The Wonderful Happens

Storm Knocks Out Dowager Countess

2012-01-23T18:26:00.000-08:00

Wazzup!?!?

Well, I'll tell you what's up... after a great Saturday spent celebrating Grandma's birthday with Lettuce Wraps, Dairy Queen Skor Bar Blizzard Cake and a rousing game of Headbandz (above), Sunday was spent cursing the wretched wind, curling up in front of the fire, looking longingly at the powerless, blank computer screens and missing both (ie: TWO!) football games and (ie: AND!!!)... Downton Abbey. Aaaarrrrgh.

Sledding is Tiring Yeah

2012-01-17T21:45:00.000-08:00

White Out

2012-01-17T21:31:00.000-08:00

Snow Geyser

2012-01-15T08:52:00.000-08:00

rage on omnipotent

2012-01-14T09:08:00.000-08:00

twentyfourseven: World of Warcraft...

mentos geyser:

ice cream man:

zooloretto:

snow (today)...

New Year's Eve : TechnoEats 2012

2012-01-01T13:04:00.001-08:00

Happy New Year! We rung it in with friends, various forms of technology, a few drinkypoos and make your own truffles, sundaes and pot o noodles...

Ferg's Specialty Cocktail

2011-12-30T19:22:00.000-08:00

Nothing else required...

Scenes from a big day

2011-12-26T00:41:00.000-08:00

Fergus gave each of us a paper-based gift and here's his gift to himself:

Post "The Holiday" viewing:

This is quite possibly the worst xmas tree ever - check out that lean - though it did only fall over and flood the sun room once:

Happiness...

For Effie - delightfully gross Harry Potter beans (though I dare anyone not to spit out "rotten egg" flavour):

Animal

At Grandma and Grandpa's for dinner:

A boy and his massively oversized peanut butter cup:

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-24T22:48:00.001-08:00

Cockatiels and Cocktails

2011-12-23T12:14:00.001-08:00

Clarification

2011-12-22T10:57:00.000-08:00

I've received a few comments on the cougar posting to the effect of questioning how we got so close to such a ferocious creature. So, to be clear - here's what we saw just a few short metres away:

So, if you're thinking "wow, their property doesn't look like that/ when is it ever that stormy in Metchosin?"... you're right. The entire post was chronicling a trip to the museum. Sorry for the confusion. Had we really encountered a non-stuffed cougar not only would any photos be somewhat blurry but that "log dump" picture would have rung true in all its glory!

Tree Update

2011-12-21T10:53:00.001-08:00

Still haven't agreed on where to put it...

Encounter

2011-12-21T10:14:00.000-08:00

In all our years on the property we have yet to run into a cougar

despite their ever presence. Today we somehow snuck up on this

fella lounging about

Perhaps the beast was more intent on the resident deer

population than worrying about us.

Even though it was a tad bit freaky.... we still had a great

time yesterday at the museum

Monkey Goose

Tree of fakedness

Red Light District

This whole area - turn of the century street - is our favorite in the Royal BC Museum:

No one else found this funny - not even Fergus!?!

Monkey Goose encore

Tree hunting

2011-12-19T06:04:00.000-08:00

The in no way staged shot of Effie pondering this particular fir. In the end (ie: after chopping it down) we realized it would have made a pathetic xmas offering so we moved on. And on. And on.

Finally, with little light left, we found the perfect tree... And outside on the patio it remains until we manage to make space for it and dig out the ornaments.

Christmassy stuff

2011-12-18T12:39:00.000-08:00

Blogger annoying me.No headings on these photos.Here's a bunch of pics of recent christmas activities.Includes my attempt to burn down Grandma and Grandpa's house with an ill conceived attempt at a sugarcube mud hut:

YMCA reimagined

2011-12-08T16:44:00.001-08:00

"I said, milkmen...
keep your feet on the ground."

Music of the Year

2011-12-04T10:38:00.001-08:00

Note: The best songs of 2011 can be found at my woefully underfunded music site. But, tempting cross-pollination, here’s a special treat (you can pay me later)...

