Pogo On The Water

Ah, the grade school talent show. Remember it?

When Ben decided throw his hat in the ring this year, we had no idea that he'd become a bit of a local celebrity. He was featured in a video on the newspaper's website, and there was an article in Saturday's newspaper that chronicled his honing of this particular talent.

Of course, we've known all along that he was meant for greatness. We just, maybe, didn't think it would take this form.

Click here for more about this talented kid.

This Kid

Plays the cello.

Is a fantastic student.

Sings in choir.

Is a great friend.

Pogo sticks like a champ.

Gets up early to be a crossing guard.

Cries during sad movies about animals.

Behaves politely when adults make comments about his hair.

Doesn't sweat the small stuff.

Laughs and sings and shouts without reserve.

Is one of my very favorite people in this world.

Theo and Ben are taking a day off of blogging, so I'm doing a guest post. They're sitting here in the hotel room, eating muffins and watching Olympic Women's Curling. It's a rough life for them.

Yesterday we had a tremendous day. We took a train to Granville Island, which is an open market here in Vancouver. It was full of great food and neat shops and art. We had lunch there (veggie burgers - yum!) and just as we were leaving, two Canucks on stilts stopped us. I think they could sense Theo's inner performer, because they pulled him out of the crowd and had him sing The Star Spangled Banner. Yes, in front of everybody. He performed beautifully and made all U.S. onlookers very proud (he remembered all the words!)

We left Granville Island and headed off to Short Track Speedskating. We were thrilled to see Apolo Ohno win his heat and we also got to see the women set four Olympic records and one world record! The Women's 3000 m. relay was so exciting. China took gold, Canada silver and the U.S. bronze. Korea actually won the race, but, with the perplexing rules of speedskating, were disqualified after the race. Very exciting stuff!

Apolo! Ohno! (at the bottom)

Apolo! Ohno!

Apolo! Ohno!

3000 Relay

Flower Ceremony Podium

Today we have no plans, but are hoping to catch the US/Canada final Women's Hockey game on TV somewhere. This, as you can imagine, is a HUGE deal here.

Have a great day!

Day 3

By Ben Lucas

I have a Great Britain flag pin! The Great Britain flag pin is the only flag pin that is a flag. And is the flag pin that is the farthest away!

We took three buses to get to Whistler which took a total of 2.5 hours. Once we got to Whistler we took a gondola ride up the mountain to get to the Whistler Sliding Centre where the bobsleigh event was taking place.

We were there 2-3 hours early, so we walked around and saw different parts of the track. Then we took our seats at Turn 16 which is called Thunderbird. That is the last turn before the finish line. At Turn 16, the track begins to go uphill through the finish line to help slow down the bobsleighs. They reach speeds up to up 90 mph. During the second run, we left our seats and walked around to some of the other turns to see the competition up close. We were able to get within a foot of the actual track!

The sleds go so fast that if you turn your head, you will miss them. After the first two runs, Canada is in first place and the US is in 2nd. Tonight will be the last two runs to determine the medals. After the event, we took a shuttle bus back to Whistler.

The Fray was playing a concert in the village which we got pictures of. We didn't go into the concert because of security and because we had to get back to Vancouver.

Day 3

By Theo Lucas

We watched women's bobsled last night at the Whistler Sliding Centre. On our way to Whistler, the bus ride took about two hours. When we got there, we ate at a restaraunt in Whistler (we can't remember the name)and then got on the gondola to go to the Sliding Centre. When we got there, we went through security in about five minutes and we had about two hours to do whatever in the track. The USA team 2 is second place and Canada 1 is in first place after two runs. The next two runs will take place tonight. After that, we went back down to Whistler and saw the Fray performing live. We got a couple of pictures of them, and then we left.

A USA team

A USA team (I think it is team 2)

The finish line at the Whistler Sliding Centre

The Fray

A picture of the Fray

Today we are going to see short-track speed skating: the men's 500m qualifiying with Apolo Ohno; women's 3000m relay final; women's 1000m. We are going to walk around Vancouver and go visit the Olympic Village.

Note: After this, I cannot post anything else because our internet connection will be up.

Day 2

By Theo Lucas

Our first airplane

Our second airplane

Our second day in Vancouver, and I am having a great time. On our first day, most of which was spent in airplanes and airports, we got to Vancouver at 6:30 pm. The first plane ride was very slow, while the second seemed very short.

Day 2

Today, the first thing we did was to go a visit the Olympic flame. It is about three blocks from our hotel, The Loden. We walked around a bit, and went to Robson Street. Robson Street is a big shopping and eating place, and has a lot of things to do. We went to Roots, a big clothes shop in Canada. I found a really nice USA hat that I liked, and then we left (I eventually got the hat later in the day, after lunch). Later, we went to Hudson Bay Co. and went to the Olympics Superstore, which is a big place in a mall that has all Olympics stuff. In the Superstore, there was a huge map of the world, where you could put a pin on it and get a Coke pin. Pins a big thing in the Olympics. Many people have and trade pins. Robby would tell you the same thing.

My USA hat

My pin I got at the Superstore

The bed in our room

One of the elevators in the Loden

Day 2

Hi it's me again. our hotel is called the Loden. We walked to the Olympic flame which looks way different than on TV and is about two blocks away from our hotel. My family and I walked about four or five miles today.

