Riley Park Summer

Several weeks ago I promised the kids I'd take them to Riely Park (a municipal park near my office). The park is quite large and features a playground, ampitheater and a decent sized waterpark.

When I woke up this morning, I told Matt that today was the day. He was so excited.



The weather has been very nice these last few days, (longest days of the year), and so at 7:30 PM Matt, Grace and I headed off to the waterpark. Check out my Flickr photoset.

We've been to Riely Park several times in the last couple of weeks, and I foresee going there frequently, so I've started entitled, Riely Park Summer. You can also see all Riley Park photos at a glance by browsing Flickr by the tag "Riely Park"

Father's Day 2007

Rainy day today, Matt and Grace were both sick. I stayed home from church with Matt. Had a nice father's day, Grace made me a very nice card at school, then another one at work. Erin helped Matt sign his name on a card for me.

Matt starts writing his name by making the two "t"'s at the end of his name, then he makes a wierd "m" thing in front of the two "t"'s. Then, the geometric part of his brain takes over and he has to make another "m" looking thing behind the two "t"'s -- just for balance I guess.

He can't write the "a" yet.



Had Father's day dinner at mom and dad's place, Kevin and Elise were there (as usual) -- but the surprise was seeing Bretton Ried. Haven't seen Bretton in years. He looks great, and seem to be as genuinely happy as I've ever seen him. Check out my Flickr photoset.



Here's one of the girls for good measure.



Went to the Melchin's house after dinner, but the kids health got worse, and we ended up leaving after about 25 minutes. Got the kids to bed pretty quick, it's so nice when they're asleep... so nice... I slept most of the night in Matt's bed, his fever was quite bad and he was having a hard time to sleep. I fear that Gracie is in for it tonight.

Erin's gotten back into the Harry Potter books -- again. I've lost her to Harry and Hogwarts. Oh well. As I type this, she's upstairs devouring book 5.

Rules To Live By

These have been hanging from the inside of Tom's cabinet at work for as long as I've known him. These will always make me think of Tom... this is so him.

1. Never kick a cow chip on a hot day
2. There are two theories to arguing with a woman, neither works.
3. Never miss a good chance to shut up.
4. Always drink upstream from the heard.
5. If you find yourself in a hole, stop digging.
6. The quickest way to double your money is to fold it up and put it in your pocket.
7. There are three kinds of men: the ones who learn by reading. The few who learn by observation. The rest of them have to pee on the electric fence to find out.
8. Good judgment comes from experience, and a lot of that comes from bad judgment.
9. If you're riding ahead of the herd, take a look back every now and then to make sure it's still there.
10. Lettin' the cat outta tha bag is a whole lot easier'n putti'n it back.
11. After eating an entire bull, a mountain lion felt so good he started roaring. He kep it up until a hunter came along and shot him. The moral: When you're full of bull, keep your mouth shut.

The Ravine After the Flood

On June 6/7 we had over 70mm rain. The city was flooded, lots of damage done (fortunately none at our house). The kids and I had a fun time exploring the ravine. We walked North along the path, rather than south like we normally do, and explored a new bend in the ravine. Check out my Flickr photoset.



The highlight of the ravine walk was when Matt slipped and fell into the ravine backwards up to his neck. I had to fight the paternal instinct to go pull him out in order get these photos.









The evening ended with a stop at the Gedlaman's house to get some towels, and me carrying both of the kids home -- Matt on my shoulders and Gracie on my back.

Fun night.