Music videos these days are crap. Animated/ stop-motion videos: crap. Single-take/ slow-motion shots: crap. Overly clever, look at us on our treadmills: crap. NSFW videos: crap. And anything with the band playing their instruments, unless its by New Order, contains synthed frog noises and is titled Perfect Kiss... always crap. This is why I’ve been neglecting, for the most part, said music blog.

On that upbeat note, by default, I present the best music video of 2011 (coincidentally, also the best song of 2011)...

Albums* of the year:
1. Wild Beasts - Smother
2. Destroyer - Kaputt
3. Beirut - The Rip Tide
4. The Antlers - Burst Apart
5. The Drums - Portamento
6. PJ Harvey - Let England Shake
7. The Rapture - In the Grace of Your Love
8. Noah and The Whale - Last Night on Earth
9. The Go! Team - Rolling Blackouts
10. The Feelies - Here Before
*sounds better than “mp3 clusterings”

“I don't like country and western, I don't like rock music, I don't like rockabilly or rock and roll particularly. I don't like much, really, do I? But what I do like, I love passionately.” Chris Lowe, Pet Shop Boys

My Todd Bertuzzi Week

2011-12-04T10:16:00.001-08:00

The celebratory week included a trip to yoshi sushi (where Fergus had multiple orders of yam tempura) followed the next night by a visit to da tandoor for Indian (where Fergus’ meal consisted of three bowls of mango ice cream). Unprecedented restauranting on our part - expecting Visa to ring us up any moment. Throw in some Italian, some more Japanese and Mom's rouladen and its been a Benetton ad of tasty delights around here lately.

Kelly's cool "ugly craig" card:

Pitch-caring with Kelly and Chris...

Mmmm cake:

Sir Todd:

Stream clean-up time

2011-12-04T10:08:00.001-08:00

Me thinks I need some new, non-holey boots!

Ooh yeah you’re amazing

2011-12-02T17:17:00.001-08:00

“Wow wow wow wow wow wow wow... unbelievable”(says Dame Kate Bush). Over the past week, Ferg has discovered WOW: World of Warcraft. He’s taken to it like a ~~fish to water~~ gamer to a game. The rest of us have no clue what’s going on but do spend considerable time researching how to, for example, kill Githyiss the Vile at the northen end of the Shadowthread Cave.

And now for some recent artiness, including some life-size kiddos that now adorn our walls:

Label Maker

2011-11-27T13:22:00.001-08:00

Ferg's been using the labeler again...

Deep fried coffee snow

2011-11-22T17:35:00.001-08:00

Game bird:

Classy:

Ferg's been enjoying coffee lately (the decaf). He has a slightly unusual coffee drinking style...

At the fish n' chips place with G&G:

Yup... deep fried mars bar...

Here we all are at the voting place. We kinda failed in that whole bring-yer-kids-and-show-them-democracy" thing. With the four of us in two side-by-side voting cubbies, Gillian kept asking me who I was voting for and I kept telling her she wasn't allowed to talk to me... and then we struggled over which school trustees to vote for cause we don't really care about school trustees and I said I was voting for the ones with the best signs... and then we had a referendum question to answer that neither of us had thought about at all but which kinda affects us and to which we voted "no" but kinda wished we had voted yes and then the yes vote ended up winning... yup we taughts them kidlets good!

Gillian and her shadow in Sidney:

It snowed last week! This is as much as we got:

Grandma and Grandpa had more:

War

2011-11-19T09:16:00.001-08:00

Nothing beats a four person nerf gun battle for family unity!

Gifts from America

2011-11-19T09:11:00.001-08:00

Recent Randomness

2011-11-06T14:54:00.000-08:00

Fans enjoying a hockey match:

Outdoor hockey can mean only one thing: our friends are back!!!

Rain water analysis:

Popcorn balls:

Effie found a model for her make-up talents:

Ferg enjoying a chiminea-cooked chili dog...

Which proved to be its final offering:

Pottery Class

2011-11-06T14:32:00.000-08:00

From the past couple of months...