This morning my mom and I went to Starbucks and found out that every morning at that Star-bucks a live radio station goes on during the Olympics, and we got Canadian radio flagpins.

By: Ben Lucas

Day One

By Ben Lucas

Here we are in Vancouver. We got to our hotel at 6:30 Vancouver time. It would have been 8:30 in Minnisota time. Our plane rides where pretty nice. The second plane ride was supposed to take about an hour but for some reason the plane ride took fifteen minutes. The first plane ride {wich was my first} took four hours and it was supposed to take about three hours! In both plane rides I got the window seat. In the second plane there were propelers, and the turbins went so fast that you coulden't see them and it looked like the propelers had gotten taken off and the propeler holder thing was just spinning.

Training

The countdown is on! Six short days until we leave for Vancouver.

We've been honing our spectator skills each night in front of the TV, choosing countries to cheer on, perfecting our fist pumps, and debating the finer points of each performance.

It's been a grueling workout routine, but I think that by the time we get there, we should be ready to perform.

We will be posting photos and experiences here during the week, so hope you'll be able to check in once in a while for updates.

How To Tell if You Live With Boys: A Tutorial With Photos

Whenever I run into evidence that I live with boys, I'm surprised and caught off-guard.

"How did this get here??" Oh yeah...the boys.

"Who did this??" Oh yeah...the boys again.

"Who IS that person??" Oh yeah...must be one of the boys.

So I pass along to you some signs to watch for, in case you've ever wondered if you, too, have an infestation of boys in your house:

#1) Storm Troopers in your houseplants, guns at the ready.

#2) Army guys in your houseplants, guns pointed at #1.

#3) Rocks. Everywhere.

#4) Strange little people walking around in outfits like this:

#5) Strange themes seeping into your holiday traditions

#6) Handpicked flowers that make all the rest of it worth it.

Happiness Is...

...washing the beautiful, old bubbly glass windows on the front porch for the first time in three years, and just in time to enjoy the color beyond.

Perspective

When we go from this:

To this:

It feels like the whole house is clean.

Another Project Off the List...

The other thing we've been busy with is paint.

We have painted almost every surface of the first floor of this house. The kitchen, family room, dining room, and living room have all been freshly painted and brightened up. The biggest *phew* of all was getting all of the trim painted white. It was so chipped up and banged up and many different shades of dirty white. Yuck!

Now it's all crisp, clean, bright white.

Feels like a new house!

Here are before and after shots of the living room (Check out the fireplace, too! Delicious!):

Before:

After:

The fireplace before:

and After:

4th of July in Walker

Click here to view these pictures larger

4th of July in October

Well, I'm finally able to see the light at the end of my work tunnel, and am realizing how terribly lax I've been with this blog.

We've done a bit more in the last few months than finish our kitchen, play baseball, and head off to school.

Yes, we've been up to more fun and projects and now I have the time to share them with you. Aren't you excited?!

In looking back over the summer, one of the standout things we did was a slightly spontaneous trip to a friend's cabin in Walker, MN. We spent 4th of July weekend swimming, kayaking, tubing, fishing, boating, eating, sleeping, and just enjoying every minute. It was heavenly.

See photos in the next post.

Once Again, They're Off...

It seems like just yesterday that I was watching their backpacks march off into the future.

And here we are again. This year we are the proud parents of a Fourth Grader and a Sixth Grader, who happily marched away from us this morning. No tears. No hand-holding. No anxiety, uncertainty, or angst.

Nope, they really don't need us at all anymore. I expect them to come home at 3:00 demanding full rights and keys to their own apartments.

In our town, Sixth Grade = Middle School, which is a big, huge, enormous deal. So big that I only had .0000025 seconds to take the traditional before school photos because, "really mom....geez.....I don't want to just stand here....I have to go!"

Thus, the blurry picture. The pressure was too much for me.

He allowed me a small photo op, and I, in turn, didn't do my "smile at the camera" dance. That would have been way too embarrassing for someone heading off to Middle School. You will note, though, that he has perfected the I-am-completely-disinterested-in-what-is-happening-around-me-and-totally-bored-by-you stance that is the hallmark of secondary education students. That's my guy!

Actually, he's had that stance perfected since he was two.

Our Fourth Grader had all the time in the world for photos, because what is time to a nine year-old? It is an inconvenience, an interruption in flow, to be hedged in by the demands of time. It forces structure where there need not be structure. Besides, the more relaxed you are about time, the more it bugs your brother.

In this picture, I'd like you to note how far I've come. I no longer insist that they wear nice outfits for the first day of school, and instead let them choose the clothes will make them feel comfortable and happy. I've let go. Except when they come downstairs in an orange-and-green tie-dye shirt with blue-and-red shorts and black socks. I fought with my inner "creative expression of self" voices, but in the end I had to send him back upstairs.

Happy first day of school!

The Big Reveal

We're almost done with this marathon kitchen project we've been working on since....oh,....February.

But it's definitely far enough along that we feel we can share some photos.

Here is the kitchen before:

And AFTER!!!!:

Just a few more cabinets to paint, and we'll take some better photos of the whole thing!