Just typed and lost a major long post. Stupid Marriott wifi.
Beach is fun.
Routine is crazy.
Bought new camera.
Eating too much.
Robby walked.
Two days left.
See you later.
Back to Music Theory 1
1 month ago
Friday, June 26, 2009
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Anniversary Dinner and Video Distress
Steph and I got to have our belated anniversary dinner last night - went to Charlie's Etoile Verte and it was wonderful. Aside from the great food, had some nice conversation about our lives and our relationship. Not something we get to do on a regular basis, but it's so important to take time to look at the big picture whenever you can. Life is good.
Our video situation on the other hand is not so good. Our digital camera died on the beach this evening. Now, this thing is old. It's like carrying around a Sony Walkman when the rest of the world has iPod nanos. It's big, clunky, and you can't do much with it. But it's worked well for us and served us for many years. Got online and checked, and the lowest-rung digital cameras out there are twice the megapixels of this one. It's time. I'll be making a run to the mainland tomorrow morning to rectify the situation.
The camcorder also is having more trouble - but did enough tinkering to find out it's just the battery. Sadly, the battery we need is almost as much as the camera we'll have to get, but still I think we can avoid purchasing a whole new camcorder.
All this means that posting pics has been problematic - which is too bad because I have a TON of great ones - hopefully I'll get some up tomorrow.
So long all!
Matt
Our video situation on the other hand is not so good. Our digital camera died on the beach this evening. Now, this thing is old. It's like carrying around a Sony Walkman when the rest of the world has iPod nanos. It's big, clunky, and you can't do much with it. But it's worked well for us and served us for many years. Got online and checked, and the lowest-rung digital cameras out there are twice the megapixels of this one. It's time. I'll be making a run to the mainland tomorrow morning to rectify the situation.
The camcorder also is having more trouble - but did enough tinkering to find out it's just the battery. Sadly, the battery we need is almost as much as the camera we'll have to get, but still I think we can avoid purchasing a whole new camcorder.
All this means that posting pics has been problematic - which is too bad because I have a TON of great ones - hopefully I'll get some up tomorrow.
So long all!
Matt
Monday, June 22, 2009
Here we are
All is well. Yesterday's transit was rough, the roughest yet, but we survived.
Today we took the kids to the beach and they loved their first time there. Robby was scared at first but figured out pretty quickly that he loved it. So far so good. If they enjoy the pool and their baby spring floats work as expected this might be a really good week.
A few pics:
Today we took the kids to the beach and they loved their first time there. Robby was scared at first but figured out pretty quickly that he loved it. So far so good. If they enjoy the pool and their baby spring floats work as expected this might be a really good week.
A few pics:
Saturday, June 20, 2009
La Familia
We were able to get a great pic of most of the Burghart/Durkee/Hall/Gibson/Specter family tonight. This one's for you, Uncle Rick and fam and cousin Joe! We missed you this weekend and wish you could've been here! Hopefully next time you guys can join us!
(back: Matt, Chris [Steph's cousin], Dennis [Steph's uncle], Jeni [Steph's aunt and Godmother], Steve [Steph's dad], George [Steph's bro in low, holding Hannah], Kathy [Steph's mom], Steph [holding robby]; front: Faith, Grandpa [Steph's paternal], Grandma [Steph's paternal], Paige [Steph's sister, with Mari in front of her])
So, this morning we got to Grandma and Grandpa's house and soon after, Dennis and Jeni made us some really awesome omelettes. Mari was in heaven because she was able to get peppers and tomatoes in hers. Really good breakfast. We just hung out then. Around 12:30, the kids started getting pretty sleepy so I took Matt and the kids back to the hotel room where Matt let them chill for a while and then put them down for naps. Amazingly, ALL FOUR KIDS SLEPT! Yay for Matt! Meanwhile, I went back to gma and gpa's house to hang out with everyone.
For dinner, gpa and my cousin Chris deep fried some fish. Mmmmm, mmm good! Really. We had catfish, flounder and tuna and it was excellent! We'd never had homemade fried fish! They also even did hushpuppies AND my aunt Jeni made a peach cobbler. SO SO good!