Effie's shell plate:

Ferg's "untitled":

Ferg's sushi plate:

Gillian's chicken-dragon:

Halloween 2011

2011-10-31T20:59:00.000-07:00

We actually forgot to get any pumpkins this year! Who does that?? So here's Ferg and his pumpkin from a year ago:

And here's his pumpkin today... still going strong. Who needs a new pumpkin every year anyway?

Padmé

with Dan...

Gillian met a new friend:

Padme, Super Sleepy and the rest of the gang:

Effie's sorting:

Hanging out in the dark

2011-10-28T17:33:00.000-07:00

I had the honour of being invited outside last night on an adventure with the gang of four (“Weirdos”, they like to call themselves). It really was an honour - I felt like an embedded journalist minus the land mines. They skipped and joked and marched and sang songs in unison - almost as if they have been hanging out with each other, non-stop, for a week!

On this occasion we played a game of chicken. The game, which involved walking alone in the darkened depths of the property, had some fairly specific, though often disputed, rules around where one had to walk. Generally we walked one at a time from a lighted area to a benchmark somewhere off in the dark, and back - all the while being heartily encouraged by our comrades (example: “Go Fergus. Go Fergus. You fart a lot but we like you anyway. Go Fergus”).

It was... totally brilliant. Everyone was free to acknowledge when the darkness got too much for them, often through a hushed cry of “chicken! I’m coming back now”. What a hoot! Good thing too because I will perhaps never be invited again given my penchant for blinding people with my flash...

Ferg wore KJ’s hat, completed several spin-moves and said “look, I’m Justin Bieber” throughout our adventure. It was the only the second time I’ve ever heard him say that name - the first time being accompanied by “no, I don’t want that haircut”.

Impromptu Egg Hunt Near Halloween

2011-10-28T17:29:00.001-07:00

The Visit Continued

2011-10-26T16:43:00.000-07:00

The good times keep a rolling along with Shannon and the boys...An experiment to create a planet:

A couple of sets of helping hands and a guy with a gun:

Non-stop jumping:

Dwarves:

Mitchel has had us playing loads of hockey:

Building houses:

Effie shot and edited (well done, young grasshopper!) her own video which is currently in post-production (ie: failed attempt to upload to youtube):

Some nighttime hockey (oh, the silly misguided nouveau canucks fans setting themselves up for a lifetime of hurt!)

Shannon has made peace with the bird:

Hey Pucky

2011-10-22T20:07:00.000-07:00

Yeah, yeah, I know you've already skyped and you got that family-tracking app and the GPS chip in Shannon's wrist but... here's proof that your family has arrived!

Celebrating the Big One Two

2011-10-16T10:50:00.000-07:00

Pot o' food:

Anticipating arrivals:

Lounging in the sunny shine...

Treasure hunt:

Ella...

Ballooned-up Fearghus:

Kyrie made Effie this fabulous cake complete with Minecraft creatures...

Marvel at ~~all those really sticky wii controllers~~ the cuteness:

The baldness is intoxicating apparently:

Late night calisthenics (why doesn't anyone calisthenic anymore?):

Days of Fergus

2011-10-10T21:43:00.001-07:00

Birthday week

2011-10-10T10:10:00.000-07:00

Diggy Diggy Hole (Minecraft reference)...

Ye olde lamb birthday dinner...

Effie turned Seven Questionmark:

Ferg perfecting his statue... in the middle of a road... so proud:

More...

Birthday cupcakes at G&G's...

Happy Birthday Effie

2011-10-06T05:48:00.000-07:00

Humdrum Town

2011-10-05T19:43:00.000-07:00

Well, my recent extended giving-of-myself-to-society (jury duty) has seemingly contributed to halting blog production around here lately. I have a "Fergus is Eight!" video to finalize and, yikes, Effie's birthday is tomorrow.We have had time for a fav retro game - Waterworks:

And tonight Effie is making her birthday cupcakes!!

And that's about all I have to show for the past few weeks. Pppbbth...

Death Star Revisited

2011-09-25T17:13:00.000-07:00

a lifetime project...

