CP's December Activities

What could be better than boys, sticks, and thin ice? I was tempted to let them fall through, as it was only inches deep, but I was afraid that they would then assume if you fell through the ice it was no big deal.

The lake was surrounded by a ring of mud. GP got stuck and had to be winched out. CP lost a shoe in the mud. Needless to say, JP was thrilled when we returned covered in mud. Southeast Nebraska has no shortage of mud. It is everywhere!

We saw two bald eagles out on the ice in the middle of the lake and two muskrats swimming in some open water near shore.



Glory be to the digital camera!! CP really got into taking pictures at the zoo. By the end of the day he was clicking off some very nice photos. I think the time has come to get CP his own camera.



Lincoln now has two skating rinks in addition to the museum of roller skating. This is the old one. It's fun and a good workout. CP finally got out and tried the Limbo. My favorite is doing the Hoky-Poky, although this time I fell flat on my face while turning myself around.



CP works on his Pinewood Derby car. We scanned a Hot Wheels car, stretched in photoshop so that it fit the block of wood, and then carved it out on the scroll saw. Race day: 1/27/07.



CP shows off his new TBF Avenger. We built it light and it's a great flyer.



The Avenger takes flight!



CP has been wanting a Japanese Zero for a long time, and I found a nice 1/16 scale model in the new Woodstock hobby shop over thanksgiving. He painted the entire thing and is quite proud of his work. We finished it last night, and he has not put it down since.

2006 Christmas Card

We did it! We actually took a family photo and sent out Christmas cards before Christmas. This year really feels like Christmas. Last year we were still getting settlted into the new home and city. This year it feels like we really live here and JP knows her surroundings. We are anxiously waiting for SANTA. Please come soon, Santa!

Starting at 3pm today, we are switching the boys over to their pre-santa sugar-only diet so that they will have enough energy to make it to Christmas. I have been worried that they lack excitement and enthusiasm for Christmas.

Mississippi Palisades

While we were in Illinois for Thanksgiving, I took off Saturday AM and went out to the Palisades where we used to camp, hike, and climb. I had not been there in over a year and suprisingly, a lot had changed. I forgot how pretty the river bottom is. It's incredibly large compared to the Missouri River. I always thought that they would be of similar size, but the Missouri is a trickle compared to the Miss.



The sentinel tower that we used to climb (120' limestone pillar) had a sign that said not to climb on the south column. When we used to climb, the top of the south pillar was always a little wobbly on top; now it must be to the point that someone could knock it off.

All throughout the park on top of the bluffs, there are sinkholes that are full of sediment & debris. I have probed them, hoping to poke through to the underworld, but never found anything. This trip I was exploring one and found that the bottom had finally broken through to the cavern below (lower picture). I wish I had a rope & harness (and another person) with me. The cave looked like it went down for a while and would be explorable. Maybe next trip.

 

Thanksgiving in Lanark

We spent Thanksgiving in Lanark at the Grammas' house. Everyone was there except for Glenn & Sue - they were in Michigan on a business trip.



After dinner, we played a couple rounds of "The Dice Game." The boys had fun stealing presents from everyone.



The day after, JP & I traveled to Woodstock to see the old neighborhood. We walked down to the square with the Newmans. The square is changing - new $450k townhouses have been built behind the train station, Harvest Moon (our favorite resturant) was sold and went out of business, the Jailhouse is under new ownership and is being remodelled, and the toy store has been replaced by a spectacular hobby shop. The hobby shop has more stuff crammed in it than our Hobbytown superstore. I almost bought the big P-38 model I've been looking for, but JP (the voice of reason) talked me out of it. I did, however, get a nice 1/16 scale Japanese Zero for CP to help me build. He has a thing for Japan and has been wanting a Zero for quite some time. I'm anxious to get started, but I think we need to build this year's pinewood derby car first.

Little House looks the same except for some giant weeds in the back yard, an air conditioner (permanent, not window), and a satellite dish. It's hard to believe that we used to be able to get by with a sub-one-car garage. The neighbors to the rear built a nice 3-car garage that matches their house. Nancy & Chet are doing well.

The main purpose for our trip to Illinois was for JP to get her hair cut by a real stylist. She hasn't been able to find anyone here that she likes. I gave her a hard time about driving 8 hours to get a haircut, but when she emerged from the salon, I realized that she was right.

Sunday Flyers

I returned from Cedar Falls Friday afternoon after stopping at the new Cabela's in Omaha for an hour. What a store!! They have nearly as many animals there (stuffed) as the Omaha Zoo.

Saturday was gorgeous, so I siezed the day and put up the x-mas lights.

Today was even better than yesterday, so CP & I got out and flew some wind-up planes in the new development to the south. The Stuka & Super Cub did not do very well, but the dorky looking Lancer flew like grampa. CP tried it, but found that he liked running the camcorder better than winding the rubber band. Afterwards, we went to Hobbytown to check out RC trainers. I told Santa about them, but she laughed in my face. How heartbreaking.



 

Iowa

We spent the weekend in Dez Moynez with our old neighbors from Woodstock. They have family there, so we decided to meet up and let the kids swim, swim, swim... Friday night a blizzard blew through and left a few inches of sticky white stuff all over. Every sign post and tree was platered. Fortunately, we went out Saturday AM and had nothing but blue skies to accent the snow.

