Hey all, we're back.
I feel really bad about not being able to post much recently, but with erratic internet access, a computer power cord that snapped in two, and a crazy schedule on vacation, it just wasn't practical. I hope to get on at least once a day for awhile and post about the trip, post pics, and post about the last two weeks of preparing for school to start. Lots of news is in the near future...stay tuned.
Matt
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Bowl of Soup
Got a good connection, but not a lot of time - here are some quick pics and comments:
This has been our home for the last few days. This, and Z's RV...oh, and the big Suburban. Anyway, it's been working out pretty well, but I'm sure that Steph will have something to say in a future post about the mattress.
The inside:
It finally happened. Mari made this face so much it stuck. Oh well. No more tookie face.
Gotta love the south:
The much-anticipated picture. This is my favorite of the 3 we took. I am SO MAD that they changed the sign. I may have to photoshop in the old sign so it matches the 2005 picture.
All in all, it's been an interesting few days. Looking forward to Chattanooga starting tomorrow - of course the weather forecast is for more hot and humid. Hence the title of this post - as in, it feels like a Bowl of Soup out here.
Would love to post more but I don't trust the connection for long. Oh, and the power cord to the computer snapped right in two. Gotta love the Extended Service Plan at Best Buy.
More soon,
Matt
This has been our home for the last few days. This, and Z's RV...oh, and the big Suburban. Anyway, it's been working out pretty well, but I'm sure that Steph will have something to say in a future post about the mattress.
The inside:
It finally happened. Mari made this face so much it stuck. Oh well. No more tookie face.
Gotta love the south:
The much-anticipated picture. This is my favorite of the 3 we took. I am SO MAD that they changed the sign. I may have to photoshop in the old sign so it matches the 2005 picture.
All in all, it's been an interesting few days. Looking forward to Chattanooga starting tomorrow - of course the weather forecast is for more hot and humid. Hence the title of this post - as in, it feels like a Bowl of Soup out here.
Would love to post more but I don't trust the connection for long. Oh, and the power cord to the computer snapped right in two. Gotta love the Extended Service Plan at Best Buy.
More soon,
Matt
Monday, July 28, 2008
Greetings from Tennessee
We're here - not much to say - horrible internet connection - don't expect much the next couple of days - gotta run before we lose the connection again.
Matt
Matt
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Friday, July 25, 2008
Preparations continue
Our Tennessee trip is only a few days away now. I wanted to announce that Steph took a big step out of her comfort zone and is actually starting the packing a few days ahead. Usually she's unable to stomach the thought of packing the clothes until the night before, but this time she's getting a great head start and I'm proud of her.
The RV is already at dad's, so we can start loading things up as we get them ready. Looking forward to a lot of things on this trip, but the one I'm most selfishly anticipating is that the big girls (at least on the way to Pigeon Forge) are riding in the RV with G and Z, while the babies ride with Steph and me in the Camry. Why is this such a treat? Steph and I will be in charge of the music the whole way down there. We won't be subjected to Strawberry Shortcake, Kindermusik, and Backyardigans the whole trip. And let's be honest. Even when we get to listen to our own music in the car (which we make a point to enforce regularly) it's not like we really get to listen much.
And this is truly a rare treat for me. I'm a music guy, okay? It's my job, it's my hobby, it's the one passion I have that's not my family. My iPod is LOADED with almost a month of music. My favorite gift is an amazon or iTunes gift card so I can get more music. It's my simple, free pleasure to sit down with headphones or alone in front of some good speakers to just sit and let the music work on me. And sadly, the reality of my life is, I don't have time to just sit and listen anymore. My only time to enjoy music without interruption is before bed, and guess what? I can't even make it 10 minutes any more before I have to take the headphones off and go to sleep. So the thought of 5 hours of real, adult, quality music time is like a little slice of heaven.
I also love to share my musical discoveries with Steph - and of course she's worried that I won't let her choose anything the whole way down, but that's not true. I know she's excited about this too, so I'll let her partake equally. I just hope she stays awake for a FEW minutes of my stuff.
