Saturday, August 26, 2006

The Playhouse Project Update

Well summer is nearing an end and the playhouse that I started mid-summer is about halfway done. There are shingles on it and we will be putting the siding on during the next week after the buzz for Sammy's birthday passes. I think the hardest part will be getting the thing up on some concrete piers since I just went ahaed and framed it all in place before I could buy the supports. Good thing I have a floor jack handy.
Anyway, here are some pics of the progress so far.
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The kids like the view from up there.

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We will be weather ready soon!

English: A Hindrance To Our Youth

I always knew our tv programming could rot your brain, but now it is our very language itself that is at fault. Foreigners beware.

Sunday, August 20, 2006

Views From Far Away

I have found the press in our neck of the world to be intolerably slanted to our own particular cultural bias and have found that reading from off my own continent has made me a little less incontinent (not to mention content. If you want some free samples check out the opinions section of the China Daily english version with Liu Shinan and his compatriots, or for a different view of the middle east try the JP (no, not the justice of the peace). From there it becomes a media free-for-all or censored for all, but at least it gives enough of a slant in the opposite direction so as to restore some semblance of balance.
Enjoy.

Saturday, August 19, 2006

The Little Dipper Trip

We had a great weekend getaway last weekend (nothing like Guam, mind you) We went to a little place on the West Kettle River called the Little Dipper Campground and had a relaxing two nights out in the tent and two days of fun. The kids got to swim in the little swimming hole at the turn of the river which was called the Sandy Beach. They trucked in sand to make it happen, but it was great. Ethan had some problems with the name though, and it became known as Sandy-iego (lol). There was hiking both days and a playground made up of underground tunnels which the kids loved. They pretended to be groundhogs and went through spaces I never would have thought they would even try. It was a hoot.
The owners, George and Frauke Delisle, are excellent hosts and it truly is a family place so leave the loud tunes on the highway and get ready to kick back. I kicked back so hard I fell asleep on the sandy beach for almost an hour while the kids played. Don't worry, Cris was keeping an eye on them.
I have to include one pic for obvious reasons, but for more pics of the trip go here.

Aug 12,06 (9) Good Morning Ethan