Now we're back at the hotel. The babies seem to be quiet. However, Mari is doing her typical thing. It's 9:28pm and she is still in her bed whispering to her stuffed animal. Faith's awake, too, but is being quiet at least. Ugh. That's ok b/c it's an EARLY morning tomorrow. We have to meet the family at the restaurant at 8:30 AM (yes, the "first one" as gma would say) for breakfast. I'm HOPING that everyone will sleep all the way to Hilton Head after that!
Steph
(back: Matt, Chris [Steph's cousin], Dennis [Steph's uncle], Jeni [Steph's aunt and Godmother], Steve [Steph's dad], George [Steph's bro in low, holding Hannah], Kathy [Steph's mom], Steph [holding robby]; front: Faith, Grandpa [Steph's paternal], Grandma [Steph's paternal], Paige [Steph's sister, with Mari in front of her])
So, this morning we got to Grandma and Grandpa's house and soon after, Dennis and Jeni made us some really awesome omelettes. Mari was in heaven because she was able to get peppers and tomatoes in hers. Really good breakfast. We just hung out then. Around 12:30, the kids started getting pretty sleepy so I took Matt and the kids back to the hotel room where Matt let them chill for a while and then put them down for naps. Amazingly, ALL FOUR KIDS SLEPT! Yay for Matt! Meanwhile, I went back to gma and gpa's house to hang out with everyone.
For dinner, gpa and my cousin Chris deep fried some fish. Mmmmm, mmm good! Really. We had catfish, flounder and tuna and it was excellent! We'd never had homemade fried fish! They also even did hushpuppies AND my aunt Jeni made a peach cobbler. SO SO good!
Now we're back at the hotel. The babies seem to be quiet. However, Mari is doing her typical thing. It's 9:28pm and she is still in her bed whispering to her stuffed animal. Faith's awake, too, but is being quiet at least. Ugh. That's ok b/c it's an EARLY morning tomorrow. We have to meet the family at the restaurant at 8:30 AM (yes, the "first one" as gma would say) for breakfast. I'm HOPING that everyone will sleep all the way to Hilton Head after that!
Steph
Cute clip from yesterday
Hannah has been recently starting to have her toys 'talk' to each other - Faith did this too when she was Hannah's age, and it's the beginning of imaginary play. We love it. Here's a clip of Hannah in the car making the Loveys talk to each other, then giving them a kiss. Also check out Robby clapping. A very cute clip. The best of the car ride yesterday. Enjoy.
Friday, June 19, 2009
Another day, another ulcer
Not really. But expectedly, today was a little rougher.
Relatively insane but uneventful morning. Lunch at the Varsity was great - some stinking good onion rings and oh man, that fried Peach Pie was decadent. Melt some ice cream over that baby and I wouldn't want to leave.
Had a few bad road trip cliches today - the unnecessary bathroom stop, for example. But all in all a pretty decent trip considering how long and dull the drive is. Did break out the DVD as expected today, but only one, and we were able to transition back out of having a movie on with no fuss. So, Cincinnati to Jacksonville with just one movie. I'd call that a good trip.
The girls were wonderful at Grandma and Grandpa's place. A little wild and wound up but that's to be expected. But polite and had a good attitude about trying new things at dinner. Was very proud of them.
It's 10:18 and the lights are out - Mari and Faith are still awake trying to be quiet and Robby is still rolling around in his Peapod grunting to himself. Hopefully all will be quiet soon.
Left the camera at Grandma and Grandpa's, I think...had hoped to post a video or two from the drive today, but Steph is waiting for the computer, so I'll wait till tomorrow.
Hopefully tomorrow is saner.
More then, bye,
Matt
Relatively insane but uneventful morning. Lunch at the Varsity was great - some stinking good onion rings and oh man, that fried Peach Pie was decadent. Melt some ice cream over that baby and I wouldn't want to leave.
Had a few bad road trip cliches today - the unnecessary bathroom stop, for example. But all in all a pretty decent trip considering how long and dull the drive is. Did break out the DVD as expected today, but only one, and we were able to transition back out of having a movie on with no fuss. So, Cincinnati to Jacksonville with just one movie. I'd call that a good trip.