Anyway, posting has been sparse and probably will continue to be so. But once we get down to Tennessee, we'll post daily (provided we have reliable wifi).
So long for now,
Matt
The RV is already at dad's, so we can start loading things up as we get them ready. Looking forward to a lot of things on this trip, but the one I'm most selfishly anticipating is that the big girls (at least on the way to Pigeon Forge) are riding in the RV with G and Z, while the babies ride with Steph and me in the Camry. Why is this such a treat? Steph and I will be in charge of the music the whole way down there. We won't be subjected to Strawberry Shortcake, Kindermusik, and Backyardigans the whole trip. And let's be honest. Even when we get to listen to our own music in the car (which we make a point to enforce regularly) it's not like we really get to listen much.
And this is truly a rare treat for me. I'm a music guy, okay? It's my job, it's my hobby, it's the one passion I have that's not my family. My iPod is LOADED with almost a month of music. My favorite gift is an amazon or iTunes gift card so I can get more music. It's my simple, free pleasure to sit down with headphones or alone in front of some good speakers to just sit and let the music work on me. And sadly, the reality of my life is, I don't have time to just sit and listen anymore. My only time to enjoy music without interruption is before bed, and guess what? I can't even make it 10 minutes any more before I have to take the headphones off and go to sleep. So the thought of 5 hours of real, adult, quality music time is like a little slice of heaven.
I also love to share my musical discoveries with Steph - and of course she's worried that I won't let her choose anything the whole way down, but that's not true. I know she's excited about this too, so I'll let her partake equally. I just hope she stays awake for a FEW minutes of my stuff.
Anyway, posting has been sparse and probably will continue to be so. But once we get down to Tennessee, we'll post daily (provided we have reliable wifi).
So long for now,
Matt
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Hot weekend...and Mind-Blowing Nostalgia
Coney Island went well. MAN it was hot. Cincinnati hasn't had as many hot and humid days as usual so far this year, but this weekend was certainly miserable. Anyway, we went to Sunlite Pool first (Steph makes fun of me for calling it that - I'm not a Cincy native so there are still some subtleties I don't get...but it technically really is called Sunlite Pool). Anyway again...For the non-Cincinnati folks, it's the world's largest recirculating swimming pool. Look for it on Google Earth - very cool. Steph managed to get us a spot under a nice shady tree, and we managed to keep the girls amused in the shallow end for over 2 hours in the hot sun. Hauled back to the picnic area for our lunch and then did rides. Both girls got on a Tilt-a-Whirl for the first time - and they both loved it. Since Steph gets sick on round-and-round rides, it'll be nice to have someone to go on them with me. Made it back home before dinner hot and exhausted.
We would be remiss if we didn't give a big thank you to AS for the tickets. We don't have the resources to do little things like a day at Coney any more...you helped the girls have a wonderful memory they wouldn't otherwise have had. Thanks! Keep that blog going, and let me know about the fried oranges.
Today, we had our church's young families picnic up at Woodland Mound Park, part of the Hamilton County Park District. Set up the picnic, got rained on. Finished the picinc, found out that the wet playground was NOT going to reopen after the brief rainstorm...all the employees had vanished. Not surprised. I used to work for the park district back in my college days. No one wants to work Breezy Point. SO....we played on the playground instead. Another hot, humid day, another set of tired daughters.
In other news, Grandma S is back from Kenya. We'll get the details tomorrow but we'd assume at this point that things went well.
And so, thoughts slowly start turning towards the upcoming trip to Tennessee. Smokies and Chattanooga. This summer's "big trip" and the last hurrah before it's time to settle back down and get ready for school to start up again.
But what's really on my mind now is this:
This was our last trip to the Smokies, in Spring of 2005.
Wow.
Just look at that. One kid. Faith is barely a year old. No Mari. Twins? Don't make us laugh. Simpler times.