Smiths & Wesson, 1988

2011-09-25T16:01:00.000-07:00

Used to be a sweet boy

And this photograph shall be known by the title

2011-09-22T22:30:00.000-07:00

... "the wondrous joy preceding the accidental kicking of sand into the eye marking the unofficial yet abrupt end of summer":

Boom De Yada

2011-09-18T00:12:00.000-07:00

Some great friends and family came over to celebrate Ferg's birthday...

Some cowboying up before the grand event:

Arrow shooting:

The Goose and The Dude:

Treasure hunt:

This guy wasn't on the itinerary:

(Most of) the gang:

Grandma's double eight cake:

Amy made a wonderful Minecraft Creeper for Fergus:

Kelly's portrait of us:

The Goose is Eight Today

2011-09-13T05:50:00.000-07:00

The many faces of...

The All-Nighter

2011-09-12T17:45:00.000-07:00

On the weekend, Matt initiated pulling an all-nighter with his friends Effie and Dan... the plan being to stay up all night watching movies and then going to see the sun rise in the wee hours.

Ferg and Noah also got in on the action. Here they are at the 4 am mark (interestingly posing behind some bottles). I think they played Swords and Sandals in those seats all night long.

They made it. Sunrise:

These two were rather "forced" to participate as well (I was snugly sound asleep in my sleeping bag at this moment):

Imaginary Band

2011-09-10T23:41:00.001-07:00

The Kristal Tikis

Abducted by aliens

2011-09-10T23:39:00.000-07:00

Effie Dan Matt

No New (Earthquake) Tale To Tell

2011-09-09T17:12:00.000-07:00

Judging by the questions we've been fielding, it sounds like today's "Vancouver Island Earthquake" was widely reported. Nobody around here felt it and here's hoping it hasn't triggered some increased action. Rest assured that if the big one hits I'll be digging through the rubble to splice some wires together (is that what you do with wires?) to post our whereabouts/ status.

Here's an appropriately fuzzy photo Fergus took of me recently:

Not...

The Hotness

2011-09-07T20:07:00.000-07:00

September has brought the summer heat to these parts - slightly overdue. We be crammin....Blackberrying:

Ferg got right into the Not Back To School beach day this year with some sand duning and allowing himself to be buried:

After their trip to Goldstream with the other radicals I asked Effie how the waterfall was... "er, not really a waterfall - more of a trickle." Hmmm....

This reminds me of the quarry scene from quite possibly one of the best movies ever - Breaking Away:

Rockin the sungear:

Corn Soccer Potato Dig

2011-09-05T13:11:00.001-07:00

...and bocci:

Ferry Food

2011-09-04T00:04:00.001-07:00

Minecraft Birthday Party

2011-09-03T23:35:00.000-07:00

Frankie turned eight and Chris and Kelly hosted an awesome Minecraft-themed do for her today...

Iron Day

2011-08-28T18:10:00.000-07:00

Seven hours into our eight hour journey on Friday I was reminded that this was Ironman weekend here in Penticton. The biggest, craziest weekend of the year here and we kinda just sauntered right into the thick of it.

Here are pics of a bunch of people splashing about in a lake. Not that exciting, but we walked downtown at 6 am to get these shots - so here they are:

Chad and Mini (by "we walked downtown at 6 am" I meant us three - the Eff, the Goose and the Tik did not come downtown at 6 am):

Bikers biking:

And that was that - the first competitors arrived back in town some 8.5 hours later but I suppose most of them are still on the course (which closes at midnight). It all kinda inspired me... then my back twinged a bit and I wondered if I'd be able to walk back up the hill to Grannie and Grandad's for my morning coffee without calling in the support vehicle...

Hastily Coordinated Trip To The Sun

2011-08-27T23:20:00.000-07:00

We made the rather spur of the moment decision to drive up to the Okanagan and visit G's family this weekend. Boat & car rides...

