing, splash fights, fetch, hugs and kisses. Below, Stormy plants a big one on Angie's cheek. Ella isn't pictured because she didn't think too much of swimming with the dolphins. She got out and was happy to sit in a plastic chair next to Papa. It was a long, hot day and all the girls were pooped at the end of the day. In the car ride home Ella and Layla were both exhibiting their sleepy signs. BTW, the photo of Angie and Stormy is courtesy of the "professional" photographer at Theater of the Sea. They have the monopoly on the good photo spots. Sure you can shoot pictures, but they limit where you can stand. Then they do the tricks facing their photographer. They make every effort to make you purchase their photos. I guess it worked, I got nothing and we ended up buying a CD.

Poolmate

So we made it down to our vacation spot in the Florida Keys. We spend the whole first day soaking up the sun and enjoying the hot weather. After coming from Michigan 80 degrees feels like 100. This morning we were not the only ones basking in the sun. Looks like this rental house has a wild iguana living in the neighborhood. In the second photo papa protects the girls from the mean ol' nasty (harmless) reptile. I think our green friend spend more time today poolside than we did.

Ella's encouragement

The snow is melting in our yard but the pond is still covered with ice and snow. While this deer snacked on the corn pile Ella and I sat in the window, Ella heard me say, "Come on deer," as I held up the camera waiting to make this picture. I was trying to urge it to walk away from the corn and past the pond where it would be silhoutted. She started jumping up and down saying "Come on deer! Come on deer!" Then the deer ran past the pond and into the woods.

Layla turns one...

Well, more like 13 months. Her birthday was actually February 27 but after RSV, a double ear infection, the flu and a massive allergic reaction to penicillin the third party date went off without a hitch. It was pretty amazing that we actually had 11 kids in the house that were all fairly healthy (we will see for how long). Anyway, she partied like a big girl, munched on cake and played with all her cousins.

The Master & Student

The Michigan Press Photographers' Association held their annual Pictures of the Year contest this past weekend. It was quite the weekend for the guys at the ol' MDN. We all did well, and it felt great to do it as a team. I think we would all agree that none of us could have done it without each other. Check out the link above. It was a classic battle royal between Kevin and Brett's sports portfolios and stories. Also I have to say I doubt that the MDN or myself would have ever reached this point without Rodney "The Master." He took a chance on me, not sure why, but I am glad he did. (photograph by Kevin)

New Do

So most people in my life were calling for this for a while now. Brett stopped over tonight to give me a new do, "he just took a little off the top" I like to say. Anyway, my lovely curly locks started piling up on the floor and I thought it was kind of a shame to just sweep them up and throw them away. After all, I have been growing my hair for over a year.