Congrats, Carson!

Carson is learning lots in 2nd grade....and so are we. Several weeks ago, Carson brought home his weekly spelling quiz and he missed a few. Even though Tara and I thought the words looked pretty difficult, we asked him, and his TEACHER, about the spelling test. What we didn't know is that Carson aces his regular spelling quiz every week....and if this happens, he gets another 'advanced test' that is quite a bit more difficult. Here is a photo of his most recent 'advanced spelling test':

As usual, GREAT JOB CARSON!!

Of course, school work isn't the only thing going on around our house. Carson just had his last soccer game of the season however soccer isn't over. He rolls right into another session of indoor soccer for the winter season. Here is a photo of Carson controlling the ball. It's really amazing how far these kids have come in the past 3 or 4 years.

If you ask Carson whats been going on recently, he will undoubtedly give you a big smile and tell you the same thing he's been telling everyone else for the past week......Grandpa (Don) in Elmwood is helping coach his Dominator's select baseball team. This is a really big deal to Carson and goes to show you that it isn't a $300 Playstation 3 or a $500 Ipad that means the most to kids. Carson says, 'Thanks Grandpa.' And he really means it.

Sight Words

Tara and I went to Hannah's parent-teacher conferences a few days ago and were told that Hannah was working on 'sight words'. She brought flash-cards home to help work on these and tonight unveiled these cards. She has several of them down but asked for help on a few. Here is an example on one she needed help on:

She wasn't quite sure if the first letter was an 'h' or an 'n'. Radically different meanings so I hope it's an 'n'. At least for a word they are learning in preschool. To top it all off, her teacher sent home some of Hannah's school work completed during the day. Of course, they were working on sight words again. Her teacher got a kick out of it....and so did we. Again, I'm not quite sure what they are trying to achieve in preschool but she has a few choice sight words down:

...And Hannah's View on Vacation

Hannah had fun on vacation with the camera. She especially liked taking pictures of herself! After taking a few pics of something that caught her eye, she would say 'now, I'll take a picture of me.' Here is one of those pictures:

Here is one that she snapped....but Carson is practicing his 'major league no-pictures' pose:

Another of herself:

And another:

And one of the statue in the room....it's kind of an interesting picture:

Vacation Pics

As promised, here are a few pictures of vacation. This one is of Carson near the top of the mountain:

This one is Carson on a Bungee set-up at the activities center near the entrance to the gondola:

Here is one of Carson, Hannah, and I looking down one of the ski runs near the top of the mountain:

This one is a staged picture by Carson. He fell in love with a $3 million dollar home and wanted his picture taken by the front of it. We told him to offer the owner $3.1 million for it but they can't cash the check for another 15 years...

Pushing out the Cessna 182 before the flight:

Here is a photo taken by Hannah near the top of Fish Creek Falls, an extremely scenic place that we visited...

This first one is of the kids off a trail at the top of the mountain. We rode the gondola to the top and started to walk the trails...

Here is a view of the kids at the top after just getting off the gondola...

Our 'ride' up in the mountains. Cheryl let us borrow her CJ-7 to drive up Buff Pass and around in the mountains. The kids liked driving around without any doors!

Ahhh.....Vacation!

We just returned from a vacation in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. I swear, everytime I go there, I think about selling the house and staying a few years. We had a blast...it was definately a vacation to remember. While I plan on inserting a few photographs and blogging on this trip a bit more, I wanted to throw up a few videos that were captured on the trip:

The first one is of the family going up in a Cessna 182 flown around Steamboat. This was the first time the kids have been on an airplane and they did great!

The next one is of Hannah participating in one of the fun stations at the base of the mountain. It was mostly geared toward older kids but this bouncy house was just up her alley:

When we took Carson to the kids activity area at the base of the mountain, he immediately wanted to participate in the mechanical bull station. I'm actually shocked that he knew some of the 'technique':

Here is a clip of Hannah dancing at her first concert. Believe me, this was some first concert....complete with earth-loving people smoking fancy cigarettes (read between the lines on this one). The music was outstanding though, and if you listen closely, you can hear Carson wanting to leave and Hannah in complete disagreement:

I will post pictures of the trip later as well....but we had a really great stay. We love this place!

And a Few Other Pics...

We've had a busy summer. Here are a few random pictures of us....
I'm still on the SWAT team and serve as one of the Team Leaders. Here, Destry and I are coming up with a game plan during a training scenario using explosive breaching.

The group coming to see Jon Sundermeier and I play at a local winery. From left: Troy, JoAnn, Krista, Tara, a friend of my Grandma's, and Grandma Dorothy.

Jon and I playing at a local winery....we play acoustic sets from time to time at different venues.

Hannah after getting home from a birthday party for one of her close friends.

Baseball Season Over...Sort Of

Carson had his last game of the season a few days ago. This was a GREAT game....certainly the best of the year. His team was the 2nd seed in the tournament and they were paired up against the #1 seed for all the marbles. I think that Tara and I were more nervous about the game then Carson was.

At any rate, our team came out sluggish as they usually did all year and the other team hung 3 runs on our guys quick. The rest of the game was back and forth. In the top of the 6th inning (the last inning for this age group) our guys came back from slightly behind to take a 9-7 lead.

When the other team was up to bat in the bottom of the inning, our guys recorded two quick outs and began to 'celebrate'...they were hugging and high-fiving, and pouring champagne over each other's heads (not really...but they were excited). Then, the other team loaded the bases and brought their best hitter to the plate.

All of the parents, including Tara and I, were nervous. Their best player lined one to the 2nd baseman who snagged the ball for the last out....and our guys really began to celebrate! It was the best game all year, by far.

Here are a couple 'action shots' taken of Carson during his last game as a Junior Saltdog:

This season is in the books HOWEVER, Carson tried out for a select baseball team and made it. Now, he plays for the Dominators, a very competitive select baseball team made up of 8 year olds....and they've already started practice gearing up for fall ball and a winter tournament.

Great game and season Carson (undefeated)....and good luck with the new team.