In zee pool:

The cousins all together:

The key attraction at the Penticton Farmer's Market :: freshly made potato chips on a stick! (pretty darn tasty):

Hazmat

2011-08-25T18:10:00.000-07:00

Here we have two opposite approaches - protective gear wise - to wasp nest eradication. But more importantly... how long do I have to wait, exactly, for the tucked-in jacket look to catch on?

Rescue Goose

2011-08-21T17:01:00.000-07:00

Another Journey by Bicycle

2011-08-20T20:50:00.001-07:00

We had Kevin and his GoPro fish eye lens zip around the property on his bike... to cool effect (especially the downhill bit in the second half)...

Below is Version Two, the non music-enhanced version... copyright laws preventing the use of the tune have thereby given us increased Kevinal grunts and throat clears:

The Final Countdown

2011-08-20T17:35:00.000-07:00

Placing headphones on Fergus and gently playing Smiths song as he slumbers has yet to yield any positive results. For me to gain any influence I see that I may have to resort to more direct methods - ie. produce soundtracked youtube videos of games like Halo, Minecraft, Call of Duty*... This is, after all, how Fergus has come to enjoy his two current favourite songs:
1. Bleed It Out by Linkin Park
2. The Final Countdown by Europe

You need not be familiar with my musical preferences to guess that this is the first time I’ve ever written the word Linken next to Park. And here is a photo of Europe from their prime – perhaps peddling some Pert:

Fergus thinks they look cool and is very impressed that I was alive back in the 80’s when these guys ruled the Swedish airwaves.

Here we are squinting and discussing indie pop and hair metal bands...

*Fergus is the King of the Youtubes (currently at 81 channel subscriptions and counting)

Trimming the helicopter

2011-08-20T17:24:00.001-07:00

Night and day:

Trimming the newly purchased helicopter:

Pimms drinker (not a helicopter trimmer):

I have no idea what trimming a helicopter means. Its something Kevin says.

The Exploding Boy

2011-08-18T20:52:00.000-07:00

...and other adventures as we struggle through this epic 19 degree heat wave that is summer...

The family supporting the guy who ~~plays~~ ruptures his quad muscle annually in a soccer tournament:

Cousin Cullan and family have arrived for a visit...

Bird nest material:

Bike ride...

Getting two people hooked on Angry Birds simultaneously!

Pad Thai:

Blistering Barnacles

2011-08-10T17:02:00.000-07:00

Nothing says summer like Captain Haddock in a Hammock:

Signs the recoup is coming along swimmingly (cyclingly?):

Sport of the future :: kick brother from swing (needs catchier title)...

Rejected cookout idea #742... tinfoiled s'mores:

1960's Film

2011-08-07T14:40:00.000-07:00

Testing out the 8mm App...

8mm Weir's Beach from mesmith on Vimeo.

Music :: Forever and Ever Amen - The Drums

Camera Obscura

2011-08-06T21:24:00.000-07:00

More phoney photos...

Birds

2011-08-06T13:40:00.000-07:00

Great Horned Owl :: we feared for Blueberry-The-Bunny's life yesterday as this GHO (our first!) hung out on the light pole down below all evening. Blueberry was spotted alive and under the hammock this morning - yeah!

~~Angry~~ Crazed tissue-box-chomping bird:

Old timey...

Tilt-Shift Beach Trip

2011-08-05T20:48:00.000-07:00

New App makes Craig really excited... makes others wonder what the point of taking miniature style photos is.

For the Coolness Factor of course...

First attempt:

fyi, that was a photo of some very sweet beach cleaner-uppers not some random photo of teenagers

Scenes from G's birthday week

2011-08-05T20:44:00.000-07:00

Cake with eager Grandpa:

Beach Blanket Birthday:

Hey... Hay!

With the goats:

More cake:

Outdoor Games

2011-08-01T18:01:00.000-07:00

Croquet and bocci battle at Grandma and Grandpa's:

Despite the fine form, Grandpa beat the kids at both:

Fergus says, "eh, I was only giving 65%"...

Paper airplanes in the bushes...