In a little over a week, we will gather again, in what I think is a pretty common tradition for a lot of people - another family photo at that National Park sign. Grandma or Zayde will snap another picture. At the end of that day, I'll upload both pics so we can look at them side-by-side. And I will stop and think...
What will the next picture we take here look like?
[contemplative silence]
We hope you'll all still be around to find out.
That's all for now...
Matt
We would be remiss if we didn't give a big thank you to AS for the tickets. We don't have the resources to do little things like a day at Coney any more...you helped the girls have a wonderful memory they wouldn't otherwise have had. Thanks! Keep that blog going, and let me know about the fried oranges.
Today, we had our church's young families picnic up at Woodland Mound Park, part of the Hamilton County Park District. Set up the picnic, got rained on. Finished the picinc, found out that the wet playground was NOT going to reopen after the brief rainstorm...all the employees had vanished. Not surprised. I used to work for the park district back in my college days. No one wants to work Breezy Point. SO....we played on the playground instead. Another hot, humid day, another set of tired daughters.
In other news, Grandma S is back from Kenya. We'll get the details tomorrow but we'd assume at this point that things went well.
And so, thoughts slowly start turning towards the upcoming trip to Tennessee. Smokies and Chattanooga. This summer's "big trip" and the last hurrah before it's time to settle back down and get ready for school to start up again.
But what's really on my mind now is this:
This was our last trip to the Smokies, in Spring of 2005.
Wow.
Just look at that. One kid. Faith is barely a year old. No Mari. Twins? Don't make us laugh. Simpler times.
In a little over a week, we will gather again, in what I think is a pretty common tradition for a lot of people - another family photo at that National Park sign. Grandma or Zayde will snap another picture. At the end of that day, I'll upload both pics so we can look at them side-by-side. And I will stop and think...
What will the next picture we take here look like?
[contemplative silence]
We hope you'll all still be around to find out.
That's all for now...
Matt
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Busy week
Whew - the girls went to King's Island on Thursday with Zayde, we're going to Coney Island today, we have the church young families group picnic at Woodland Mound Park tomorrow, Grandma S gets back from Kenya tomorrow night, and we leave for Tennessee in just over a week.
A lot going on. Posting might be tough the next few days, but I'll try to get a few things up when I find a spare moment.
Matt
A lot going on. Posting might be tough the next few days, but I'll try to get a few things up when I find a spare moment.
Matt
Thursday, July 17, 2008
A plethora of new videos
All Louisville videos are now done!
The first one here is from Incredible Dave's - Bowling, Arcades, and Inflatables. I know my hoop skills display is bad, but I did win 100 tickets about an hour after the attempt you see here...
This is video from hanging out in the hotel...an important and enjoyable part of any vacation with 4 kids 4 and under. No one writes better music for lazing around than Norah Jones.
Videos from playgrounds, parks, and other outside fun. I had originally planned this music for Incredible Dave's, but it fits much better here. I must get more stuff by Ulrich Schnauss.
Okay, funny story about this last one. As I've said, usually I have the idea for the background music of a video as I'm doing it. I like to sync up the transitions with the phrasing of the music if possible and so on. Makes it flow better. Well, this video I was doing was like the 4th one of the day (I had some time to myself while Steph had the girls). And it was the last Louisville video. And I knew it was going to be really short. And I had to leave in like an hour. And I'm starting a lot of sentences with And.
ANYWAY,
The point is, I was on a roll and in a hurry. I wanted to get it done. So I did something I never do. I just started plopping in video and pictures before I had even thought about the music. Oh, I had some idea that I would use some rather generic piano/guitar nature-y music, but nothing specific in mind. So, I got done, and saw that the total time was like 2:42 or something like that. Then I brought up my iTunes to scroll through my music library. I then noticed for the first time that in addition to being able to sort the library by artist, album, song, genre, etc...you can also sort by TIME...totally useless feature, but I thought, why not? So I clicked on the Time tab and scrolled down to the songs that were around 2:42 in length. And I saw the absolutely PERFECT music for the video. Couldn't have been more different from what I had originally intended, but I think you'll agree that this fits the mood much better than any cheesy piano/guitar garbage. =)
Oh, and get a load of Faith saying "Literally" at the end...