DesMoines has an incredible mall!! We went there for dinner at the Cheesecake Factory, but decided that the 30 minute wait with 6 kids would not be prudent. We opted for supper at the food court. The kids had burgers & fries, and the grownups had some tasty Panera chow. After dinner we poked around the mall. I wish Nebraska had a mall like DesMoines. Pottery Barn, Coach, J. Jill, etc. The Scheele's there was the same as Lincoln's, but the tree in the middle is an Oak (vs. Redwood) and they have a floatplane hanging from the ceiling.

Sunday I parted ways with the family and took a rental car from DesMoines up to Cedar Falls, which looks like it is very close to DesMoines, but is not. I stopped in Boone to see if I could see the fantastic Boone & Scenic Valley RR bridge, but I only had my Iowa road map and didn't feel like getting lost/stuck on a dirt road as the sun set. I did manage to find the train depot, which was closed. Maybe next time I'm in Boone, I'll take more time and find it.

I'm in Cedar Falls for a week-long LabView training class. It's making my head spin, but that's not always a bad thing. I'm looking forward to going home, but it's a 5.5 hour drive, and the company truck doesn't have cruise control...

This web site has some nice photos of the Boone & Scenic RR: http://www.pbase.com/gazeboy96/boonerr

Week of Nov. 6

Katrina sits on her perch, waiting for a scratch or to pounce on the dog.







JP is getting a head start on her x-mas carrols. 

Bear Lake

Today was spectacular - total sunshine and NO WIND. We had a heavy frost, but by 9:30 am it was warm enough to go in short sleeves. I stopped by Bear Lake which is a Nebraska public land site where I go fishing on the way home. Nebraska is blessed with lots of open public lands. Not as much as Arizona or Utah, but a bit more than Illinois. Anyway, I was able to shoot a few frames with my new camera in the daylight. What fun! I tried my luck with the fly rod, but I think the fish were too busy enjoying the nice weather. There were some guys there from Kentucky that had come here to shoot deer. One took a nice doe with his bow. The crows were really noisy - either someone in a tree stand, or an owl. Seems like the crows are always noisy at this place.
 
 
  

Halloween

Sunday it was in the mid 80's. Last night for trick or treating it was below freezing. At least it wasn't windy.

The boys had fun until they got cold and tired, which was a relief, because we were cold and tired, too.

CP went as a Clone Trooper, and GP was a Power Ranger. I went as a longshoreman, and JP went as an antarctic explorer with all her warm clothes.

Jen's mom helped us finished up the bathroom. The old mirror sans frame is on the wall, but it looks awful; it's too small now. We will have to call a mirror guy to bring us a nice big one.

JP's mom & gramma bought us a piano today - we should have it here in a few days. It will finish our living room, finally. We have been living in this big empty feeling house. We are slowly filling it up, but it's more difficult than I thought it would be.
 

Logan's Bathroom Mirror

GP stands next to Logan, the scarecrow he made at school.


Today we were bored and JP was feeling hateful, so she made me rip out the mirror & frame in the master bath. The frame was a nice custom made monstrosity of solid oak that matched all the other woodwork in the house. Unfortunately, there is just too much wood, and JP & her friends all think that the bathroom looks like it was decorated by a Man. Oh, the horror. I had nothing better to do, so we popped the whole thing off the wall, patched the holes, and now I'm in the process of repainting. JP told her mom to bring her paintin' clothes with her when she comes on Monday. She is a prolific painter and will be a big help in getting this project completed. The hardest part of the project was picking out the color. We applied three coats of various yellow/grey colors until we got it right. (I suppose it's better than the 5 colors we tried in our bedroom in Little House.)
 

Leave No Trace in Wilderness Park

Yesterday we worked on the "Leave No Trace" activity for cub scouts. We went to Wilderness Park, which is a long strip of woods along Salt Creek and some old RR tracks near our house, and picked up trash. We were very surprised - there were a few beer cans around the parking lot, but not much along the trail.

GP found a HUGE wooly worm.

After 20 minutes of walking, both boys became more interested in the rubber gloves they were wearing than anything else. When we reached the 1/2-way point, we decided to take the arrow-straight bike trail back to the car. We should have turned around before that, as GP ran out of steam and required an assist.
I picked up some trash that I will not soon forget. Someone drank a 12-pack while butchering their deer and pitched a sack full of the bones & empties in the woods. Judging from the smell, the bones must have still had meat on them, and some of the juice dripped on my jeans. Needless to say, I was glad to get home and into the shower. 

Studio Camera fun

I had the ebay studio set up and the boys couldn't resist. GP models his TIE interceptor, and CP shows off his beautiful smile with the Slave-1.

Halloween is fast approaching, and the boys are in a pickle trying to decide on which Star Wars character to be.





















Time has come to bid farewell to my beloved Pentax 645. It has slept in the closet for the last two years. I think the last time it was really used was our '04 trip to Utah. Without any free time time and no darkroom, digital photography has taken over. Last week I sold all my 35mm gear and a big 4x5. This week it's the 645. I'm still keeping a 4x5 and a few baby speed graphics - I know that someday I will have to build a darkroom and make some prints. Digital is nice, but it can't touch a nice large format fine art print.

Cub Scout Rocket Launch

At least we had sunshine to go with our 39° & 20 mph winds. The Tripoli guys weren't out like last year, but the scouts sure were.
The orange Comanche III failed to ignite the second stage motor and took a core sample of the field. We have the technology - we can rebuild it.
CP's Comanche & Graham's Mongoose had a spectacular drag race. They flew side by side and twirled together all the way up until CP's came back down via the express lane.