That's better:

Cousin Visit #2

2011-07-30T22:43:00.000-07:00

The lower mainland cousins came over on the weekend for jumping, pinball wizardry, bbq pizza and fire:

Braeden taught us that there really is no need for the cracker portion of the s'more - just stuff the chocolate right into the marshmallow and fire er up:

Gini Slug Lick Twice

2011-07-30T22:37:00.000-07:00

Upon returning to the house Gini realized she had licked the wrong side of the slug...

Cousin Visit #1

2011-07-30T21:42:00.000-07:00

On their way to band camp in Eugene, Oregon - Gini, Chad and the cousins stopped in for a couple of nights...

Smelly was a theme as they had been on the road for a bit...

Playing olde timey days down in the old house (including some sort of sleeping on the floor ritual):

Ferg and Chad practicing...

Soccer fans in their summery gear:

Mini and Effie at the lake on a warmer day:

General tomfoolery...

Midnight Madness

2011-07-30T11:51:00.000-07:00

The making of strawberry, lemon and cherry garcia ice cream...

Mini and Effie enjoying ~~their make-up~~ the fruits...

Coolest Band Ever

2011-07-30T10:17:00.001-07:00

"Cousins & Sisters"

It's Just The Person That I am

2011-07-29T10:44:00.000-07:00

Bananafishbones

2011-07-23T17:30:00.000-07:00

As if suddenly hit by lightning... er, not that this isn't a regular occurrence...

let me start again...

Oh what the hell... as if struck by lightning, someone has gotten all productive in the food and beverage department over the past 24 hours:

Bread, cookies, bran muffins:

Raspberry jam (don't worry Mom, this is just a stop gap measure to make use of all those u-picked berries) [Recipe here]:

Lemon gelato / waffle cookie! [Recipes here and here]

BBQ sauce [Recipe here]:

And here's the probable culprit for all this :: zee new espresso maker!

Mmmmmm... makes me hippa hippa hippa hippa

And then there was slime! (funny how this is the only item where little helpers appear):

The obligatory slime-in-hair... totally my fault for encouraging slime-head interaction by "sneezing out" a green slime booger. But really, who could resist a green slime booger?!?

As the holidays wane

2011-07-08T16:24:00.000-07:00

Goose, the game of Loot and The Hand Of God...

Gillian, her air horn and the massive wild rose bush...

Gillian, her air horn and the new, ugly, rotten-wood "fence"...

Kristal, horseshoes and cheerleaders (Canadian)...

Goose, running and hot-weather attire...

A man, a boat and pool domination...

A New Low

2011-07-08T16:11:00.001-07:00

The DVD collection has never looked so flimsy...

of our days, and our nights

Happy American Day

2011-07-04T13:51:00.000-07:00

Here's wishing all our friends/ children of the revolution a wonderful fourth of July! We hope to see some fireworks light up the sky from across the pond tonight.

Today, Eff and I went to check out the marina's ice cream selections and we both agreed that popsicles may have been more appropriate for the heat (its not that hot, we just like to complain). I am happy to report, however, that the marina's transformation from hickville-grunge marina to upscale resort is now complete... we saw sunbathing, non-male, breasts!

Erosion trail:

Four foot vertical!

Hours and hours of mowing/ scything the hay/moss/weed field recently has yielded a decent little soccer pitch for our enjoyment (two and a half minutes worth of enjoyment in this particular case):

Yes, he's only one hair band removed from Sergio Ramos...

When news broke that the convalescent was happy to finally have someone serenading her with fir cones rattling the bedroom window, Rachel suggested I kick it up a notch by going all Lloyd Dobler on her...

The lack of speakers seems to have reduced greatly the desired effect.

Happy Canader Day

2011-07-01T13:56:00.000-07:00

The resurrection of the 16 year old wedding banner...

Weekend of the soleil

2011-06-26T22:37:00.000-07:00

This weekend, Goose ranked up to Brigadier (we now salute him before bed); three of us went to the circus (and now we so have to install a wall next to our trampoline!) and then for ice cream; and finally the IN valid was seen sunning herself amongst her 642 books and seven seasons of The West Wing that's she's set aside/horded for her recovery period...