Enjoy!
Matt
The first one here is from Incredible Dave's - Bowling, Arcades, and Inflatables. I know my hoop skills display is bad, but I did win 100 tickets about an hour after the attempt you see here...
This is video from hanging out in the hotel...an important and enjoyable part of any vacation with 4 kids 4 and under. No one writes better music for lazing around than Norah Jones.
Videos from playgrounds, parks, and other outside fun. I had originally planned this music for Incredible Dave's, but it fits much better here. I must get more stuff by Ulrich Schnauss.
Okay, funny story about this last one. As I've said, usually I have the idea for the background music of a video as I'm doing it. I like to sync up the transitions with the phrasing of the music if possible and so on. Makes it flow better. Well, this video I was doing was like the 4th one of the day (I had some time to myself while Steph had the girls). And it was the last Louisville video. And I knew it was going to be really short. And I had to leave in like an hour. And I'm starting a lot of sentences with And.
ANYWAY,
The point is, I was on a roll and in a hurry. I wanted to get it done. So I did something I never do. I just started plopping in video and pictures before I had even thought about the music. Oh, I had some idea that I would use some rather generic piano/guitar nature-y music, but nothing specific in mind. So, I got done, and saw that the total time was like 2:42 or something like that. Then I brought up my iTunes to scroll through my music library. I then noticed for the first time that in addition to being able to sort the library by artist, album, song, genre, etc...you can also sort by TIME...totally useless feature, but I thought, why not? So I clicked on the Time tab and scrolled down to the songs that were around 2:42 in length. And I saw the absolutely PERFECT music for the video. Couldn't have been more different from what I had originally intended, but I think you'll agree that this fits the mood much better than any cheesy piano/guitar garbage. =)
Oh, and get a load of Faith saying "Literally" at the end...
Enjoy!
Matt
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Tucumcari, NM Part 2 (Main post below)
Here's Day 21 (I think) of the 2007 Road Trip. Us driving from Santa Fe, NM to Amarillo, TX. Contains great audio of Steph and me having stupid arguments about nothing and generally being immature.
The "DISASTER AWAITS" title references that this is just before the RV broke down at a Stuckey's truck stop in Adrian, TX.
I am posting this video now because it contains several shots of Tucumcari billboards along I-40.
Enjoy:
The "DISASTER AWAITS" title references that this is just before the RV broke down at a Stuckey's truck stop in Adrian, TX.
I am posting this video now because it contains several shots of Tucumcari billboards along I-40.
Enjoy:
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Tucumcari, NM
Hey, everyone!
First, an explanation of Mari's nickname. Her "real" name is Marisol ([mah'-ree-sohl] a Spanish name -- "el mar" is "sea" and "el sol" is "sun" -- "sea and sun" -- perfect for our beachloving selves)... We are a family big on nicknames. We have millions of them for just about everyone. SO, when Mari was born, Matt recalled the name of a town in a book that he loves (a road trip book, of course) -- the town being "Tucumcari, NM". He started calling her "Mari Tucumcari" -- that evolved (devolved?) in to Mari Tucums and then just Mari Tooks and eventually it came to what it is today -- "just" Tooks or Tooky. In fact, Z took her to a once a week gym class for toddlers. Every week when the kids had to tell the group their name, she would say "Tooky". Not Mari. Sheesh. We knew when we named her Marisol that it would be rough -- people in good ole' Cincinnati aren't exactly well-versed in Spanish pronunciation. But now she calls herself Tooks or Tooky. Oh well. Oh and Matt found out eventually that "Tucumcari" is actually pronounced "too-cum-carey" -- oh well again! What will we do at preschool in the fall when she calls herself Tooky?