The girls were wonderful at Grandma and Grandpa's place. A little wild and wound up but that's to be expected. But polite and had a good attitude about trying new things at dinner. Was very proud of them.
It's 10:18 and the lights are out - Mari and Faith are still awake trying to be quiet and Robby is still rolling around in his Peapod grunting to himself. Hopefully all will be quiet soon.
Left the camera at Grandma and Grandpa's, I think...had hoped to post a video or two from the drive today, but Steph is waiting for the computer, so I'll wait till tomorrow.
Hopefully tomorrow is saner.
More then, bye,
Matt
Thursday, June 18, 2009
PICS!!! - Scroll down for news of the day!
Pretty much the day in microcosm:
Lake Winnepesaukah from the Ferris Wheel. This place is great.
Faith got to ride the parachutes this year. I think she looks very content.
After a blood sugar readjustment.
Lake Winnepesaukah from the Ferris Wheel. This place is great.
Faith got to ride the parachutes this year. I think she looks very content.
After a blood sugar readjustment.
PICS!!! - Scroll down for news of the day!
Do you realize how hard it is to get good pics of the Frog Hopper?
Hannah on the Carousel - a rare un-sad moment.
Robby on the Carousel
I almost never make it into pics - so here. The Wacky Worm.
Hannah on the Carousel - a rare un-sad moment.
Robby on the Carousel
I almost never make it into pics - so here. The Wacky Worm.
PICS!!! - Scroll down for news of the day!
Great pics from the swings:
Twins waiting for Steph and the big girls on the flume.
Twins waiting for Steph and the big girls on the flume.
Road Rules
What a day!
Whatever inflection or meaning you choose to draw from those three words, you're probably right - we've had it ALL today.
Got up at 5:30 - should have gotten up at 5:00. Should mention that Steph was up packing till 2am. Anyway. Got stuff crammed into every available inch of space in the Suburban and rolled out of the place only about 10 minutes late.
Turned on the camcorder to do some 'the journey begins' filming only to find that the camcorder video screen is on the fritz. Everything looks fine, the whole display just slowly creeps down and then cycles back to the top. It's like the 'vertical hold' on an old TV is JUST off.
Now, anyone who knows me knows that the video camera is just about the most important thing in my world. When it's not working, I'm not working. So it started me off with a rotten feeling. Steph tinkered with it and then found that when you push the button for 'easy mode' it clicks into place. Sigh of relief. Couple of jokes about how the "Easy Button" actually had worked like the commercials.
Had to stop to get milk at UDF on the way out. Gave Faith and Mari some new plastic juice box type drink containers and Mari immediately said she couldn't get hers to work. So, before we even got on the highway, had to pull over across from Coney Island to fix her cup...which she just hadn't opened enough.
Soon after, Steph told me that now pushing the easy button didn't work either. Return of sick feeling in my gut.
Understand - I think it's still on the coverage plan at Best Buy - but taking it there would mean not getting it back before the start of the big trip. Would also mean that we wouldn't have one right now. And I tend to think that it's working fine, but just the display is messed up...which would mean we could learn how to somehow shoot it and get OKAY video (keep in mind the hard drive cameras don't have an eyepiece for some reason), or maybe it's all messed up and the video we get will float down the screen too. Won't know until we save it to the computer and view it.
Point is, I'm a mess about it - my mind is racing. Go to Chattanooga Best Buy, buy a new one, that is compatible with my old battery, since the batteries they give you always need to charge for a few hours.
Meanwhile, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.
Now, you realize you've been reading all this and we still are only 10 mintues out of Cincinnati yet.
Anyway, by accident I discover that we can get it to lock into place just by jiggling the screen a little bit. So it works. Sort of. We hope.
Now, Faith starts saying that she thinks she's going to throw up. Which she pretty much never says unless she's really sick. So after the requisite speech about telling the truth, we pull over, get all the stuff out of the car that needs to get out for Faith to get out (including Mari) and of course she is fine. Here's the funny part - she was just hungry. That kid has such food issues she doesn't even recognize the sensation of hunger. Probably never been actually hungry before. Just bored.
