Animals at Rest

The top of the new sofa is The Spot to relax if you're a cat or small dog. 

PG has learned that he's not king of the castle when V is around. They are best friends now.

J is a frequent guest in our house. As soon as he arrives, he makes a beeline for the toy basket and promptly empties it.

K often brings her two dogs over. Her older dog sleeps on top of the sofa with the cats. She wanted to see D from next door, so it was a bit crazy for a while with four dogs in the house. Fortunately, they all get along well.

Fleabass!

GP is now playing in a band. He's been taking lessons and his instructor felt it was time to play with some other guys. This has bumped up his incentive to practice every day. You don't want to be the one guy that's not pulling his weight.

We came across a used Fleabass at the Music Go Round! GP is fired up about it. It plays well and sounds great. He can't wait to take it to practice next week.

Colorado!

The morning after the Iron Maiden concert, we piled in the car and drove to Estes Park, CO. We met G&G at their time share and spent the week with them.

We went for a hike every day in Rocky Mountain National Park. The boys remembered the death hike we took them on four years ago, and were leery each morning as we started up the mountains.

Despite their complaining, I think they had fun.

No trip to Estes Park is complete without a visit to the Stanley Hotel.

More full-resolution photos are located here: Google Photos

Dorm Room Decor

This summer we've been keeping an eye out for stuff for CP's dorm room. So far we've scored a cool Chinese-style print of a Japanese monster and a big flag from the Iron Maiden concert.

Iron Maiden!

When we stood in line to buy tickets in January, it was 5° and windy. The night of the show, it was 95. We didn't realize when we got our tickets that they were in the club section - we were treated to extra special service while waiting for the show. The boys chowed down on the buffet with unlimited Pepsi refills, and the girls enjoyed private bathrooms in the club room. 

I've been listening to Iron Maiden for the last 35 years. The boys have been listening to them since birth. JP has learned all their music via osmosis. We all had a blast singing along!

The bass player started the band in 1975. He is an idol for the boys and me. The lead singer flies the band's 747 from show to show. They hit 39 countries during this tour.

Graduated from Switzerland

C & A stopped by the weekend of the 4th. We haven't seen A in nearly seven years!!! He and the boys picked up as if he had only been gone for the weekend. He had just received word that he passed all of his high school requirements for graduation as was greatly relieved. School is a bit more rigorous in Switzerland than here.

July 4th Weekend

This year the 4th fell on a 4-day weekend, which is way too long. We spent the majority of it at the G's pool. This year we only spent $50 on fireworks and enjoyed the neighborhood show instead of our own.

Metallica!!

I went with CG & BG to see Metallica!! What an amazing show!

Squirrel!

We finally have a squirrel in our back yard!! V hates it. 

New Old Strat

Went to the pawn shop and traded in our shotgun for a nice Fender Strat. The gun was collecting dust and threatening to rust. Hadn't shot it in the last five years - hopefully this will get more use.

Baby Bunnies

CG had another batch of baby bunnies this year. They are so cute!

Orientated

We spent a full day on campus to get CP registered for classes and thru orientation for this fall. He's fired up to leave us behind and go to school. We all picked up some new Husker shirts in the bookstore. Go Big Red!!

GG

Gramma & Grampa brought their dog GG for CP's graduation. She loved everyone, including the cats.

LSW Class of 2017 Graduation

He did it! CP graduated from LSW and is ready to take on the world.

We had family and friends join us for the celebration.

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Last Day of HS Recognition

During the last week of school, CP had a special day. In the morning we went to his computer lab where everyone in the class demonstrated their projects for the semester. The assignment? Arcade Video Games!!! CP's game was a classic multi-level shooter written in Python. It came out very well and is playable. Pretty amazing that these kids learned enough programming in one semester to make a real game.

Later in the day, we attended CP's final honors award ceremony. 

Life Sized

For CP's graduation party, we made a life-size poster of him so that anyone could have their photo taken with him in his suit.

L LOVES him, real or not.

Pink Rain

I was treated to a sunrise-lit downpour on my way to work. The sun had just come up and was shining under the clouds.

Sunshine Season Again

The season of blue skies and sunshine is almost here!

We had a couple days near 90, so CG fired up his pool. 

Swing Dance

GP went to the LSW Swing Dance with the girl he's been seeing. As expected, they had a blast.

Cats in the Sun

We rearranged the living room so that now the cats can lie in the sun and we can watch TV without glare. We're all happy now.

Senior Prom 2017

CP went stag to his senior prom. He had a good time with all his friends.

Birds to Be

Spring has sprung and we will soon have some new residents in our yard.

Hairball 2017

This year we took the Gs with us to see Hairball in Omaha. Knowing what to expect, the boys were all over it.

We had fantastic front-row seats right by the stage.

The Ron Keel Band opened and played for an hour before Hairball took the stage and rocked the house for three more hours. What an incredible show! They have three singers that rotate and do a couple songs each dressed in full costume of an 80's era rockstar. We got to see Ozzy, Van Halen, Def Leppard, Queen, AC/DC, etc. Everyone there knew every song by heart.

 

Just One More Bass

The problem with musical instruments is that you always want one more. And they're really cool. And the stores that sell them let you trade in stuff, like a DJ controller and power management device that were collecting dust.

This is our new Squier Pete Wentz signature P-Bass. It's pretty good shape and is a blast to play.