So another productive day. The babies slept through the night again last night (did Matt already say that?). They got showers and so did Matt and I. We played downstairs. We ate lunch. I finally took Faith and got to the library to get a library card (we moved here in March [I was 32 wks pregnant w/ twins] and moved from a different county). Let her pick out 3 books for herself and 2 for Tooks. Got 3 for myself (a HUGE laugh -- if I DO find time to read for pleasure, I inevitably fall asleep -- as I did this afternoon). Eventually, my mom came over, we had dinner and AM came over. Mom and AM watched and played w/ the kids while Matt and I began to tackle the garage. My great aunt (whose house this was) moved out about a year ago at which time we started de-cluttering our condo to put it on the market. The de-cluttering went to the garage here. Now we are trying to get through at least some of these boxes. We made a pretty good dent, actually. Got a good hour and a half done on it. AND, the girls got really worn out by AM!!! AND, my awesome mom did our dishes and cleaned up our kitchen. Pretty good.
I went to pokeno last night. First time in like 4 months I think. My sister originally invited me to this group -- it's all "her" friends although I consider them mine too, now! Anyway, we take turns hosting once a month. The host makes dinner (always AWEsome -- those women can sure cook) and buys the prizes. We eat, play, tell stories & give updates on our lives, eat some more, get the prizes and go home. It's a generally great time and we laugh quite a bit!
OK. It's time for babies to eat and go to bed -- Matt says his leg is falling off from bouncing Robby, so I better relieve him!
Steph
First, an explanation of Mari's nickname. Her "real" name is Marisol ([mah'-ree-sohl] a Spanish name -- "el mar" is "sea" and "el sol" is "sun" -- "sea and sun" -- perfect for our beachloving selves)... We are a family big on nicknames. We have millions of them for just about everyone. SO, when Mari was born, Matt recalled the name of a town in a book that he loves (a road trip book, of course) -- the town being "Tucumcari, NM". He started calling her "Mari Tucumcari" -- that evolved (devolved?) in to Mari Tucums and then just Mari Tooks and eventually it came to what it is today -- "just" Tooks or Tooky. In fact, Z took her to a once a week gym class for toddlers. Every week when the kids had to tell the group their name, she would say "Tooky". Not Mari. Sheesh. We knew when we named her Marisol that it would be rough -- people in good ole' Cincinnati aren't exactly well-versed in Spanish pronunciation. But now she calls herself Tooks or Tooky. Oh well. Oh and Matt found out eventually that "Tucumcari" is actually pronounced "too-cum-carey" -- oh well again! What will we do at preschool in the fall when she calls herself Tooky?
So another productive day. The babies slept through the night again last night (did Matt already say that?). They got showers and so did Matt and I. We played downstairs. We ate lunch. I finally took Faith and got to the library to get a library card (we moved here in March [I was 32 wks pregnant w/ twins] and moved from a different county). Let her pick out 3 books for herself and 2 for Tooks. Got 3 for myself (a HUGE laugh -- if I DO find time to read for pleasure, I inevitably fall asleep -- as I did this afternoon). Eventually, my mom came over, we had dinner and AM came over. Mom and AM watched and played w/ the kids while Matt and I began to tackle the garage. My great aunt (whose house this was) moved out about a year ago at which time we started de-cluttering our condo to put it on the market. The de-cluttering went to the garage here. Now we are trying to get through at least some of these boxes. We made a pretty good dent, actually. Got a good hour and a half done on it. AND, the girls got really worn out by AM!!! AND, my awesome mom did our dishes and cleaned up our kitchen. Pretty good.
I went to pokeno last night. First time in like 4 months I think. My sister originally invited me to this group -- it's all "her" friends although I consider them mine too, now! Anyway, we take turns hosting once a month. The host makes dinner (always AWEsome -- those women can sure cook) and buys the prizes. We eat, play, tell stories & give updates on our lives, eat some more, get the prizes and go home. It's a generally great time and we laugh quite a bit!
OK. It's time for babies to eat and go to bed -- Matt says his leg is falling off from bouncing Robby, so I better relieve him!
Steph
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