Get back in, and finally things start to smooth out. Made it all the way to Tennessee with no stops. Only scare was us thinking that Robby's Lovey had fallen out when we stopped, but we finally found it. Serious clockwork from the twins (for those not in the know, clockwork refers to their uncanny ability to take turns being sad).
After that stop, straight through Tennessee to Lake Winnie. No problems. Feeling good. Minimal travel cliches - couple of "are we there"s but not too many. Lots of dropped toys and books. Oh well. Didn't have to bust out the DVDs at all - and they only asked 2 or 3 times. Even got Faith to like a new "mommy and daddy song" - she now likes "Stand" by R.E.M. -- Good girl.
As for Lake Winnie, thrilled to say we pulled the surprise off. Faith saw one billboard on the way, but didn't ask if we were going. When we pulled into the parking lot, Faith was looking down and didn't see the huge sign. But then she looked around and started getting suspicious because it really didn't look like a hotel. She figured it out and got excited.
Then something weird happened with Mari - apparently we hadn't heard and she had just said something to Faithy about not going to the hotel...or something. We don't know exactly. But she got really upset and started saying "No, daddy, I was just teasing" and started to cry. And then I think she didn't believe us. But eventually she got excited too. Honestly, I think it was just too much for her. She can barely understand simple concepts like "if the babies are sleeping, no you can't go say hi to them" so to completely throw off her fragile understanding of what was already a weird day must have really rocked her world.
It was hot, but honestly, we didn't really start to bake until 5 or so - when the breeze was blowing it was not bad at all. Had a great day. Faith and Mari were great. Robby was pretty good, and even clapped his hands in excitement on the carousel and train. Hannah...well, she was hot and sad most of the time. Screamed her face off on the train ride and wasn't too happy about the carousel. But we weathered it.
I cannot say enough good things about Lake Winnepesaukah. I'm a HUGE fan of the 'family' or 'old-time' amusement parks and this has got to be one of the best. Perfect size, good value, good variety, reasonably priced food, great layout, well-maintained...for you Cincinnati folks, it's everything Coney Island should be. We love Coney but it falls short in a lot of ways. Won't go into that here, but if you're interested, ask me next time you see me. Ought to post a rant sometime about how much I love this kind of place - Wonderland in Amarillo, Centreville in Toronto, Coney Island back in Cincinnati, even with its flaws. I mean, King's Island is great and all but...enough is enough, right? There is something to be said for moderation (said the guy with the ridiculously long blog post).
Sitting in the dark in the Super 8 Fort Oglethorpe. It's...well, it's a hotel. Mari is I'm sure still awake thinking of excuses to stay up. That kid has sleep deprivation. Guess she'll succeed at college pretty well.
Anyway, that's all for now - except for some pics. Enjoy!
Matt
Whatever inflection or meaning you choose to draw from those three words, you're probably right - we've had it ALL today.
Got up at 5:30 - should have gotten up at 5:00. Should mention that Steph was up packing till 2am. Anyway. Got stuff crammed into every available inch of space in the Suburban and rolled out of the place only about 10 minutes late.
Turned on the camcorder to do some 'the journey begins' filming only to find that the camcorder video screen is on the fritz. Everything looks fine, the whole display just slowly creeps down and then cycles back to the top. It's like the 'vertical hold' on an old TV is JUST off.
Now, anyone who knows me knows that the video camera is just about the most important thing in my world. When it's not working, I'm not working. So it started me off with a rotten feeling. Steph tinkered with it and then found that when you push the button for 'easy mode' it clicks into place. Sigh of relief. Couple of jokes about how the "Easy Button" actually had worked like the commercials.
Had to stop to get milk at UDF on the way out. Gave Faith and Mari some new plastic juice box type drink containers and Mari immediately said she couldn't get hers to work. So, before we even got on the highway, had to pull over across from Coney Island to fix her cup...which she just hadn't opened enough.