The Occasional Midday Power Outage

2011-06-22T19:37:00.001-07:00

... is really cool (thanks fallen tree branch):

Trip to Portlandia 2011

2011-06-21T08:10:00.001-07:00

Home Again

2011-06-20T22:06:00.000-07:00

... from a weekend of abdominal surgery and hospital food:

(I guess this is more a picture of me than her - but one gets the idea)

A Drawing

2011-06-18T16:31:00.000-07:00

Best likeness of Fergus ever... thanks Kelly!

Serenity Now

2011-06-15T21:50:00.000-07:00

...Serenity Now!

Canucks lose... 40 years of hurt continues... Stress levels miraculously diminish.

Catching up

2011-06-12T17:05:00.000-07:00

Effie met her online (Skype, Minecraft) friend Amy today in real life for the first time... very cool!!!

Halloween-to-June Jack-o-update: still going strong!

Ferg in the trees...

Grandma picking some fresh salal - one of the few things we're good at growing...

The gang at Matt's surprise birthday party yesterday:

Goose getting a thank you hug from Matt - "I can fly" says Ferg:

Scenes from unschooling park day

2011-05-30T16:03:00.000-07:00

We now enter the decompressing, mildly depressing, phase of the conference as the majority of people have headed home. I was actually envious of Pucky, Shannon and family's 10 hour drive to Santa Clara today - no border, no ferry. We'll be doing that tomorrow. First off, we had the final unschooling event - a day at the park where thankfully the weather cooperated.

Striders

Posers

Gillian & Jenny

Canucksians

Wild kids

Frank, Ronnie, Kimya's rainbow head:

Group shot of conference kiddos. Ferg's the lone wolf, far right. Eff's the loner wolf who chose not to be in the photo...

In the groove

2011-05-29T22:50:00.000-07:00

A trip to the trading card shop with the Wilsons...

There have been some odd occurrences this year - as you would expect with growing numbers I suppose. Here we are waiting out the fourth hotel fire alarm of the weekend:

The usual pokemon battle/ thai food eating in the hallways:

Effie and XuMei

Mid-Conference

2011-05-28T15:53:00.000-07:00

Kelly and Eff with their craft pouches:

Eff and Matt and a rainbow butt at the talent show...

At the pool during a respite from the rain:

The gang with the latest in Apple technology...

Red Rover Poker

2011-05-27T10:14:00.001-07:00

Vivian draws custom-cards while you wait! Carolyn made me pay an extra dollar to take her photo however:

The kiddos partaking in some spontaneous red rovering:

If I crop the photo just so - boom, cute sibling picture (sorry KJ):

Kristal and Rob and kids (Duncan) are here for their very first conference this year - yeah! They have brought a new element to Life is Good... ~~class~~, ~~meticulous body grooming~~, midnight poker:

Kristal says I (poker champion) look like a muppet:

Begin the begin

2011-05-26T18:14:00.000-07:00

Start...

Eff and Ronnie and Alec in the crowd:

Hooligans hooliganing...

Board gaming:

Playing a game called "ninja"...

Here in Vancouver, WA

2011-05-25T23:47:00.000-07:00

Still another day until the official start of the conference, but there would appear to be record numbers arriving early this year so no shortage of things to do/ people to see in the hotel (once again scuppering any half-hearted plans to see the environs). The Life is Good conference has become rather popular - over 700 people are expected this year... yikes! And just like last year, rain is forecasted for the entire weekend.

Today we did our annual pre-conference activities: 1. Swim in the pool before it becomes crowded, and 2. Wait on the bench outside the lobby for our friends to show up...

Playing some hockey-soccer at sunset along the river...

From Everett to Portland

2011-05-24T23:57:00.000-07:00

Frank, Ferg, Ronnie:

Like a hunter stalking Sasquatch - the never-before-seen site of Frank watching hockey:

Some strange little dude at the Wahoo Winklers, Portland:

Gymnastics in the front yard...

Getting ready to paint the town blue and green. Woot Woot - Canucks are going to the Stanley Cup Finals!!!! And its all MY doing:

Funky Portland - skeleton on a ladder on a roof!?!

