Balloons Everywhere!

This a flashback to our Fall 2007 vacation in ABQ. We timed our fall vacation to coincide with the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta. It is a grand fesitval! Some images can be enlarged by clicking on them.

Happy Birthday, Me

My birthday was yesterday. A very nice day, spent mostly with family. I want to remember my wife making a delicious coke chocolate cake (I've never tasted a coke cake before), celebrating with our younger children by going to I-Hop for breakfast, making Noelle (13 mo) laugh outload when I nuzzled her side (there is not a sweeter sound to me), and Connor telling me he "I love you bigger than the whole world". The latter reminds of Connor asking me a few months ago if it was okay if he loved mommy a little bit more! I let him know this was fine.

Robin and kids came over for dinner. Robin gave me a very interesting present purchased from an estate sale. A simple contraption from an unkown-to-me tinkerer who was also a surgeon. He created a mechanized fixture with lights and a camera mount for taking pictures of small objects (I plan to post an image of this interesting device). I actually needed something like this, as I often take pictures of parts as a part of my work. Cool!

Create, Connor, Create

Mutant Bionicles Prepare for Battle!

I love creative hands-on toys for children. Meaning I love them for children and I love playing with them myself! Connor (4) and I enjoy playing with Legos, Kinex, and Bionicles (Bionicles are made by Lego). These toys often come in sets, where you follow detailed instructions. Learning to follow instructions is always valuable. In contrast, it is a terrific experience to take a large box of miscellaneous parts and develop your own, unique creations!

Connor and I are in a phase of creating our own Bionicle creatures from a growing collection of Bionicle parts. We continue to occasionally acquire new Bionicle sets, but the vast majority of our current collection of spare parts come from Trevor’s old collection of Bionicles. Trevor, now 17, became a master at developing his own creations from building sets, such as, Bionicles. Remnants of Trevor’s creations can still be found in the box of parts (I was actually hoping to find a complete creation).

Pandora Internet Radio

Last year, Laura introduced me to Pandora Internet Radio (http://www.pandora.com/). Pandora's mission is to play only the music you like. You create highly customizable radio stations based initially on favorite artists or songs. Pandora is song-centric, so creating radio stations based on songs is best. A given radio station begins to learn your preferences because you have the option to give a thumbs-up or a thumbs-down to a particular song. A thumbs-down will immediately result in skipping to the next song. If you are tired of a favorite song, you can retire it for a month. You also have the option to buy songs. Pandora is free, because the site runs ads. However, you can pay a modest annual fee to use the service free of ads.

My discussion covers a few basics, but there is so much more to the experience. It is really easy to get started (Do you have 10 seconds to spare? Actually, I know you do, because you are reading this blog!). I enjoy listening while working and I have been introduced to numerous new artists and songs. I highly, highly, recommend Pandora to any music lover. Pandora has competitors, I know, but I really can't add anything in the way of a comparison. I have not been this excited about music since my parents bought me a one-speaker 8-track tape boom-box to play KISS and RUSH tapes!

Friends, if you join Pandora, let me know. I'm looking for folks to add to my list of Pandora friends for online sharing.

Lioness of Soddy Daisy / Connor Quotable

Like a little lioness of the Serengeti, the neighbor's small "tiger cat" stalks insects and other small creatures, teases our dog beyond the fence, and watches us from the trees or cover of foliage. She is fun to watch.

Out of curiosity, she sometimes wanders into our backyard. Recently, she ventured onto our deck, and Connor, who loves cats, bolted out to see her. She, of course, ran to the relative safety of her yard. Laura instructed Connor on subtle methods of engaging an animal in friendship. Next, Connor sat on the steps and began quietly talking to the cat now sitting just beyond the fence.

"Here kitty-kitty. Here kitty-kitty. I taste like chicken."

Happy New Year!

Just to jumpstart my 2008 blogging efforts, I'm posting a few new pictures of Laura and Noelle. Enjoy!

Fall Vacation / Part III / Pumpkin Patch Paradise

Heading westward on I-40, travelers pass thru Moriarty NM just before reaching the mountain range near Albuquerque. To me, Moriarty was always a sign I was getting close to home, a commune of some kind there, just not much happening. I’ve driven thru dozens of times – never stopped. When my eldest nephew, Daniel, suggested we go to McCall’s Pumpkin Patch in Moriarty, I was none too excited. Thou away we went. Almost everything was low-tech, but very well done and we had a blast! It was a highlight of our vacation. I hope you enjoy the pictures!

Cattle Drive!

Brandon and Connor - "Steering" a Longhorn

Giant Bounce Pillow - Very Cool!

Brandon, Daniel, and Ryan - Boing!

Connor, Daniel, and Lance's Right Foot - Excellent Photography!

Brandon Going Down!

Brandon Coming Out!

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Pumpkin Cannon!

Noelle Considers Brandon

Lance and Boys On Top of a Hay Pyramid

A New Friend - Nice Goat

Goat Climbing Towers - Awesome!

Cranking a Treat to the One Horned Surly White Goat

One Horned Surly White Goat Waits for Treat

Aerial View of 2006 Corn Maze

2007 Corn Maze

We were lost in the corn maze for 1.5 hours! Early on, we kept running into this young couple ("Hey, you look familiar". "Have we met before?" Ha, Ha, Ha). We did not see them again for quite some time, maybe 45 minutes, and we finally ran into them again. We said, "Wow, you are still in here, too?". They said, "No, we made it out, ate some lunch, and now we are back in again!" I think we should have followed them. We have an all-terrain stroller, but it was difficult to navigate Noelle in the stroller because the corn maze had deep grooves for irrigation (~12 inches wide). My forearms received quite the workout! You are provided with trivia questions (you chose the topics in advance) in conjunction with numbered signs within the maze to give you clues as to the right direction (watching television in the 70s finally pays off).

Haunted Halloween Corn Maze for Night - No Thank You!

Low Tech Go-Cart Racing!

Daniel Lassos a Metal Cow (far left) as Ryan Looks On

Connor - Free Spirit!

We Really Enjoyed the Pumpkin Patch Safari
Here is our new elephant friend, nudging our SUV (too cute!!!)

Okay, the Pumkin Patch Safari picture is a joke. The next blog will be devoted to the ABQ Balloon Fiesta!