Soon after, Steph told me that now pushing the easy button didn't work either. Return of sick feeling in my gut.
Understand - I think it's still on the coverage plan at Best Buy - but taking it there would mean not getting it back before the start of the big trip. Would also mean that we wouldn't have one right now. And I tend to think that it's working fine, but just the display is messed up...which would mean we could learn how to somehow shoot it and get OKAY video (keep in mind the hard drive cameras don't have an eyepiece for some reason), or maybe it's all messed up and the video we get will float down the screen too. Won't know until we save it to the computer and view it.
Point is, I'm a mess about it - my mind is racing. Go to Chattanooga Best Buy, buy a new one, that is compatible with my old battery, since the batteries they give you always need to charge for a few hours.
Meanwhile, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.
Now, you realize you've been reading all this and we still are only 10 mintues out of Cincinnati yet.
Anyway, by accident I discover that we can get it to lock into place just by jiggling the screen a little bit. So it works. Sort of. We hope.
Now, Faith starts saying that she thinks she's going to throw up. Which she pretty much never says unless she's really sick. So after the requisite speech about telling the truth, we pull over, get all the stuff out of the car that needs to get out for Faith to get out (including Mari) and of course she is fine. Here's the funny part - she was just hungry. That kid has such food issues she doesn't even recognize the sensation of hunger. Probably never been actually hungry before. Just bored.
Get back in, and finally things start to smooth out. Made it all the way to Tennessee with no stops. Only scare was us thinking that Robby's Lovey had fallen out when we stopped, but we finally found it. Serious clockwork from the twins (for those not in the know, clockwork refers to their uncanny ability to take turns being sad).
After that stop, straight through Tennessee to Lake Winnie. No problems. Feeling good. Minimal travel cliches - couple of "are we there"s but not too many. Lots of dropped toys and books. Oh well. Didn't have to bust out the DVDs at all - and they only asked 2 or 3 times. Even got Faith to like a new "mommy and daddy song" - she now likes "Stand" by R.E.M. -- Good girl.
As for Lake Winnie, thrilled to say we pulled the surprise off. Faith saw one billboard on the way, but didn't ask if we were going. When we pulled into the parking lot, Faith was looking down and didn't see the huge sign. But then she looked around and started getting suspicious because it really didn't look like a hotel. She figured it out and got excited.
Then something weird happened with Mari - apparently we hadn't heard and she had just said something to Faithy about not going to the hotel...or something. We don't know exactly. But she got really upset and started saying "No, daddy, I was just teasing" and started to cry. And then I think she didn't believe us. But eventually she got excited too. Honestly, I think it was just too much for her. She can barely understand simple concepts like "if the babies are sleeping, no you can't go say hi to them" so to completely throw off her fragile understanding of what was already a weird day must have really rocked her world.
It was hot, but honestly, we didn't really start to bake until 5 or so - when the breeze was blowing it was not bad at all. Had a great day. Faith and Mari were great. Robby was pretty good, and even clapped his hands in excitement on the carousel and train. Hannah...well, she was hot and sad most of the time. Screamed her face off on the train ride and wasn't too happy about the carousel. But we weathered it.
I cannot say enough good things about Lake Winnepesaukah. I'm a HUGE fan of the 'family' or 'old-time' amusement parks and this has got to be one of the best. Perfect size, good value, good variety, reasonably priced food, great layout, well-maintained...for you Cincinnati folks, it's everything Coney Island should be. We love Coney but it falls short in a lot of ways. Won't go into that here, but if you're interested, ask me next time you see me. Ought to post a rant sometime about how much I love this kind of place - Wonderland in Amarillo, Centreville in Toronto, Coney Island back in Cincinnati, even with its flaws. I mean, King's Island is great and all but...enough is enough, right? There is something to be said for moderation (said the guy with the ridiculously long blog post).
Sitting in the dark in the Super 8 Fort Oglethorpe. It's...well, it's a hotel. Mari is I'm sure still awake thinking of excuses to stay up. That kid has sleep deprivation. Guess she'll succeed at college pretty well.
Anyway, that's all for now - except for some pics. Enjoy!
Matt
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