Heading for Life is Good

2011-05-21T22:46:00.009-07:00

We are currently on the vaca - culminating in Life is Good Unschooling Confernece Mach V...

Here's reflecto-family en-route to Everett, WA. In the distance there is the dock that the suicidal guy flew into the sea in his truck either right at the time of this photo or shortly there after. We were none-the-wiser.

Minecraft nation at the Maier household:

At the park:

Spring 2011 Movie

2011-05-15T08:49:00.000-07:00

A rush and a push and the land is ours...

I've got a feeder for you to perch on

2011-05-14T08:32:00.000-07:00

Duncan gang...

Crazee life cat:

A few firsts... first bird (adopted 7 year old cockatiel Maia)

Mmm... first Mr. Mike's burger in thirty years!

Ferg's first pair of runners:

Sunset tramping:

Easter

2011-04-24T09:01:00.000-07:00

Happy what now?!?

Hunting with Grandma and Grandpa...

Wrong type of eggs... smelly, old quail (non chocolate) eggs:

Mullet? cool...

Cruel nature has won again

2011-04-18T19:55:00.000-07:00

Here’s a recently posted web comic that MJ alerted us to. Funny that someone looked at this and went “hey, I know those kids” (on a ferry boat circa a trip to Life is Good, May 2008). I wrote one of the authors of a softer world and she was equally impressed that her subjects had been identified.

Actually, the reason I checked in with the photographer was to admit my lack of hipness - ie: I didn’t get what it was they were trying to say (pro-kids? anti-kids?). She pointed out that that particular strip is titled “I honestly thought the iceberg would chicken out first” and that her partner is a bit “dark”.

I also noticed she labelled the jpeg “sisters”. Also, I'm still puzzled by how MJ knew it was our kiddos - I mean when did Ferg ever wear yellow boots and jammy bottoms!?!?!?!?!

Sparky

2011-04-18T19:40:00.000-07:00

This weekend we welcomed Pucky back to Canada for the first time since he took the job at Apple. Fun ensued - complete with an early 40th birthday celebration for the young buck...

Quote o' the weekend:
Craig: (five minutes after beating Pucky at Mario Kart)... “Hey Pucky, remember that day we played Mario Kart and I crushed you?
Pucky: “Yeah, I believe that was the same day you burned your floor”*

*I tried to impress Pucky by bringing him his birthday pie in one hand and a dozen crazy lit sparklers in the other. Needless to say, not a smart move as I managed to simultaneously check off every single one of the warnings on the packaging (“light one sparkler at a time”; “not for indoor use”; "adult supervision required"...). So, when my hand began to burn and people began yelling at me and the smoke detector started screaming, I went into full-on panic mode and simply dropped the burning torches to the wood floor below.

Let that be a lesson to you.
Unless you like that mottled wood-floor look.

Which I do.

Weird Kids

2011-04-09T08:57:00.000-07:00

An outdoor performance set to the dulcet tones of Green Day - starring the one in the prom dress, the one in the hat, the one in his wedding suit, and some guy with a cane...

This on a day I had to scrape my windshield...

2011-04-09T08:08:00.000-07:00

some April sprinkler action:

Outback Punch-Up

2011-04-07T16:47:00.000-07:00

The gang made a movie yesterday called "Outback Punch-Up"... unfortunately the result was banned for public viewing by CARA (excessive everything!). An on-set shot of the talent and production crews:

Californians Visit And The Crowd Goes Woot

2011-04-07T16:19:00.000-07:00

we immediately whisked them away on an egg hunt:

mocking those who have yet to find their egg - a fine tradition:

bunny ears:

from last week...sometimes egg-hunts go awry:

... and, a photo of Shannon jumping and Fergus' hair-head:

... and, and... a pic of Ferg taking a break from Minecraft to play some Angry Birds

Spring Ritual

2011-04-02T07:25:00.000-07:00

This late easter thing is really messing up our hunt-practice schedule. First of the season (with the cousins)...