A Meal Fit for a King

This might be a little premature since this project hasn't actually been completed, but I love the emergence of digital libraries. Every library has distinctive special collections, many of which are unique to that particular area of the world. For example, here at the USU library we have the skull of Old Ephriam and one of the nations largest research collections of Jack London material including a complete set of first edition books all of which are inscribed to his wife and include a picture of himself glued inside the cover. Take a look, the letters and pictures are so interesting. With the emergence of digitization we can experience special collections from around the world.

So I eagerly await the digitization of "Forme of Cury" which is held by the Univ. of Manchester. It's a collection of recipes used by the master cooks of King Richard II.
Written in 1390, it's bound to be tough to read (Grandma we might need your translation skills) but it will offer such an interesting glimpse into life in that age.

As a side note, a civil war diary held by the Digital Library of Georgia is also very cool.

DewTour2008

Yesterday we spent the day in Salt Lake City at the Dew Tour. We went down with Allen and Alisha Hill and their boys. I'll admit that I was overwhelmed by the number of people there and the lack of seating (although I can't really complain since our tickets were given to us by one of our vendors). I just had to remind myself that last years lack of enormous lines was due to the massive amount of rain that was falling. The kids were good sports as we spent most of the day in hot sun and lots of lines. The allure of seeing famous skateboarders, bmx and motocross riders, and free things getting thrown into the crowds at random was enough to keep them going. We started out by watching the FMX finals. Seeing this stuff in person is absolutely amazing. I tried to snap a few shots, but here's a video that looks a bit more professional and definitely from a better vantage point.


After that we headed to the booth/vendor area where there were all sorts of things going on: food, pro rider signings, games, give aways and other stuff. It was about lunch time and as it happened, Wendy's was giving away burgers so we got in line. Gray was standing there and something landed at his feet. He looked down and saw a box, looked up and saw a grundle of kids running towards him, he reached down and snatched up the box. Hooray, he scored a speaker dock for his mp3 player!
After lunch, Graysen took on Kory in a game of air hockey. The winner (Kory) got a Wendy's gift card.
Gray (on the far side with the white helmet), Logan and Landon took a few turns riding on the Mongoose track and had a blast.

We watched the amature skate park competition then headed to the bmx supercross final.

Kory snapped these photos since I was stuck by the concession stand when it all happened. Yes, I'm willing to make a child sit in time out even when we're away from home.

After dinner at the Gateway we thought we'd show up super early for the skate park final in order to get good seats. We learned that 1 1/2 hours early was not early enough. Oh well, it was fun anyway and the entire crowd occupied itself making paper airplanes. Amazingly one made it from the nosebleed seats across the energy solutions arena and into the seats on the other side. The crowd went wild. Gray was in 7th heaven. He got to see lots of his skateboarding idols. Check out this video of the final (my zoom just couldn't cut it). The youngest competitor took first place.

Thanks for the tickets Dan! It was a fun day with the kids and great friends.

Squeezing the most out of summer

We've been trying to get in as much summer as we can before the days get too short and the temperatures drop too much. Last week we finally made it to our favorite water spots, Tony Grove and Bear Lake. Tony Grove is one of the most beautiful mountain lakes around. We got there just before dusk and while Kory rode his bike to White Pine (another lake a few miles away) the kids and I walked around the lake path. Gray has been interested in learning how to do some nature photography so he had the camera most of the time. He should be posting some of his pictures on his blog in the next few days.

We were the only people there which was so nice, but I'll admit that I spook myself easily. While on the far side of the lake, the kids were asking me what animals still roamed the mountains (at which point the sun had completely dipped below the horizon) and as we talked about it our feet started to move a little more swiftly. It didn't help that earlier that day Kory had been relating the tale of a near miss between mountain biker and a mountain lion that had taken place the week before in Kaysville. Thankfully we didn't see much wildlife beyond cows and an over-excited cattle dog.

We also were able to spend an afternoon playing at Bear Lake. I will never tire of passing over the summit of Logan canyon seeing the brilliant blue vista of Garden City and Bear Lake. Of course we joined the throngs of people indulging in burgers and shakes at LaBeau's then played on the beach for a couple of hours.


It was actually a bit chilly, but the kids didn't seem to mind. The best part was that we made it home free on sunburns!

First Day of School (5th and 1st)

I'm just going to throw a few pictures up here because on the first day of school, that's what it's all about. Mom's were all over the place with their camera's, it was great, and I'm sure that blogs all over the country are being populated with similar pictures. I asked Gray if he wanted a picture of himself in front of his classroom (which by the way is the same room where I had 5th grade, kind of surreal) and he conveniently didn't hear me and walked away.

Naomi kept herself occupied all morning playing with lego's. Her red sign says "First Day of School". I can't believe she's in first grade. For homework last night she had to memorize her lunch number.

Here she is doing her get acquainted with the classroom exercise. We found her cubby (stuff that stays at school), her mailbox (stuff that goes home), the bathroom and the lunchroom. What more do you need to know?

Here they are at the end of the day still with big smiles. They both love their teachers, had fun seeing all of their friends again and much to my relief fell asleep at 8:30.

Moon Landing

So we finally made it to one on the strangest places in this country, Craters of the Moon National Monument in Idaho. The landscape goes from flat farmland to black lava rock in strange formations and we wondered if we had just entered the twilight zone.


We did a few short hikes in blistering heat. It was neat to see the lava flow caves where ice remains year-long (and what a wonderful respite from the sun).

This was such a crazy hill of glittery black rock and when the kids would run it sounded hollow.

Discovering Idaho

Last week we spent a few days in Sun Valley and Ketchum, ID. Kory had business meetings for a few days so the kids and I explored the area. It was fun since we'd never been to this part of Idaho. Ketchum was fun with lots of little shops and everything in walking distance of where we were staying. It was such a bike/pedestrian friendly town. There were bikes all over and the motorists were so aware of everyone either on bike or foot.

During one day the kids and I took the lift up to Mt. Baldy and hiked around. It was beautiful.


Yes, Naomi did get worn out and Gray was so nice to carry her back to the lift.

radKIDS

A few weeks ago Gray and Naomi experienced a radKIDS course. They learned how to be safe in different situations and what to do if they encounter a "bad stranger". The first day the kids were pretty quiet about yelling "no", but by the end of the week they had it down. They learn how to fend off a kidnapper with blocks, shin kicks, hammer fists, elbow strikes and peppering the eyes. The week culminated with a final exam where a police officer dressed in a "red man" suit tried to take them in three different situations (trying to convince the child to go with him, trying to guess a childs password, and just physically grabbing the child). The kids did a great job and I was impressed with the program. It was definitely worth the time and Judy, their instructor, was absolutely wonderful.

All suited up waiting for their turn to to the final exam.

Gray with the powerful hammer fists. He thought it was pretty exciting to take on a police officer. Naomi saying "Stay Back! You're not my dad!!!"

Here's Naomi receiving her certificate. Way to go!!